The spotlight may not have been on Montgomery County’s newest state representative, Del. Teresa Woorman (D-Dist. 16), at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday night, but the internet has decided otherwise.
The General Assembly member, who represents the Bethesda area, was attending the convention as a Maryland voting delegate for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. During Oprah Winfrey’s speech Wednesday night, MSNBC and CNN cameras cut to a shot of Woorman as the TV icon referenced GOP vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance’s controversial “childless cat ladies” comment.
“When a house is on fire, we don’t ask about the homeowner’s race or religion. We don’t wonder who their partner is or how they voted,” Winfrey said. “No, we just try to do the best we can to save them. And if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out, too.”
The camera then panned to a shot of Woorman, who was nodding in agreement with Winfrey’s comments as the crowd laughed and applauded.
As of Thursday afternoon, at least one social media video of Woorman had received more than 2 million views.
Woorman responded on social media to the post, saying, “lol this is me, hi! I’m having a great time at the DNC. And damn right this childless cat lady is 100% disgusted by J.D. Vance in general and 100% behind @KamalaHarris and @GovTimWalz!”
She also shared a picture of her cats following a request from social media users.
In a text exchange Thursday with MoCo360, Woorman, who was sworn in Aug. 12 as a state delegate, said she has been surprised by the attention the moment has received.
“At the time I was thinking back to my swearing-in a week and a half ago where I opened up [my remarks] with ‘Hey I’m Teresa Saavedra Woorman and I’m a childless cat lady,’ ” Woorman told MoCo360 in a text. “I think people identified with my being randomly pictured on TV at the moment Oprah said ‘childless cat lady,’ but then I used the occasion (and my swearing-in) to highlight how ridiculous JD Vance’s statement was.”
Woorman said she believes people’s reception to her posted response is indicative of their views of Vance’s comments.
“My point was that democracy and representation are for everyone, whatever their race, gender, ethnicity, national origin, religion, party affiliation, income level, or parental status,” she wrote. “I think the viral response suggests that many, many people agree with me and not with JD Vance.”
Woorman’s response to the viral moment spawned stories posted on the websites of the Huffington Post and The Guardian. The video clip has generated several memes and commentary from social media users.
The Maryland Democratic Party also highlighted the moment in a social media post.
The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) nominated Woorman, who previously served as the committee’s secretary, last month to fill a General Assembly delegate seat vacated by now-state Sen. Sara Love (D-Dist. 16).
One of nine candidates for the seat, Woorman, 32, won the nomination after three rounds of voting by the 24-member central committee. In an interview with MoCo360 after winning the nomination, Woorman said she wants to focus on assessing and improving constituent services and hopes that she will be placed on the House Health and Government Operations Committee.
Her nomination was accepted by Gov. Wes Moore before she was officially sworn in Aug. 12.