PERSON: Melissa Melendez

Senator

Melissa Ann Melendez (née Schneider; born February 17, 1968) is an American politician who served in the California State Senate. She is a Republican that represented the 28th District, which encompassed large portions of Riverside County.[1] She previously served in the California State Assembly and on the Lake Elsinore City Council.[2]

Early life
Melendez is a native of Youngstown, Ohio. After high school, she enlisted in the United States Navy. She attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, where she learned Russian.

While serving in the Navy, Melendez also attended college in the evenings, and received her BA in History and Political Studies from the Chaminade University of Honolulu in Honolulu, Hawaii.

[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Melendez]