Maryland Del. Teresa S. Woorman poses for a photo with her cats and a basket of treats gifted to her by Oprah Winfrey. Photo courtesy of Teresa Woorman.
Maryland Del. Teresa S. Woorman poses for a photo with her cats and a basket of treats gifted to her by Oprah Winfrey. Photo courtesy of Teresa Woorman.

One Maryland state delegate is feline meow-velous after Oprah Winfrey sent her flowers, cat treats, and a note of appreciation this week.

Maryland Del. Teresa Saavedra Woorman (D-Montgomery County) went viral last month after cameras cut to her face when Winfrey mentioned a “childless cat lady” in her speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Woorman was representing Maryland as a convention delegate in support of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“When a house is on fire, we don’t ask about the homeowner’s race or religion,” Winfrey said in her speech. “We don’t wonder who their partner is or how they voted. 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.”

Winfrey was referencing remarks made by Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance, who told Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson that Democrats are “childless cat ladies” who “don’t really have a direct stake” in the country.

Born in Mexico, Woorman moved to the United States when she was 9 years old. She has worked as a political staffer since graduating college, including as an aide to Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. In August, Woorman was tapped to fill a vacancy on the District 16 delegation.

About a week before the Democratic National Convention, Woorman was sworn in to her seat in the Maryland House of Delegates. During her opening remarks at the swearing-in ceremony, Woorman introduced herself as a “childless cat lady.” She has two cats, Snow White and Oscar, as well as a dog named Gatsby.

The freshman delegate doesn’t know whether the DNC camera person was aware of her self-proclaimed “childless cat lady” status.

“I have no idea whether that camera person did their research or whatever, but
the Maryland delegation was really close to the stage so we were in prime camera
position,” she said. “I know everybody around me was doing the most to try to get on camera, and I wasn’t particularly trying for that, and I ended up on there.”

While many reactions to Woorman’s viral moment were positive and affirming, some social media users made negative comments about her appearance and her politics.

Woorman surmised that Winfrey sent her the gifts — which included a huge bouquet of roses and a basket of cat treats — because Woorman didn’t ask to be in the spotlight in this way.

Winfrey’s letter that accompanied the gifts read:

Dear Teresa,

Thank you for rising to this moment with grace and humor. Enclosed are some treats for you and your cherished cats to enjoy.

Blessings,

Oprah

But the Maryland delegate has taken the increased attention in stride. She even added “Childless cat lady from the DNC” to her profile on X (formerly Twitter).

“I just decided to own it and out myself again as a childless cat lady…. I’m excited for
Harris/Walz to get elected, so whatever brings attention to it,” Woorman said.

Woorman is a big Taylor Swift fan and was on a “Cat Ladies for Kamala” call when the pop star endorsed the Harris/Walz campaign on Instagram after the presidential debate Tuesday night. (Swift, too, signed her post “Childless Cat Lady.”) Woorman announced to the more than 500 people on the call that Swift was officially on board.

Ahead of the November general election, Woorman hopes more people will help get out the vote by discussing the candidates with the people in their circles.

“We see politics as a zero-sum game, and we see it like it’s something that’s really far
away from us,” she said. “But research shows that people are more likely to listen to
somebody that they know. So, we have that within us. Each one of us have talked to the
people that we know and make a difference. It doesn’t have to be a big gesture that
you do or a big impact that you have. It’s just doing what you can do.”

As for Woorman’s circle of pets: she said her cats are loving the toys from Winfrey. Her dog, who thinks he’s a cat, is also playing with the catnip toys.

“He will play fetch with the little catnip toys, and he will smell catnip,” she said. “And I don’t know if he’s pretending, but he will act like it’s affecting him the way it affects them. So even though he’s not getting all the attention right now, he’s pretty much acting like he is.”