Maia Pearson, a native Madisonian, working mother, community organizer, and the vice president of the Madison Metropolitan School District, announced her candidacy to represent Wisconsin State Assembly District 78 on Wednesday.
“The people of Madison, Monona, MacFarland, Fitchburg and Blooming Grove are ready for a Legislature to restore their rights and protect their freedoms,” Pearson said in a social media post Wednesday morning announcing her candidacy. “From access to well-funded public education and stronger worker rights to environmental justice and reproductive freedom, it is time to deliver on what Wisconsinites have been asking for.
“As a Madison native, a working mother, a community organizer and a school board member, I understand firsthand the challenges our communities face,” Pearson continued. “We need leaders who will take this opportunity presented by the newly balanced Legislature to confront the issues that have gone unaddressed for far too long. Our localities matter … our towns or villages, our cities and counties need a voice in the capitol for our new, hopeful path forward.”
Pearson is the Mann Scholars program coordinator for the Mann Educational Opportunity Fund, which provides academic support, mentoring and an annual high school scholarship for students to ensure successful high school graduation and a post-secondary plan to be career and college-ready.
Pearson joins a race that includes long-time State Rep. Shelia Stubbs, formerly of the 77th District, who was drawn into the 78th District with the new maps agreed to by Gov. Tony Evers and the GOP-controlled Legislature. The 78th District votes very heavily Democratic (82.3 percent).
