Elizabeth Ann Fletcher (née Pannill; born February 13, 1975) is an American attorney and politician from the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

of Texas. A Democrat, she represents in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

. The district includes much of western

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Early life and education

Fletcher was born at

Hermann Hospital Memorial Hermann Health System is the largest not-for-profit health system in southeast Texas and consists of 17 hospitals, 8 Cancer Centers, 3 Heart & Vascular Institutes, and 27 sports medicine and rehabilitation centers, in addition to other ...

on February 13, 1975. She grew up in the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston and graduated from St. John's School. Fletcher left Texas to attend

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is ...

in Ohio, where she earned

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

honors, and attended

William & Mary Law School The William & Mary Law School, known historically as the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, is the professional graduate law school of the College of William & Mary. Located in Williamsburg, Virginia, the school is the oldest extant law school in th ...

in Virginia. She returned to Houston, where she worked for the law firm

Vinson & Elkins Vinson & Elkins LLP (or V&E) is an international law firm with approximately 700 lawyers worldwide headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas. The firm has offices in major energy, financial, and political centers worldwide, including Austin, Da ...

. Later, she worked at Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing, where she met her husband, Scott, and became the firm's first female law partner.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

Fletcher defeated Laura Moser in the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

after a primary and runoff election that sharply divided Democrats between Fletcher (backed by the

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds, and organizes races in ...

) and Moser (backed by Our Revolution). In the November 6 general election, Fletcher campaigned as a moderate against nine-term Republican incumbent

John Culberson John Abney Culberson (born August 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2019. A Republican, he served in in large portions of western Houston and surrounding Ha ...

, defeating him by five percentage points (52.5% to 47.5%). Culberson carried his longstanding base of west Houston, parts of which he had represented for three decades at the state and federal levels, and the

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of ...

area, but could not overcome Fletcher's strong performance in the district's share of southwest Houston and the Bear Creek area. Upon her swearing-in on January 3, 2019, Fletcher became the first Democrat and woman to represent the district since its creation in 1967.

2020

Fletcher was reelected with 50.8% of the vote to Republican nominee Wesley Hunt's 47.5%. Despite winning by a smaller margin than 2018, she held down-ballot drop-off voting to less than 4% from top-ballot candidate Joe Biden, who carried the district with 54% of the vote.

Tenure

As of September 2021, Fletcher had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time. In 2022, Fletcher was one of 16 Democrats to vote against the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.

Committee assignments

Committee on Energy and Commerce A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

Subcommittee on Health The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health is a subcommittee within the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Jurisdiction The House Subcommittee on Health has general jurisdiction over bills and resolutions relating to pub ...

** Subcommittee on Communications and Technology ** Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce *

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

** Subcommittee on Environment

Caucus memberships

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a moderate-to-conservative approach to fiscal matters. As of S ...

**Task Force on Trade (co-chair) **Health Care Task Force * Natural Gas Caucus (co-chair) * Anti-Semitism Caucus * Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus *

Black Maternal Health Caucus The Black Maternal Health Caucus is a caucus made up of mostly African-American members of the United States Congress. Congresswomen Alma Adams of North Carolina and Lauren Underwood of Illinois founded the caucus in April 2019 and currently serve a ...

*Diabetes Caucus * Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus *Gun Violence Prevention Task Force *National Corrosion Caucus *Oil and Gas Caucus *Pro-Choice Caucus *Small Brewers Caucus *

Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation The Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, DC. Established in 1989, CSF's mission is to "work with Congress, governors, and state legislatures to protect and advance hunting, an ...

* U.S.-Japan Caucus

Electoral history

Personal life

Fletcher is the sister of

Katherine Center Josh Duhamel Katherine Sherar Pannill Center (born March 4, 1972) is an American author of contemporary fiction. Early life and education Center was born and raised in Afton Oaks, Houston, Texas. She graduated from St. John's School and from V ...

. She met her husband, Scott, at the law firm where they both worked.

References

External links

Congresswoman Lizzie Pannill Fletcher
official U.S. House website
Campaign website
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Lizzie Pannill 1975 births 21st-century American politicians Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Female members of the United States House of Representatives Kenyon College alumni Living people William & Mary Law School alumni Women in Texas politics St. John's School (Texas) alumni 21st-century American women politicians