Sonia Garcia, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, is Chair of the Political Science Department at St. Mary's University. She has published articles on Latina politics and is a co-author of MEXICAN AMERICANS & THE LAW: EL PUEBLO UNIDO JAM�S SER� VENCIDO (2004). Sonia also is the lead author of POLITICAS: LATINA PUBLIC OFFICIALS IN TEXAS (2007), which examines the first Mexican-American women elected to public office in Texas from various levels of offices.