Hon. Velma R. Veloria Washington State Representative.(Brief Article)

Velma R. Veloria, Democrat, was first elected to her position in 1992 as Washington state Representative from the 11th District, comprising parts of South Seattle, West Seattle, Tukwila, Sea-Tac, and Renton.

She is now serving her fourth term, a fact that not many Filipino Americans are aware of. She ran and won unopposed in the 1994 and 1996 elections. Before this, from 1990 to 1991, she served as Administrative Assistant to State Representative Art Wang.

A long-time union organizer and human rights activist, Veloria is the first and only Filipina (female), born in the Philippines, who has been elected to the Washington State Legislature. She is the first Asian elected and the first Filipina elected in a state legislature in the mainland US.

She is the second Filipina to be elected in a state legislature in the United States, after Thelma Buchholdt who was elected in the Alaska state legislature in 1974.

It is hard enough for anybody, …