Independent Women’s Forum is pleased to announce that Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, who represents New York’s 11th congressional district, is the latest entry in our popular series of Champion Women profiles.

The 40-year-old Staten Island Republican, whom the New York Times dubbed “the Republican who loves Cher,” was one of the first public figures to call for an investigation into Governor Andrew Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic. She made the prescient call on May 8, before the full scope of the debacle was known.

Malliotakis also says that, if teachers won’t go back to work, the money allocated for reopening the schools should be refunded to the government.

Malliotakis’ ideals and spunk are the products of her childhood as the daughter of immigrant parents—her mother Vera came from Cuba, fleeing Castro in 1959, and George Malliotakis, born in Greece, came to the U.S. in the 1960s.

Rep. Malliotakis once told a reporter, “My dad comes from the birthplace of democracy. My mom came from a place where democracy was crushed.” George Malliotakis was head waiter at a famous New York nightclub before the family established itself in Nicole’s beloved Staten Island.

She revels in the values and ambiance of Staten Island.

“We want law and order,” she says, “public safety, and I think most of this community, including me, believes that the government needs to get back to the basics of doing what they're actually supposed to be doing, which means keeping us safe, which means supporting our police. It means border security.”

We know you will enjoy meeting this outspoken veteran of the New York state Assembly who is pegged to play a visible role in the 117th Congress—and finding out how she valiantly defends her incongruous admiration for Cher.