Laurel Frances Lee (née Moore; born March 26, 1974) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the

U.S. 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 ...

for

Florida's 15th congressional district Florida's 15th congressional district is an electoral district for the U.S. Congress and was reassigned in 2012, effective January 2013, to the northern parts of Hillsborough and Polk counties as well as the southernmost parts of Lake. See ...

since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, she was a judge on Florida's Thirteenth Judicial Circuit from 2013 to 2019 and was the 30th

Secretary of State of Florida The Secretary of State of Florida is an executive officer of the state government of the U.S. state of Florida, established since the original 1838 state constitution. Like the corresponding officials in other states, the original charge of th ...

from 2019 to 2022.

Legal career

Lee began her legal career as an attorney for the Carlton Fields law firm in 2003 before becoming an assistant public defender in 2005. Lee also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida from 2007 until her appointment by then-Governor

Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers, born December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019. Scott ...

to a judgeship on the Hillsborough County Circuit Court in 2013. She was unopposed for election to a full six-year term in 2014.

Florida Secretary of State

Lee was appointed

Florida Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Florida is an executive officer of the state government of the U.S. state of Florida, established since the original 1838 state constitution. Like the corresponding officials in other states, the original charge of the ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 46th governor of Florida since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, DeSantis represented Florida's 6th district in the U.S. House of Represe ...

on January 28, 2019, replacing Mike Ertel, who resigned after less than a month in office when a 2005 photo of him wearing

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

as part of a Halloween costume as a

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

victim surfaced. In October 2020, weeks before the 2020 election, Lee sought to purge felons from voter rolls if they had outstanding court debts. ''Politico'' called the move "a surprise, late-hour move that comes after more than 2 million people already have voted in the presidential battleground." Lee's decision was not distributed to the wider public, only to local election officials. In December 2021, Lee made a criminal referral to

Florida Attorney General The Florida attorney general is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs. The office is one of Florida's t ...

Ashley Moody Ashley Brooke Moody (born March 28, 1975) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Florida attorney general since January 2019. During her tenure as Florida attorney general, Moody has supported lawsuits to invalidate the Affordable ...

seeking an investigation into potentially fraudulent signatures collected by

Las Vegas Sands Las Vegas Sands Corporation is an American casino and resort company with corporate headquarters in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Its corporate mission is to create "Integrated Resorts" which feature a combination of gambling, accommodation, ...

in a petition drive to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot for the November 2022 elections that would expand casino gambling. On May 12, 2022, Lee announced she was resigning effective four days later, seven months before the 2022 election. She did not offer a reason for resigning. On May 17, she announced her candidacy 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

in in the 2022 elections. She won the general election by a wide margin.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

For the

118th Congress The 118th United States Congress is the next 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 is scheduled to meet in Washington ...

: * Committee on Homeland Security ** Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection ** Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security *

Committee on House Administration The United States House Committee on House Administration deals with the general administration matters of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on House Administration was created by the Legislative Reorganization A ...

** Subcommittee on Elections (Chair) *

Committee on the Judiciary Committee on the Judiciary may mean: * United States House Committee on the Judiciary * United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standi ...

** Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet ** Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance ** Subcommittee on Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight

Personal life

Lee is married to Tom Lee, a former member of the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

. They have three children. They live in

Brandon, Florida Brandon is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 114,626 at the 2020 ...

. Lee is

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

References

External links

Congresswoman Laurel Lee
official U.S. House website
Campaign website

Laurel Lee on the Border, Ukraine, and Elections
* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Laurel M. Living people 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women politicians Assistant United States Attorneys Female members of the United States House of Representatives Florida Republicans Florida state court judges Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni Protestants from Florida Public defenders Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida Secretaries of State of Florida University of Florida alumni Women in Florida politics 1974 births