Alejandra Zaga Mendez

Alejandra Zaga Mendez (born 1988^[1][2]) is a Peruvian-born Canadian politician,^[3] who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2022 Quebec general election. She represents the riding of Verdun as a member of Québec solidaire.^[4]

Alejandra Zaga Mendez MNA
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Verdun
Incumbent
Assumed office October 3, 2022
Preceded by	Isabelle Melançon
President of Québec solidaire
In office November 21, 2021 – October 3, 2022
Preceded by	Nika Deslauriers
Succeeded by	Nicolas Chatel-Launay
Personal details
Born	1988 (age 36–37) Lima, Province of Lima, Peru
Political party	Québec solidaire
Residence	Verdun, Quebec
Alma mater	Université du Québec en Outaouais McGill University

Following her election to the National Assembly in 2022, she was chosen to be the opposition critic for Environment, Wildlife and Parks; Natural Resources and Forests; Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Youth; and Relations with English-speaking Quebecers.

Early life

Born in Lima, Peru in 1988,^[1] Zaga Mendez emigrated to Canada when she was fourteen.^[4] She first became involved in politics as a result of the 2008 shooting of Fredy Villanueva, and participated in the 2012 Quebec student protests on the campus of McGill University.^[5]

She has a master's degree in natural resource management from McGill University and a doctorate in sustainable development from Université du Québec en Outaouais.^[3]

Electoral record

v t e 2022 Quebec general election: Verdun
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Québec solidaire	Alejandra Zaga Mendez	9,562	30.75	+6.80
	Liberal	Isabelle Melançon	9,101	29.27	-6.24
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Véronique Tremblay	7,150	23.00	+2.62
	Parti Québécois	Claudia Valdivia	2,591	8.33	-4.29
	Conservative	Lucien Koty	1,664	5.35	+4.65
	Green	Jannie Pellerin	542	1.74	-1.97
	Canadian	Scott Kilbride	301	0.97	–
	Parti nul	Marc-André Milette	65	0.21	-0.28
	Climat Québec	Alexandre Desmarais	61	0.20	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Fernand Deschamps	30	0.10	+0.01
	Famille et communautés	Alain Rioux	26	0.08	–
Total valid votes			31,093	99.03	–
Total rejected ballots			303	0.97	-0.16
Turnout			31,396	64.52	+1.34
Electors on the lists			48,656	–	–
	Québec solidaire gain from Liberal		Swing		+6.52

v t e 2018 Quebec general election: Bourassa-Sauvé
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Paule Robitaille	11,456	46.16	-14.32
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Julie Séide	5,826	23.48	+11.24
	Québec solidaire	Alejandra Zaga Mendez	3,469	13.98	+8.08
	Parti Québécois	Karine Gauvin	2,640	10.64	-8.43
	Green	Karina Barros	433	1.74	+0.55
	Conservative	Michel Boissonneault	363	1.46	–
	New Democratic	Abed Louis	219	0.88	–
	Bloc Pot	Jean-François Brunet	177	0.71	-0.01
	CINQ	Sabrinel Laouadi	142	0.57	–
	Independent	Jean Marie Floriant Ndzana	92	0.37	–
Total valid votes			24,817	97.39
Total rejected ballots			666	2.61
Turnout			25,483	52.44	-10.69
Eligible voters			48,592
	Liberal hold		Swing		-12.78
Source(s) "Rapport des résultats officiels du scrutin". Élections Québec.