Summer Lynn Lee (born November 26, 1987) is an American politician and community organizer serving as the

U.S. representative 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 they c ...

for

Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district is located in southwestern Pennsylvania, which includes Pittsburgh and much of Allegheny County. It has been represented since January 3, 2023 by Summer Lee. Prior to 2018, the 12th district was locate ...

since 2023. A member of 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 ...

, Lee served as a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

for the 34th district from 2019 to 2022. With the support of the local chapter of the

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Democratic Socialists of America#Tendencies within the DSA, multi-tendency Socialism, socialist and Labour movement, labor-oriented political organization. Its roots ...

, she defeated incumbent Paul Costa in the 2018 Democratic primary election with over 67% of the vote. Lee was the first

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

woman to represent

Southwestern Pennsylvania Greater Pittsburgh is a populous region centered around its largest city and economic hub, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The region encompasses Pittsburgh's urban core county, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny, and six adjacent Pennsylvania ...

in the state legislature. Lee was the Democratic nominee in the 2022 election to represent

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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

. She won the primary by less than 1% of the vote over her closest opponent,

Steve Irwin Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 19624 September 2006), known as "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian zookeeper, conservationist, television personality, wildlife educator, and environmentalist. Irwin grew up around crocodiles and ot ...

, the chair of the State Advisory Committee for the

United States Commission on Civil Rights The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) is a bipartisan, independent commission of the United States federal government, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, that is charged with the responsibility for ...

. She won the general election, and became the first Black woman from Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives.

Early life and education

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

heritage, Lee was raised in

North Braddock, Pennsylvania North Braddock is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. North Braddock was organized from a part of Braddock Township in 1897. The borough prides itself in being the "Birth Place of Steel" as the home of Andrew Carnegie's ...

, and attended

Woodland Hills High School Woodland Hills Junior / Senior High School is a large, suburban public high school providing grades 9-12 for the Woodland Hills School District located in Churchill, Pennsylvania, USA. It serves the communities of Braddock, Braddock Hills, Chalfa ...

. She graduated from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

in 2009 and earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...

in 2015. She campaigned for

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

in the 2016 Democratic primaries after graduating.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Lee challenged incumbent Representative Paul Costa in the Democratic primary for the 34th district in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. An organizer from Pittsburgh's DSA chapter approached her about running after she led a successful

write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

campaign for a

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

candidate. She defeated Costa, 67.8% to 32.2%, attributing her victory to

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

campaigning. She was unopposed in the general election.

Committee assignments

* Education * Health * Judiciary

U.S House of Representatives

Elections

2022

In October 2021, Lee announced her candidacy for

Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district was a district including the city of Pittsburgh and parts of surrounding suburbs. A variety of working class and majority black suburbs located to the east of the city were included, such as McKeesport ...

after the incumbent representative,

Mike Doyle Michael, Mick or Mike Doyle may refer to: Politics * Michael Doyle (Irish politician), Irish Farmers' Party politician from Wexford, TD from 1922 to 1927 *Michael Doyle, alleged member of the Molly Maguires *Mike Doyle (American politician) (born ...

, announced his retirement. After Pennsylvania's new congressional districts were chosen in February 2022, most of the old 18th district, including

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

as well as parts of the Mon Valley and Westmoreland County, became the 12th district, and Lee announced she would run there. Lee won the Democratic primary election on May 17, 2022, defeating rival

. Though Irwin had an early lead on election night with early and mail-in ballots, Lee emerged with a victory of around 740 votes once in-person Election Day votes were counted. She won the Allegheny County portion of the district by almost 4,500 votes. Most networks had declared Lee the winner by May 20, and Irwin conceded that day. In the November 8 general election, Lee defeated Republican Mike Doyle (no relation to the Democratic incumbent). Lee simultaneously ran for reelection to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives; she was reelected to a third term with little opposition, but was required to resign the seat to assume her new role in the U.S. House, which she did on December 7, 2022. With elections in the 32nd district, where incumbent Tony DeLuca died in October 2022 but was reelected posthumously to a 21st term, and the 35th district, where incumbent Austin Davis was simultaneously reelected to a third full term and elected lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, an unusual situation arose in which the

gained control of the chamber, having won 102 seats to the Republican Party's 101 in the 2022 elections, but would begin the new legislative term with just 99 members, due to these three vacancies in solidly Democratic districts in Allegheny County. This leaves ongoing uncertainty as to who will serve as speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives between the start of the new term on January 3, 2023 and the special elections to fill the three vacant seats, which have been scheduled for February 7.

Caucus memberships

Congressional Progressive Caucus The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most Left-wing politics, left-leaning faction of the ...

Electoral history

2018

2020

2022

Personal life

Lee lives in

Swissvale, Pennsylvania Swissvale is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, east of downtown Pittsburgh. Named for a farmstead owned by James Swisshelm, during the industrial age it was the site of the Union Switch & Signal, Union ...

Notes

References

External links

Congresswoman Summer Lee
official U.S. House website
Summer Lee for Congress
campaign website
Representative Summer Lee
official legislative website * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Summer 1987 births 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American state legislators in Pennsylvania African-American women in politics Female members of the United States House of Representatives Howard University School of Law alumni Lawyers from Pittsburgh Living people Democratic Socialists of America politicians from Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania People from North Braddock, Pennsylvania Politicians from Pittsburgh Women state legislators in Pennsylvania

Early life and education

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Committee assignments

U.S House of Representatives

Elections

2022

Caucus memberships

Electoral history

2018

2020

2022

Personal life

See also

Notes

References

External links