Mia Bonta

Mialisa "Mia" Tania Bonta (née Villafañe; born January 26, 1972) is an American politician serving as a member of the California State Assembly. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents the 18th Assembly District, which consists of Oakland, Alameda, and Emeryville.^[1][2]

Mia Bonta
Member of the California State Assembly from the 18th district
Incumbent
Assumed office September 7, 2021
Preceded by	Rob Bonta
Personal details
Born	Mialisa Tania Villafañe (1972-01-26) January 26, 1972 (age 53) New York City, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Rob Bonta
Children	3, including Reina
Education	Yale University (BA, JD) Harvard University (MEd)

Early life and education

Bonta was born to Puerto Rican parents.^[3] Some of her ancestors came to Puerto Rico from Ghana via the Atlantic slave trade.^[4] She is the daughter of a divorced working mother in the Bronx. She attended Yale University, where she met Rob Bonta as a freshman.^[5] Bonta earned a Master of Education degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education before attending Yale Law School with Rob Bonta.^[6][7][8]

Career

Mia Bonta is the CEO of Oakland Promise, a nonprofit cradle-to-college support program focused on the city's low-income students.^[9] In 2018, she was elected to the Alameda School Board. In 2021 she was elected as a member of the California State Assembly from the 18th district.^[10]

During her special election campaigns, Bonta's opponents claimed that she benefited from her husband's position and name, and pointed to money she has received from gambling interests that may be intended to influence Rob Bonta.^[11] In the primary, Bonta finished first place with 38% of the vote, and in the runoff, she defeated human rights attorney Janani Ramachandran by 56% to 44%.

Bonta is a member of the California Legislative Progressive Caucus.^[12]

Personal life

She has three children with her husband, Rob Bonta.^[9] Their daughter, Reina, is a filmmaker and plays soccer for Brazilian club Santos FC and the Philippines national team.^[13][14]

Elections

California's 18 State Assembly district special election, 2021

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mia Bonta	22,558	38.0
	Democratic	Janani Ramachandran	14,036	23.7
	Democratic	Malia Vella	10,053	16.9
	Republican	Stephen Slauson	5,725	9.6
	Democratic	Victor Aguilar	3,938	6.6
	Democratic	James Aguilar	1,039	1.8
	Democratic	Eugene Canson	1,029	1.7
	No party preference	Joel Britton	750	1.3
	N/A	Nelsy Batista (write-in)	13	0.0
	N/A	Other write-in candidates	187	0.3
Total votes			59,328	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Mia Bonta	43,460	56.8
	Democratic	Janani Ramachandran	33,012	43.2
Total votes			76,472	100.0
	Democratic hold

2022 California's 18th State Assembly district election^[15][16]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mia Bonta (incumbent)	69,142	100%
	Republican	Mindy Pechenuk (write-in)	31	0.0
Total votes			69,173	100%
General election
	Democratic	Mia Bonta (incumbent)	120,863	89.9
	Republican	Mindy Pechenuk	13,504	10.1
Total votes			134,367	100%
	Democratic hold