Valdez Venita Demings (née Butler; born March 12, 1957) is an American politician and former police officer serving as the U.S. representative from since 2017. The district covers most of the western half of

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

and includes much of the area around Orlando's resort parks. It includes many of Orlando's western suburbs, including Apopka and Winter Garden. From 2007 to 2011, Demings was chief of the

Orlando Police Department The Orlando Police Department (OPD) is responsible for law enforcement within the city limits of Orlando, Florida. The OPD employs over 800 sworn officers and over 150 civilian employees serving the citizens of Orlando through crime prevention, ...

, its first female chief, capping a 27-year career with the department. She has also been

first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non- monarchical head of state or chief executive. The term is also used to describe a woman seen to be at the ...

Orange County, Florida Orange County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,429,908, making it Florida's fifth most populous county. The county seat is Orlando. Orange County is the central count ...

, since December 4, 2018, when her husband

Jerry Demings Jerry L. Demings (born June 12, 1959) is an American politician and former law enforcement officer serving as Mayor of Orange County, Florida, in office since 2018. A Democrat, he previously served as Sheriff of Orange County, Florida, from 2009 ...

was sworn in as the mayor. Demings was the Democratic nominee to represent Florida's 10th congressional district in Congress in both 2012 and 2016. After losing in 2012 to Republican incumbent

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison ...

, she won in 2016 after the State Supreme Court mandated redistricting statewide. On January 15, 2020, House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

selected Demings to serve as a House impeachment manager in the first Senate trial of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

. In early August 2020, Demings was said to be one of the top contenders to be Joe Biden's vice-presidential running mate in the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala H ...

, along with

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

and

Susan Rice Susan Elizabeth Rice (born November 17, 1964) is an American diplomat, policy advisor, and public official serving as Director of the United States Domestic Policy Council since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Rice served as the 27th U.S ...

. She was the Democratic nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election in Florida, losing to Republican incumbent Marco Rubio.

Early life and education

Valdez Venita Butler was born on March 12, 1957, one of seven children born to a poor family; her father worked as a janitor, her mother as a maid. They lived in Mandarin, a neighborhood in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

. She attended segregated schools in the 1960s and graduated from Wolfson High School in 1975. Demings became interested in a career in law enforcement after serving in the "school patrol" at Dupont Junior High School. She attended

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

, graduating with a degree in

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and s ...

in 1979. In 1996, Demings earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in public administration from Webster University Orlando.

Early career

After graduating from college, Demings worked as a state

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

er in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

for 18 months. In 1983, Demings applied for a job with the

(OPD); her first assignment was on patrol on Orlando's west side. Demings was appointed chief of the Orlando Police Department in 2007, becoming the first woman to lead the department. From 2007 to 2011, she oversaw a 40% decrease in violent crime. According to a 2015 article in ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', the Orlando Police Department "has a long record of excessive-force allegations, and a lack of transparency on the subject, dating back at least as far as Demings's time as chief." A 2008 ''

Orlando Weekly ''Orlando Weekly'' is a liberal progressive alternative newsweekly distributed in the Greater Orlando area of Florida. Every Thursday, 40,000 issues of the paper are distributed to more than 1,100 locations across Orange, Osceola and Seminole co ...

'' exposé described the Orlando Police Department as "a place where rogue cops operate with impunity, and there's nothing anybody who finds himself at the wrong end of their short fuse can do about it." Demings responded with an op-ed in the ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...

'', writing, "Looking for a negative story in a police department is like looking for a prayer at church", adding, "It won't take long to find one." In the same op-ed, she cast doubt on video evidence that conflicts with officers' statements in excessive force cases, writing, "a few seconds (even of video) rarely capture the entire set of circumstances." In 2009, she had her firearm, a Sig Sauer P226R, stolen from her department vehicle while parked at her home; she was issued a written censure. The firearm has not been recovered. Demings retired from her position as chief of OPD effective June 1, 2011, after serving with the OPD for 27 years.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2016

Demings was the Democratic nominee for 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 they ...

Florida's 10th congressional district Florida's 10th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. It was reassigned in 2012, effective January 3, 2013, from the Gulf Coast to inland Central Florida. Before 2017, the district included parts of wes ...

in the 2012 elections. She faced freshman Republican

in a district that had been made slightly more Republican than its predecessor in 2010. Demings narrowly lost, taking 48% of the vote to Webster's 51%. Democrats attempted to recruit Demings to run against Webster again in 2014. She decided to run for

mayor of Orange County, Florida Mayor of Orange County, Florida is the chief executive officer and chairman of the Board of County Commissioners. The mayor is elected countywide. Duties and powers The mayor is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the county government ...

, against

Teresa Jacobs Teresa Jacobs (born April 6, 1958 in Baltimore, Maryland) is the current chairwoman of the Orange County Public School Board. Jacobs previously served as Mayor of Orange County from 2011 until taking office as school board chair in November 201 ...

, instead, but dropped out of the mayoral race on May 20, 2014. In 2015, Demings announced her candidacy for the 10th district seat after a court-ordered redistricting made the 10th significantly more Democratic ahead of the

2016 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic * 2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 ...

. Webster concluded the new 10th was unwinnable, and ran for reelection in the nearby 11th district. Demings won the Democratic nomination on August 30 and the general election in November with 65% of the vote. She is the third Democrat to win this Orlando-based district since its creation in 1973 (it was numbered as the 5th from 1973 to 1993, the 8th from 1993 to 2013, and has been the 10th since 2013).

2018

In her 2018 reelection campaign, Demings was unopposed for a second term.

2020

On May 21, 2020, Demings confirmed she was on "the shortlist" to be Joe Biden's vice presidential nominee for the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: ** ...

. She said she would accept the role if offered. Some critics, including

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

activists, criticized her record as Orlando police chief.

was announced as Biden's running mate on August 11, 2020. In November 2020, Demings was named a candidate for

United States Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of th ...

in the Biden administration.

Tenure

Demings was sworn in on January 3, 2017. She is a member of the

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 ...

and the

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce B ...

. As of March 2022, Demings had voted in line with Biden's stated position 100% of the time.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Homeland Security ** Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security * Committee on the Judiciary ** Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations (Vice Chair) ** Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law *

Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary commit ...

** Subcommittee on Defense Intelligence and Warfighter Support ** Subcommittee on Intelligence Modernization and Readiness

Caucus memberships

*Congressional Black Caucus

2022 U.S. Senate campaign

In June 2021, Demings announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination in Florida's 2022 U.S. Senate election. The incumbent U.S. Senator, Republican

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the ...

, ran for reelection in 2022. In March 2022,

PolitiFact PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times ...

reported that Demings falsely claimed that Rubio supported tax hikes. She lost to Rubio in the November 8, 2022, general election.

Political positions

Abortion

Demings received a 100% voting score from

NARAL Pro-Choice America NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access t ...

for 2017, 2018, and 2019. She received a 100% rating from

Planned Parenthood Action Fund The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reven ...

for 2020. She has an F rating from the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List.

Civil liberties

Demings received a 100% rating from the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

for the

117th Congress The 117th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on ...

Climate and environment

Demings received a 97% lifetime rating from the

League of Conservation Voters The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is an American environmental advocacy group. LCV says that it "advocates for sound environmental laws and policies, holds elected officials accountable for their votes and actions, and elects pro-environmen ...

based on scores from 2017 to 2021.

Filibuster

Demings supports eliminating the

filibuster in the United States Senate A filibuster is a tactic used in the U.S. Senate to delay or block a vote on a measure by preventing debate on it from ending. The Senate's rules place few restrictions on debate; in general, if no other senator is speaking, a senator who seek ...

Gun policy

Demings has said that she seeks to keep firearms out of the hands of "people who seek to do harm", saying that the gun control legislation she supports "isn’t about taking guns away from responsible, law-abiding people." She supported the Gun Violence Restraining Order Act of 2017, which would have provided a lawful method of temporarily confiscating firearms from people deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. Of the act, Demings said, "We must do what we can to make sure law enforcement has the tools it needs to more effectively perform the ever more challenging job of keeping us a safe nation. The Gun Violence Restraining Order Act is a major step to doing just that." After the

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at ...

in 2018, Demings opposed

arming teachers Arming teachers is equipping teachers in preschool through secondary school with firearms. Such proposals have engendered public debate regarding with whom the responsibility for providing a safe environment lies, and whether it would reduce o ...

, calling the idea "ridiculous" and saying it would "only shift the responsibility from lawmakers to others. It shifts the pain, the hurt, and the guilt to school staff who will find themselves outskilled and outgunned in active shooter situations." Demings has an "F" rating from the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...

(NRA). She has accused the NRA of "hijacking" conversations after

mass shootings in the United States Mass shootings are incidents involving multiple victims of firearm-related violence. Definitions vary, with no single, broadly accepted definition. One definition is an act of public firearm violence—excluding gang killings, domestic violen ...

to make them about the

Second Amendment The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

Healthcare

Demings supports and has vowed to defend the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

. In June 2019 Demings released a congressional report on insulin prices, criticizing manufacturers for raising prices well beyond manufacturing costs, and said it was "inexcusable that American families are dying for the sake of corporate profit."

Impeachments of President Donald Trump

On December 18, 2019, Demings voted for both articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. She was selected as one of seven

House impeachment managers An impeachment manager is a legislator appointed to serve as a prosecutor in an impeachment trial. They are also often called "House managers" or "House impeachment manager" when appointed from a legislative chamber that is called a "House of Repr ...

who presented the impeachment case against Trump during his trial before the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

. On January 13, 2021, Demings voted for the single article of impeachment in the second impeachment of President Donald Trump.

2021 U.S. Electoral College vote count

Citing the unusually contested

2021 United States Electoral College vote count The count of the Electoral College ballots during a joint session of the 117th United States Congress, pursuant to the Electoral Count Act, on January 6–7, 2021, was the final step to confirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the ...

and the

2021 storming of the United States Capitol On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-United States President, U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol, U ...

, Demings joined Representative

Cori Bush Cori Anika Bush (born July 21, 1976) is an American politician, registered nurse, pastor, and Black Lives Matter activist serving as the U.S. representative for . The district includes all of the city of St. Louis and most of northern St. Loui ...

in sponsoring House Resolution 25 on January 11, 2021, seeking to expel the 138 Republican U.S. Representatives who voted to object to the electoral college certification.

Personal life

Demings's husband,

, is mayor of

, and the former Orange County Sheriff. He served as the chief of the Orlando Police Department, the first African American to do so, from 1999 to 2002. The two met on patrol in the OPD; they married in 1988 and have three children. Demings is a member of

The Links The Links is an American invitation-only social and service organization of prominent Black women in the United States. Founded in 1946, it is the largest nationwide organization of Black women in the USA. Members include multiple prominent wome ...

an
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc

References

External links

Congresswoman Val Demings
official U.S. House website
Val Demings for U.S. Senate
campaign website * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Demings, Val 1957 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American people in Florida politics African-American police officers American women police officers Candidates in the 2012 United States elections Candidates in the 2014 United States elections Candidates in the 2022 United States Senate elections Chiefs of the Orlando Police Department Delta Sigma Theta members Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida Female members of the United States House of Representatives Florida State University alumni Living people Politicians from Jacksonville, Florida Women in Florida politics Webster University alumni 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women House managers for the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump