Sen. Laura Viviana Sturgeon represents the Fourth Senate District, which includes West Talleyville, Greenville, Centreville, Hockessin and parts of Pike Creek.
The daughter of Argentine immigrants, Sturgeon has lived or worked in Delaware since she was just over a year old. A proud graduate of Brandywine High School, she later earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in English literature, both from the University of Delaware.
Prior to running for public office, Sturgeon served in an appointed position on her local teacher union’s executive committee and later won a seat on the board of the Delaware State Education Association, the largest union in the state. Those experiences, combined with her passion for women’s rights and her desire to help mold public education policy, inspired her to run for a seat in the Delaware General Assembly.
In 2018, Sturgeon become the first Latina ever elected to the Delaware State Senate, which stands as one of her proudest accomplishments.
Sen. Sturgeon currently serves as chair of the Senate Education Committee and a member of the Senate Corrections & Public Safety, Environment, Energy & Transportation, and the Health & Social Services committees. She also holds a seat on the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.
She and her husband Bill live in Woodbrook with their standard poodle and rescued cat.
Family
Spouse: Bill
Education
Brandywine High School, Class of 1983; Bachelor’s degree, Communications, University of Delaware, 1988; Master’s degree, Literature and Pedagogy, University of Delaware, 1994
Occupation
Retired public school teacher
Legislative Service:
Senate, 2018 to present
Committees:
- Education, Chair
- Corrections & Public Safety, Member
- Environment, Energy & Transportation, Member
- Health & Social Services, Member
- Joint Finance, Member
Legislative Highlights
Senate Bill 56
Recognizing that students with more intensive needs require greater support in the classroom, Governor John Carney in 2019 announced he was allocating $60 million over three years in one-time funding to help Delaware’s public schools better support English language learners […]
Senate Bill 4 (S)
A retired public school teacher who now chairs the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Laura Sturgeon led the way in assisting our public school to raise lagging literacy rates among Delaware students by shifting the state’s reading instruction to evidence-based curricula […]
Senate Bill 133
Continuing her focus on helping Delaware public schools provide evidence-based reading instruction proven to raise lagging literacy rates, Sen. Sturgeon ushered Senate Bill 133 through the Delaware General Assembly with unanimous support in both the Senate and the House. To […]
Senate Bill 78 (S)
To better protect students from harm, Sen. Sturgeon passed legislation in 2021 to close loopholes in Delaware law that once allowed people convicted of crimes against children to run for a seat on their local school board and permitted sitting […]
