Cassie Donegan

Early life Donegan was born and raised in Smithfield, Virginia, in the Hampton Roads region of the state. As an adolescent, she was active in local theater in her hometown, performing in plays and musicals while a student at the York County School of the Arts and Bethel Christian School in Hampton, Virginia. She later returned to pageantry as an adult, winning the title of Miss New York Volunteer 2024. Miss America 2026 In January 2025, Donegan won the Miss Five Boroughs 2025 pageant in New York City, which qualified her to compete for the Miss New York 2025 title. The pageant was held on July 19, where Donegan went on to finish as the first runner-up to the original winner Mina Liang.

As Miss New York 2025, Donegan competed at the Miss America 2026 pageant held in September 2025 in Orlando, Florida. Ahead of the competition, she adopted "Promoting Arts Education in Our School Systems" as her advocacy platform, which supported arts education in schools. During the pageant, Donegan advanced from the initial pool of 52 contestants into the top 11, and for the talent competition performed the song "A Darker Shade of Blue" from the musical Some Like It Hot, for which she was named one of the three talent competition winners. She ultimately advanced into the top five and was later declared the winner of the competition, becoming the eighth woman representing New York to become Miss America.