Michelle De La Isla


Michelle De La Isla is an American politician, and has served as the Mayor of Topeka, Kansas since 2018. She previously served on the Topeka City Council from 2013-2018. De La Isla is the city's first Latina, first single mother, and second woman to serve as mayor. She is seeking the Democratic nomination for Kansas's 2nd congressional district. She is seen as the frontrunner.

Early life and career

Born in New York City, De La Isla grew up mostly in Puerto Rico. She attended the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez before moving to Wichita, Kansas in 2000. During her childhood, she experienced homelessness and became a teenage mother, but In 2001, she graduated from Wichita State University with a bachelor of science degree in biology. After graduation, De La Isla remained in Wichita and worked as a teacher for Upward Bound.
In 2005, De La Isla moved to Topeka, Kansas and joined Housing and Credit Counseling, Inc. as its Community Relations and Spanish Services Coordinator, and later, its Chief Financial Officer. She also joined MANA, a National Latina Organization, became a founding member of MANA de Topeka, and traveled around the country teaching financial literacy to women. In 2010, De La Isla became Executive Director of Topeka Habitat for Humanity where she established Topeka's first ReStore and increased service delivery. She also participated in the Capital District Group to advocate for revitalization in downtown Topeka.

Political career

In 2013, De La Isla ran for Topeka City Council and was elected to represent the fifth district. She served as deputy mayor to mayor Larry Wolgast in 2016. De La Isla announced her candidacy for mayor on April 11, 2017 after Wolgast announced he would not seek reelection.
On November 7, 2017, De La Isla won the Topeka mayoral race by a margin of 501 votes. Before the election, De La Isla also announced that she would continue her employment at Evergy, which also makes her the first mayor to hold additional employment during her tenure.
As mayor, De La Isla serves on the , the Board of the , and as Tri-Chair of collective action plan for Topeka and Shawnee County.
On January 6, 2019, De La Isla announced she was running as a Democrat to challenge Steve Watkins to represent Kansas's Second Congressional District. The race is said to narrow up because of fraud allegations against Watkins but he is facing a Primary challenge from Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner.

Personal life

De La Isla has two teenage daughters.