Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

The Yakima-Herald Republic reports today that Elyse Umemoto (pictured here at the AGO's Seattle office) will compete in the Miss Nevada pageant this weekend:

Umemotopress"Umemoto, Miss Washington 2007 and second runner-up to Miss America 2008, will be one of 15 women competing Saturday for the title of Miss Nevada USA.

The winner of the pageant will represent Nevada at Donald Trump's Miss USA 2010 pageant, to be held early next year in Las Vegas.

Umemoto, a Wapato native who now lives full time in Las Vegas, championed women's issues and empowerment during her reign as Miss Washington, also often spotlighting her multiracial background: American Indian, German, Latina and Japanese.

Earlier this year, she made public that she was a victim of domestic violence during her reign as Miss Washington."

As you might recall, Elyse returned to Washington last month to endorse the AGO's new protections for domestic violence victims.

From everyone at the AGO: Good luck, Elyse. We're pulling for you.