Patricia Campos-Medina

Dr. Patricia Campos Medina is a political scientist, labor and community leader with a long trajectory of leading successful policy and legislative campaigns on behalf of American unions and workers. She is a former candidate for the US Senate in the NJ Democratic primary in 2024, finishing second place and breaking a glass ceiling by becoming the first woman and first Latina to officially appear on the ballot for a US Senate seat in NJ. In 2025, she served as a Vice-Chair for Mikie Sherrill for NJ Governor’s Campaign and Co-Chair of Governor Elect Mikie Sherill’s Transition Team on Jobs, Opportunity and Prosperity. She is as co-founder and the current President of Latina Civic Action and a board member of PODER PAC, two organizations advancing Latina women political representation in Congress and across local legislative and executive office.

Dr. Campos-Medina is a policy expert on economic & workplace rights and US trade relations. She holds a PhD from Rutgers University and a BS and MPA from Cornell University. She currently serves as a faculty member and Executive Director of The Worker Institute, a labor research center at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. Prior to joining academia, she held top leadership roles in labor unions such as SEIU, UNITERE, Workers United (formerly UNITE), UNITE and LCLAA-AFL-CIO. She served as a member of the US Office of Trade Relations Labor Advisory Committee under Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, and on the USTR Trade Transition Team for President Barack Obama. She has also served as a member of the NJ Casino Redevelopment Authority under NJ Governor Jon Corzine as well as held other local board public service appointments. She currently lives in Tewksbury Township, Hunterdon County, NJ with her husband Bob and sons Diego and Enrique. Find her full bio by visiting her professional webpage at https://patriciacamposmedina.com/. 

Follow her on social media @DrCamposMedina