Mariko Yamada is a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 assemblywoman from California's 8th Assembly district. Assemblywoman Yamada was elected in 2008 after defeating West Sacramento

West Sacramento, California

West Sacramento is a city in Yolo County, California. It is contiguous with Sacramento, but is separated by the Sacramento River which is also the county line, so West Sacramento is in a different county than Sacramento...

 mayor Christopher Cabaldon

Christopher Cabaldon

Christopher L. Cabaldon is an American politician from California who serves as mayor of West Sacramento. He also represents the State of California on the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education as an appointee of California Governor Jerry Brown.Cabaldon was elected to the City Council...

 in a competitive Democratic primary, a defeat that many considered an upset win for Yamada. She is the third consecutive woman from Davis

Davis, California

Davis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 to be elected to this seat following in the footsteps of Helen Thomson

Helen Thomson

Helen MacLeod Thomson is a member of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors and a former Democratic assemblywoman from California's 8th Assembly district. Thomson was first elected to the assembly in 1996 and served three two-year terms...

 and Lois Wolk

Lois Wolk

Lois Wolk is a California State Senator, representing the 5th district of California. Wolk is a member of the Democratic Party and was elected to the Senate in 2008.-Early life:...

.

Education

Yamada received her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado

University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

 and received her masters degree in social work from the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

.

Political career

Prior to serving in the Assembly, Yamada represented the city of Davis

Davis, California

Davis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 on the Yolo County

Yolo County, California

Yolo County is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of California, bordered by the other counties of Sacramento, Solano, Napa, Lake, Colusa, and Sutter. The city of Woodland is its county seat, though Davis is its largest city....

 Board of Supervisors.

Career

Yamda's experience includes a decade in Washington, D.C. in federal service, first with the U.S. Census Bureau working on the undercount reduction campaign of the 1980 Census. She later worked as an investigator with Civil Rights division of the United States Department of Commerce

United States Department of Commerce

The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. It was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903...

. Assemblymember Yamada also co-produced and co-hosted "Gold Mountain, D.C.", a jazz and information show on WPFW 89.3 FM.

Personal

Yamada and her husband, Janlee Wong live in the city of Davis. They have two children—Meilee who is a 2007 alumna of the University of Southern California and Midori who is a 2008 alumna of the University of California at San Diego.

External links

• California State Assembly profile