Lesley Lopez

Lesley Jeanne Lopez (born November 28, 1983) is an American politician who is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from District 39. A member of the Democratic Party, she unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Maryland's 6th congressional district in 2024, losing to April McClain Delaney in the Democratic primary election.

The oldest of three siblings, Lopez was born in Paget Parish, Bermuda, while her mother Patricia was serving on active duty in the U.S. Navy. She grew up in Southern California in a blended family. As a child she was adopted by her stepfather, Emsley Lopez, also a naval officer. Her paternal grandparents migrated to the United States from the Philippines.

Lopez attended schools in San Bernardino, California. While in elementary school, she survived a school shooting in which a man from a neighboring apartment complex began shooting at her classmates. She later attended the University of California, San Diego, where she earned a B.A. in political science, and George Washington University, where she earned an M.P.A. in management.

After graduating, Lopez worked as a journalist for ABC News's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, BBC, CNN, America's Most Wanted, and the Eurovision Song Contest. She also worked as an adjunct professor of communications at George Washington University, where she became a member of Service Employees International Union Local 500.

Lopez first became involved with politics while working with immigrant families. She served as the press secretary for U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar from 2008 to 2011, afterwards serving as the communications director for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus until 2013. In this capacity, she helped pass the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act through the U.S. Senate and reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, which was expanded to include protections for undocumented immigrants.

Lopez later worked as the communications director for various other organizations, including the National Immigration Forum, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, and the US-China Business Council, from 2014 to 2017. Since 2017, she has worked as the chief communications director for Run for Something.

In 2017, after state delegate Charles E. Barkley announced that he would run for the Montgomery County Council at-large district in 2018, Lopez filed to run for state delegate in District 39. She ran on a slate with state senator Nancy J. King and state delegates Kirill Reznik and Shane Robinson. Lopez won the Democratic primary election on June 27, 2018, placing first with 21.3 percent of the vote.

Lopez was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 9, 2019. She was a member of the Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2022, afterwards serving on the Health and Government Operations Committee. Lopez ran for re-election in 2022, during which she formed a slate with union activist Clint Sobratti, who sought to unseat incumbent delegate Gabriel Acevero. All three incumbents, including Acevero, won the Democratic primary on July 19, 2022.