Zoe Lofgren
| Zoe Lofgren | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 16th district |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 1995 |
|
| Preceded by | Don Edwards |
| Chairman of the House Ethics Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Gene Green |
| Succeeded by | Jo Bonner |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sue Lofgren San Mateo, California |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | John Marshall Collins |
| Residence | San Jose, California |
| Alma mater | Stanford University, Santa Clara University School of Law |
| Occupation | attorney, political assistant |
| Religion | Lutheran |
Zoe Lofgren (born December 21, 1947) is the U.S. Representative for California's 16th congressional district, serving since 1995. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in San Jose. On December 15, 2011, she was declared "a Hero of the Internet"[by whom?] for her role in the Stop Online Piracy Act House Judiciary Committee hearings, in which she defended the current state of the internet in opposition of the bill. She has also opposed the data retention requirements in the H.R. 1981 (the Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011).[1]
Contents |
[edit] Early life, education, and early career
A lifelong Bay Area resident, Lofgren attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto, earned her B.A. at Stanford University and a J.D. at Santa Clara University School of Law. She left the San Jose area for a few years after graduation from Stanford, to serve as a staff assistant to Congressman Don Edwards, in whose office she worked on, among other projects, the attempted impeachment of Richard Nixon. She was also instrumental in the creation of a Bay Area wilderness area that now bears the name of Edwards.
Returning to San Jose, Lofgren worked in Edwards' district office, while at the same time earning her law degree. After two years as partner at an immigration law firm in San Jose, she was elected first to a community college board, then to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, where she served for 13 years. Lofgren also spent three years teaching classes on immigration law at her former law school at Santa Clara University.
[edit] U.S. House of Representatives
In 1994, Edwards decided to retire after 32 years in Congress. Lofgren entered the Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic district—as a decided underdog, but managed to defeat the favorite, former San Jose mayor Tom McEnery. Lofgren's victory virtually assured her of becoming only the second person to represent the district since its creation in 1963 (it was numbered as the 9th District from 1963 to 1975, as the 10th from 1975 to 1993 and has been the 16th since 1993). She has been reelected eight times with no substantive opposition.
Lofgren is currently the chair of the 34-member California Democratic Congressional Delegation. She serves on the Judiciary Committee and is the chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. In April 2011, she became the first member of Congress to call for federal investigation into the Secure Communities deportation program.[2]
During the 110th Congress, Lofgren worked for the development of fusion energy. She initiated a bill that would accelerate its uses as an alternative energy solution. Another piece of legislation that she recently authored has the goal of providing lower Internet access rates to schools, libraries, and other public institutions.
She is a leader on intellectual property law issues, and has fought against what she views as the unnecessary expansion of copyright law.
Beginning in 2009, Lofgren served as chair of the House Ethics Committee. In doing so, she presided over a rare sanction of censure, against long-time member Charles B. Rangel.[3]
[edit] Committee assignments
- United States House Committee on House Administration
- United States House Committee on the Judiciary
- United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
[edit] Caucuses
- Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (Associate Member)
[edit] Other leadership positions
- Chair of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation
[edit] Electoral history
| 16th Congressional District of California, Democratic Primary election, June 7, 1994[4] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Zoe Lofgren | 16,168 | 45.3% | |
| Democratic | Tom McEnery | 15,037 | 42.2% | |
| Democratic | Dick Lane | 1,537 | 4.3% | |
| Democratic | Cynthia Williamson | 1,414 | 4.0% | |
| Democratic | Tom Harney | 780 | 2.2% | |
| Democratic | Edward R. Dykes | 721 | 2.0% | |
| Totals | 35,657 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 1994[5] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Zoe Lofgren | 74,935 | 65.0% | |
| Republican | Lyle J. Smith | 40,409 | 35.0% | |
| No party | Barraza (write-in) | 8 | 0.0% | |
| Totals | 115,352 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 1996[6] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Zoe Lofgren (incumbent) | 94,020 | 65.7% | |
| Republican | Chuck Wojslaw | 43,197 | 30.2% | |
| Libertarian | David Bonino | 4,124 | 2.8% | |
| Natural Law | Abaan Abu-Shumays | 1,866 | 1.3% | |
| Totals | 143,207 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 1998[7] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Zoe Lofgren (incumbent) | 85,503 | 72.82% | |
| Republican | Horace Eugene Thayn | 27,494 | 23.42% | |
| Natural Law | John H. Black | 4,417 | 3.76% | |
| Totals | 117,414 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 2000[8] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Zoe Lofgren (incumbent) | 115,118 | 72.1% | |
| Republican | Horace "Gene" Thayn | 37,213 | 23.3% | |
| Libertarian | Dennis Michael Umphress | 4,742 | 3.0% | |
| Natural Law | Edward J. Klein | 2,673 | 1.6% | |
| Totals | 159,746 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 2002[9] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Zoe Lofgren (incumbent) | 72,370 | 67.1% | |
| Republican | Douglas Adams McNea | 32,182 | 29.8% | |
| Libertarian | Dennis Michael Umphress | 3,434 | 3.1% | |
| Totals | 104,556 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 2004[10] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Zoe Lofgren (incumbent) | 129,222 | 70.9% | |
| Republican | Lawrence R. Wiesner | 47,992 | 26.4% | |
| Libertarian | Markus Welch | 5,067 | 2.7% | |
| Totals | 182,281 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 2006[11] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Zoe Lofgren (incumbent) | 98,929 | 72.8% | |
| Republican | Charel Winston | 37,130 | 27.2% | |
| Totals | 136,059 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 2008[12] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Zoe Lofgren (incumbent) | 146,481 | 71.3% | |
| Republican | Charel Winston | 49,399 | 24.1% | |
| Libertarian | Steven Wells | 9,447 | 4.6% | |
| Totals | 205,327 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Zoe Lofgren (incumbent) | 105,841 | 67.9% | |
| Republican | Daniel Sahagun | 37,913 | 24.3% | |
| Libertarian | Edward M. Gonzalez | 12,304 | 7.8% | |
| Totals | 156,058 | 100.0% | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
[edit] References
- ^ Gross, Grant (July 28, 2011). "House Panel Votes to Require ISPs to Keep Customer Records". PC World. http://www.pcworld.com/article/236866/house_panel_votes_to_require_isps_to_keep_customer_records.html. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- ^ Romney, Lee (April 22, 2011). "Congresswoman calls for investigation of enforcement program that screens for illegal immigrants in jails". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/04/congresswoman-calls-for-investigation-of-enforcement-program-that-screens-for-illegal-immigrants-in-.html.
- ^ Kane, Paul; Farentholt, David A. (December 2, 2010). "House censures Rep. Charles Rangel in 333-79 vote". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/02/AR2010120201626.html?hpid=topnews.
- ^ Our Campaigns "California District 16 - Democratic Primary Race," (retrieved on August 8th, 2009).
- ^ Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1994" (retrieved on August 8th, 2009).
- ^ Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 1996" (retrieved on August 8th, 2009).
- ^ Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1998" (retrieved on August 8th, 2009).
- ^ Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2000" (retrieved on August 8th, 2009).
- ^ 2002 Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002" (retrieved on August 8th, 2009).
- ^ Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2004" (retrieved on August 8th, 2009).
- ^ 2006 Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2006" (retrieved on August 8th, 2009).
- ^ 2006 Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 2008" (retrieved on August 8th, 2009).
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Zoe Lofgren |
- U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren official U.S. House site
- Zoe Lofgren for U.S. Congress official campaign site
- Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Congressional profile at GovTrack
- Congressional profile at OpenCongress
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
- Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Appearances on C-SPAN programs
- Profile at SourceWatch
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Don Edwards |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 16th congressional district 1995–Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Gene Green Texas |
Chairman of House Ethics Committee 2009–2011 |
Succeeded by Jo Bonner Alabama |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Frank LoBiondo R-New Jersey |
United States Representatives by seniority 108th |
Succeeded by Sue Myrick R-North Carolina |
- 1947 births
- American Lutherans
- California Democrats
- Female members of the United States House of Representatives
- Living people
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from California
- People from San Jose, California
- Santa Clara University School of Law alumni
- Stanford University alumni
- American people of Swedish descent
- Women in California politics
