Meet California’s Youngest Ever Female Mayor, Tara Campbell

Image Credits: Twitter / Tara Campbell

In early December, Tara Campbell was appointed the Mayor of Yorba Linda, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. Campbell is the youngest female mayor in California’s history at the age of 25. She was elected to Yorba Linda’s City Council in 2016 at the age of 23, having served as a field representative for Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang in the California State Assembly. She also served as the Chairwoman of the city’s Parks and Recreation Committee from 2015 to 2016.

Even though the mayorship is officially nonpartisan, Campbell’s main issues as laid out on her campaign page include fiscal responsibility, transparency and accountability, public safety, and giving back to the community. Since the position is a part time job, she also serves as the Communications Director for the County of Orange under Supervisor Andrew Do.

Campbell was born and raised in Yorba Linda and attended private school until graduating from Rosary Academy in Fullerton, CA. She started at University of Southern California as a broadcast and digital journalism major, but after spending a summer in Washington D.C. interning with No Labels, she picked up a political science major and after graduation, received her master’s degree in Public Administration from USC.

She returned to Yorba Linda after college during a whirlwind situation – a movement to recall City Council members. In an interview with Teen Vogue, Campbell recounted her frustration with the dysfunction: “How is this happening in my hometown? …I wanted to help [at the municipal level].”

As mayor, Campbell has already made strides toward her goal of transparency – she has invited various Girl Scout troops and leadership programs to City Hall and has created and maintained social media accounts for the city. Her own Twitter and Facebook accounts regularly post her visits to events across Yorba Linda.

Campbell is definitely a rising star. She is an example of the impact that young women can have on a local level. In the Teen Vogue interview previously mentioned, she said “We focus a lot on the national level, but the local level is really where the rubber meets the road.” National politics may be the news that dominates the headlines, but if you want to make a difference in your community, the local level is one of the best places to start.