{{Short description|Swiss politician (born 1999)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | office = Member of the Cantonal Council of Zürich for Uster | term_start = 6 May 2019 | term_end = | office1 = Member of the<br>Dübendorf Municipal Council | term_start1 = 1 March 2022 | term_end1 = | party = Social Democratic Party | other_party = Young Socialists Switzerland | birth_date = {{Birth date text|1999}} (age {{Age as of date|19|2019|6|19}}) | alma_mater = University of Zürich (attending) }} '''Leandra Columberg''' (born 1999) is a Swiss politician who has served in the Cantonal Council of Zürich since 2019 as a member of the Social Democratic Party. First elected at age 19, she is the youngest cantonal councillor ever elected in Zürich and one of the youngest in all of Switzerland.
== Biography == Leandra Columberg was born in 1999.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Leandra Columberg |url=https://www.kantonsrat.zh.ch/mitglieder/mitglied/?id=cbedf66a0148422eafa8508211669e10 |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=Cantonal Council of Zürich |language=de}}</ref> She was raised in the town of Dübendorf in the Canton of Zürich, and attended high school in the neighboring town of Uster. Columberg was apolitical until age 16 when she studied for a year in the United States, where she was "shocked by Donald Trump's aggressive election campaign" and became opposed to right-wing populism.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Probst |first=Joel |date=19 June 2019 |title=Leandra Columberg (Juso) ist mit 19 schon Kantonsrätin |trans-title=Leandra Columberg (Juso) is Already a Cantonal Councilor at 19 |url=https://www.blick.ch/politik/leandra-columberg-juso-ist-mit-19-schon-kantonsraetin-ploetzlich-merkte-ich-dass-ich-links-bin-id15379758.html |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=Blick |language=de}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Riklin |first=Adrian |date=13 March 2019 |title=Mit der S-Bahn ins Parlament |trans-title=With the S-Bahn to Parliament |url=https://www.woz.ch/!JQPGS5MQA8FA |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=WOZ Die Wochenzeitung |language=de}}</ref> In 2016, she joined the Young Socialists (JUSO) and the Social Democratic Party (SP).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leandra Columberg |url=https://duebendorf.spkantonzh.ch/wahlen/wahl/kandidaten/leandra-columberg/ |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=SP Dübendorf |language=de-DE}}</ref> A law student at the University of Zürich,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mariani |first=Carlo |date=12 December 2022 |title=Das Zürcher Stipendiendebakel |trans-title=The Zurich Scholarship Debacle |url=https://www.zsonline.ch/2022/12/12/das-zuercher-stipendiendebakel |access-date=8 May 2024 |website={{Ill|Zürcher Studierendenzeitung|de}} |language=de-CH}}</ref> Columberg works as a political campaigner for the Zürich SP and is on the board of the national JUSO organization and the SP branch in Dübendorf.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=20 February 2021 |title=Juso Schweiz beschliessen «kritisches Ja» zum CO2-Gesetz |trans-title=Juso Switzerland Decide on a "Critical Yes" to the CO2 Law |url=https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/news-service/inland-schweiz/parolenfassung-juso-schweiz-beschliessen-kritisches-ja-zum-co2-gesetz-ld.2104858 |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=Aargauer Zeitung |language=de}}</ref> Since 2018, she has also been the president of the JUSO branch in the Zürcher Oberland.<ref name=":0" />
Columberg was elected to the Cantonal Council of Zürich in the 2019 elections, placing fourth on the SP party list in the Uster constituency.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> Elected at age 19, she is the youngest person ever elected to the cantonal council, and one of the youngest elected in all of Switzerland.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=27 January 2022 |title=JUSO-Wahlkampf auf dem Bachtelturm |trans-title=JUSO Election Campaign on the Bachtelturm |url=https://zuerioberland24.ch/articles/109894-juso-wahlkampf-auf-dem-bachtelturm |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=zuerioberland24.ch |language=de}}</ref> During her tenure, Columberg has advocated for more protections for LGBT people and for high school preparation courses. She has also pushed for providing free menstrual hygiene products in schools and for masks to be distributed to the people of the canton.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Döbeli |first=Nicole |date=31 October 2022 |title=An vielen Schulen gibt es bereits gratis Tampons und Binden |trans-title=Many Schools Already Provide Free Tampons and Pads |url=https://www.landbote.ch/an-vielen-schulen-gibt-es-bereits-gratis-tampons-und-binden-911178706402 |url-access=subscription |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=Der Landbote |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hudec |first=Jan |date=17 August 2020 |title=SP und AL wollen gratis Masken an die Zürcher Bevölkerung abgeben |trans-title=SP and AL Want to Give Out Free Masks to the People of Zurich |url=https://www.nzz.ch/zuerich/gratis-masken-zuercher-kantonsrat-gegen-eine-abgabe-ld.1571758 |access-date=8 May 2024 |work=Neue Zürcher Zeitung |language=de-CH |issn=0376-6829}}</ref> As a member of the Swiss Union of Public Service Personnel, Columberg sits with the Trade Union Group in the Cantonal Council.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gewerkschaftliche Gruppe im Kantonsrat |trans-title=Trade Union Group in the Cantonal Council |url=https://www.gbkz.ch/vorstand/im-kantonsrat |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=Trade Union Confederation of the Canton of Zurich |language=de}}</ref> In 2022, she was elected with a dual mandate to the Dübendorf Municipal Council.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Leandra Columberg |url=https://www.duebendorf.ch/behoerdenmitglieder/303878 |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=City of Dübendorf |language=de-CH}}</ref>
Columberg was re-elected in the 2023 elections, placing second in her constituency.<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 February 2023 |title=Kantonsratswahlen: SP Uster hält drei Sitze, Patricia Bernet neu gewählt - SP Uster |trans-title=Cantonal Council Elections: SP Uster Holds Three Seats, Patricia Bernet Newly Elected |url=https://sp-uster.ch/termine-details/kantonsratswahlen-sp-uster-haelt-drei-sitze-patricia-bernet-neu-gewaehlt.html |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=SP Uster |language=de}}</ref> She was a member of the Audit Commission in her first term and is a member of the Justice and Public Safety Commission in her second term.<ref name=":0" /> In 2024, Columberg strongly opposed an "anti-chaotic initiative" pushed by the ruling Swiss People's Party in the cantonal council. The bill "demands that demonstrators and organizers have to foot the bill for police operations and damage caused", which Columberg argues could serve as a chilling effect to deter protests and would be "collective punishment".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blatter |first=Lara |date=15 February 2024 |title=«Anti-Chaoten-Initiative»: SVP und SP im Streitgespräch |trans-title=The 'Anti-Chaotic Initiative' Forces the Police to Undertake Expensive Operations |url=https://tsri.ch/a/clskdb4d7023a7x2tom2bps3k/anti-chaoten-initiative-svp-gegen-sp-nina-fehr-duesel-leandra-columberg |access-date=8 May 2024 |website={{Ill|Tsüri|de}} |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ehrsam |first=Thierry |date=15 February 2024 |title=Columberg (SP): Anti-Chaoten-Initiative gefährdet Grundrechte |trans-title=Columberg (SP): Anti-Chaotic Initiative Endangers Fundamental Rights |url=https://www.nau.ch/politik/regional/columberg-sp-anti-chaoten-initiative-gefahrdet-grundrechte-66698965 |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=Nau |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=11 February 2024 |title=«Anti-Chaoten-Initiative» will Chaoten zur Kasse bitten |trans-title="Anti-Chaotic Initiative" Wants to Make Chaotic People Pay |url=https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/abstimmungen-3-maerz-2024/abstimmung-kanton-zuerich-anti-chaoten-initiative-will-chaoten-zur-kasse-bitten |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen |language=de}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== Further reading == {{refbegin}} *{{cite web |last1=Columberg |first1=Leandra |title=100% Erbschaftssteuer! |url=https://juso.org/aktuelles/blog/100-erbschaftssteuer/ |website=Young Socialists Switzerland |access-date=8 May 2024 |language=de |trans-title=100% Inheritance Tax! |date=February 27, 2018}} *{{cite web |title=22-Jährige erzählt von mehrfacher Belästigung auf dem Nachhauseweg |url=https://www.zueritoday.ch/zuerich/22-jaehrige-erzaehlt-von-mehrfacher-belaestigung-auf-dem-nachhauseweg-147731371 |website=TeleZüri |access-date=8 May 2024 |language=de-ch |date=29 August 2022 |trans-title=22-Year-Old Talks About Being Harassed Several Times on the Way Home }} {{refend}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Columberg, Leandra}} Category:1999 births Category:People from Dübendorf Category:People from Uster Category:Politicians from Zurich Category:Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Category:21st-century Swiss politicians Category:21st-century Swiss women politicians Category:Swiss city councillors Category:21st-century Swiss lawyers Category:Swiss women lawyers Category:University of Zurich alumni Category:Living people Category:Date of birth missing (living people) Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Members of cantonal legislatures of Switzerland