Bordallo, Madeleine Z. (Madeleine Zeien), 1933-

<p>Madeleine Mary Zeien Bordallo (/bərˈdæljoʊ/; born May 31, 1933) is a Guamanian politician, who served as the Delegate from the United States territory of Guam to the United States House of Representatives.</p>

<p>She is the first woman ever to serve as Guam's Delegate, the first female Lieutenant Governor of Guam (from 1995 to 2003), the first female candidate for Governor of Guam (in 1990), and the first female Democrat elected to the Legislature of Guam. Her 1990 campaign also made her the first non-Chamorro gubernatorial candidate in Guam. As the wife of Ricardo Bordallo, she was also the First Lady of Guam from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1987.</p>

<p>Madeleine Mary Zeien was born on May 31, 1933 in Graceville, Minnesota, to a family of educators who moved to Guam after her father took a job with the Guam Department of Education. She attended St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana, and the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she studied music. In the 1950s and 1960s, Bordallo was a television presenter for KUAM-TV, the NBC affiliate that was the first television station on Guam.</p>

<p>In 2003 Madeleine Z. Bordallo became the first woman to serve as Guam’s Delegate in the U.S. Congress. As a Delegate, Bordallo lacked many of the powers held by Representatives, and she could not vote on the House Floor. But Bordallo made up for her territory’s limited voice by legislating in committee and participating in debate. “We have to work twice as hard as any other member of Congress to make [others] understand that we are out there, that we are American citizens,” she said.</p>

<p>Madeleine Bordallo was born Madeleine Zeien on May 31, 1933, in Graceville, Minnesota, to Chris, an educator, and Evelyn Zeien. As a teenager, Bordallo moved with her parents and two siblings to Guam in 1948 when the United States Navy hired her father to run a high school on the island. Located 3,500 miles west of Hawaii, Guam is known as the place “Where America’s Day Starts” and is the only U.S. territory in the eastern hemisphere. Bordallo graduated from Guam’s George Washington High School in 1951 and attended St. Mary’s College in Indiana before studying music at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota. After returning to Guam, she married Ricardo (Ricky) J. Bordallo, a businessman who served as governor of Guam from 1975 to 1979, and again from 1983 to 1987. The couple raised a daughter, Deborah.</p>

<p>Madeleine Bordallo’s background in music led to a career working for Guam’s radio and television stations. In addition to helping run her husband’s political campaigns, Bordallo became Guam’s Democratic National Committeewoman in 1964 and held the post for over 40 years—the longest such service in the nation. In 1981 she became the first woman from the Democratic Party to win a seat in Guam’s unicameral legislature. In her five terms as a Guam senator, Bordallo advocated for the preservation of Chamorro culture and authored several laws that promoted indigenous language and art. Following the death of her husband in 1990, Bordallo ran unsuccessfully for governor of Guam but earned the distinction of being the first woman to head the Democratic ticket. In 1994 she was elected to the first of two consecutive terms as Guam’s first woman lieutenant governor, where she worked to enhance tourism on the island.</p>