Mary Santoro

MARY SANTORO
...
"He said, 'Just try it,' " Santoro recalled.So, without telling her family, Santoro ran for an open seat.

"My mother was an old Italian woman," she said."She was afraid.My father [hadn't thought] that women belonged in politics."

By then Santoro was working as a social worker at a local geriatric center.On the evening the election results were tallied, Santoro sat by the radio waiting for the news.When she heard that she'd won, she called the courthouse to make sure.Then she told her mother.

"My mother said, 'I didn't know I was going to say this, but I'm proud of you,'" she recalled.
...
"Mary cares about people," Oliverio said.