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Melissa Minor-Brown
Melissa Minor-Brown (Democratic Party) (also known as Mimi) is a member of the Delaware House of Representatives, representing District 17. She assumed office on November 7, 2018. Her current term ends on November 3, 2026.
Minor-Brown was elected speaker of the Delaware House of Representatives on January 15, 2025. She was the first Black person to hold the position.[1]
Minor-Brown earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing from Wilmington University in 2016 and 2017, respectively. After graduating, she worked as a nurse at a Veterans Administration hospital, as a nurse educator for the Delaware Department of Corrections, and as a coordinator for graduate services for the nursing program at the University of Delaware.[2][3]
Minor-Brown was first elected to District 17 in 2018. She was re-elected three times, facing opposition only once. In 2020, she ran for majority whip. In 2022, she ran again, and House Democrats elected her to the position.[4] In 2023, she was elected by House Democrats to serve as majority leader.[5] During her tenure, she was a lead supporter of six bills related to maternal and newborn health, which Gov. John Carney (D) signed into law.[6]
In November 2024, Minor-Brown was named by House Democrats as their choice for the next speaker. Upon being selected, Minor-Brown said she wanted to focus on building on work from previous legislative sessions, saying, "Priority number one, we need to be proactive in protecting and preserving the progress that we've made in our state over the last few years... and I don't mean just the Democratic caucus. We have to work together, we have to work with the Republican caucus."[7] She sponsored a bill that would move the state's primary elections from September to April.[8] She also sponsored a bill that would have allowed a terminally-ill person to administer drugs for the purpose of ending their life.[9]
Biography
Melissa Minor-Brown was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She earned a bachelor's and master's degree in Nursing Science Executive Leadership from Wilmington State University in 2017. Minor-Brown’s career experience includes working as a Nurse Educator for the Delaware Department of Corrections. She has served as the Vice President for the Black Nurses Rock Delaware Chapter. Minor-Brown was elected to serve as the Representative for Delaware House District 17.[3]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Minor-Brown was assigned to the following committees:
- House Administration Committee, Vice Chair
- Ethics Committee, Vice Chair
- Health & Human Development Committee, Chair
- House Rules Committee, Vice Chair
- House Veterans Affairs Committee
- Legislative Council Committee
2021-2022
Minor-Brown was assigned to the following committees:
- Corrections Committee, Chair
- Gaming & Parimutuels Committee
- Health & Human Development Committee, Vice-Chair
2019-2020
Minor-Brown was assigned to the following committees:
- Gaming & Parimutuels Committee
- Corrections Committee, Chair
- Housing & Community Affairs Committee
- House Education Committee
- House Veterans Affairs Committee
- Health & Social Services Committee
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Delaware House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Delaware House of Representatives District 17
Incumbent Melissa Minor-Brown won election in the general election for Delaware House of Representatives District 17 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Melissa Minor-Brown (D) | 100.0 | 7,956 |
| Total votes: 7,956 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Melissa Minor-Brown advanced from the Democratic primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 17.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Minor-Brown in this election.
2022
See also: Delaware House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Delaware House of Representatives District 17
Incumbent Melissa Minor-Brown won election in the general election for Delaware House of Representatives District 17 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Melissa Minor-Brown (D) | 100.0 | 4,363 |
| Total votes: 4,363 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Melissa Minor-Brown advanced from the Democratic primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 17.
2020
See also: Delaware House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Delaware House of Representatives District 17
Incumbent Melissa Minor-Brown defeated Timothy Collins in the general election for Delaware House of Representatives District 17 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Melissa Minor-Brown (D) | 96.0 | 8,001 |
 | Timothy Collins (Independent) (Write-in) | 4.0 | 334 | |
| Total votes: 8,335 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Melissa Minor-Brown advanced from the Democratic primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 17.
2018
General election
General election for Delaware House of Representatives District 17
Melissa Minor-Brown won election in the general election for Delaware House of Representatives District 17 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Melissa Minor-Brown (D) | 100.0 | 6,107 |
| Total votes: 6,107 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 17
Melissa Minor-Brown defeated Michael Burns and David Roberts in the Democratic primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 17 on September 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Melissa Minor-Brown | 56.9 | 1,329 |
| Michael Burns | 24.2 | 565 | ||
| David Roberts | 18.9 | 442 | ||
| Total votes: 2,336 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Melissa Minor-Brown did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Melissa Minor-Brown did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Melissa Minor-Brown did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Delaware scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Delaware State Legislature was in session from January 9 to June 30.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Delaware State Legislature was in session from January 10 to June 30. |
2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Delaware State Legislature was in session from January 11 to June 30.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Delaware State Legislature was in session from January 12 to June 30.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Delaware State Legislature was in session from January 14 to June 30. |
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Delaware General Assembly was in session from January 8 through June 30.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Officeholder Delaware House of Representatives District 17 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ WBOC, "Melissa Minor-Brown Makes History as Delaware’s First Black Speaker of the House," January 15, 2025
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Melissa Minor-Brown MSN RN," accessed May 7, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Delaware General Assembly, "Representative Melissa Minor-Brown," accessed November 30, 2019
- ↑ Delaware Live, "Melissa Minor-Brown: ‘I stand on the shoulders of giants’," December 1, 2022
- ↑ WMDT, "Delaware lawmakers elect all female leadership in the House of Representatives," June 30, 2023
- ↑ Delaware Public Media, "Six maternal and infant-health related bills are signed into Delaware law," July 25, 2022
- ↑ Delaware Public Media, "Dems tap Melissa Minor-Brown as next House Speaker, new leadership across both caucuses," November 11, 2024
- ↑ Bill Track, "DE HB65," accessed May 7, 2025
- ↑ Bill Track, "DE HB140," accessed May 7, 2025
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Michael Mulrooney (D) |
Delaware House of Representatives District 17 2018-Present |
Succeeded by - |
