Marie Pinkney

Sen. Marie Pinkney represents the 13th District of Delaware, which stretches from the Christiana River south to Red Lion Road and encompasses dozens of neighborhoods along Route 13.

Raised by her great aunt in Wilmington and New Castle, Pinkney graduated from Howard High School of Technology. She earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from Norfolk State University and a master’s degree in social work from Delaware State University.

After graduate school, she began working at a treatment center for adolescents with mental health and substance abuse issues. She also became the foster mother to a teen mother and her young son for many years.

Sen. Pinkney currently works as a trauma social worker/case manager in ChristinaCare’s Surgical Intensive Care Unit, where she provides advocacy, discharge planning services and emotional support for patients and families. She has dedicated her career to advocating alongside families seeking quality healthcare, access to resources, educational support, and government policies that support them.

Sen. Pinkney became the first African American LGBTQ+ person ever elected to the Delaware Senate in 2020. She is dedicated to fighting the negative impacts of racial and socioeconomic inequalities, as well as the stigmas and hurdles faced by formerly justice-involved individuals and those with limited educational backgrounds.

She currently serves as chair of the Senate Corrections & Public Safety Committee, and vice chair of the Senate Legislative Oversight & Sunset Committee, the Senate Housing Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee. She is also a member of the Senate Health Committee and the Senate Environment & Energy Committee.

She lives in Bear with her 3-year-old German Shepherd Gandhi and her 12-year-old cat Lilly.