Biography
Madeleine Mary Zeien was born in Graceville, Minnesota to a military family and grew up on Guam after her father was stationed there. She attended St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana and the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota. Bordallo was a television host and presenter for KUAM-TV on the island of Guam during the 1950s and 1960s.
Bordallo was married to Ricardo Bordallo, who served as Governor of Guam from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1987. While serving as first lady, she worked to emphasize the arts in the classroom and to increase awareness of the local Chamorro culture. Bordallo served five terms as a senator in the Guam Legislature, serving from 1981 to 1982 and again from 1986 to 1994. During the 1988 U.S. presidential election, Bordallo was a member of Guam's uncommitted delegation to the 1988 Democratic National Convention.
Mrs. Bordallo was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Guam in 1990, following the death of her husband. Ping Duenas ran as Bordallo's running mate for lieutenant governor in the 1990 gubernatorial election.
In 1994, she ran alongside Carl T.C. Gutierrez on the Democratic ticket and was elected Lieutenant Governor of Guam, serving from 1995 to 2002, the first woman in Guam's history to hold this position. In this role, she worked to promote tourism and environmentalism.
In 2002, as Bordallo reached her term limit and as Delegate Robert Underwood vacated his seat and attempted to run for governor, she campaigned for and was elected as a Democrat to the House, serving from January 2003 to the present, and is the first woman to represent Guam in Congress. She is one of six non-voting delegates to the House of Representatives. While in Congress, she has devoted herself to economic issues and has helped to pass legislation that aids small businesses on Guam. She has also been involved in military and environmental issues.
In April 2008, Bordallo apologized after an investigative report by the Pacific Daily News revealed that she and Senator Jesse Lujan both claimed to have degrees on their official biographies and resumes when they had not graduated from college. Bordallo was interviewed on Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report on April 26, 2007, as part of its "Better Know a Protectorate" segment for Guam. The interview was repeated on April 30, 2008.
Read more about this topic: Madeleine Bordallo
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