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Lizzie Fletcher

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Lizzie Fletcher
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2019
Preceded byJohn Culberson
Personal details
Born
Elizabeth Ann Pannill

(1975-02-13) February 13, 1975 (age 49)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Scott Fletcher
​
(m. 2007)​
RelativesKatherine Center (sister)
EducationKenyon College (BA)
College of William and Mary (JD)
WebsiteHouse website
Lizzie Fletcher's voice
Fletcher honors Roe v. Wade counsel Sarah Weddington
Recorded March 29, 2022

Elizabeth Ann Fletcher[1] (née Pannill; born February 13, 1975) is an American attorney and politician from Texas. A Democrat, she has represented Texas's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. The district includes parts of southwestern Houston and Harris County, as well as northern portions of Fort Bend County.

Early life and education

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Fletcher was born at Hermann Hospital in Houston on February 13, 1975.[2][3] She grew up in the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston and graduated from St. John's School.[4]

Fletcher left Texas to attend Kenyon College in Ohio, where she earned Phi Beta Kappa honors, and attended William & Mary Law School in Virginia.[2]

She returned to Houston, where she worked for the law firm Vinson & Elkins, where she met her husband, Scott.[5][6] Later, she worked at Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing and became the firm's first female law partner.[2][7]

U.S. House of Representatives

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Elections

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2018

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See also: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas § District 7

Fletcher defeated Laura Moser in the Democratic Party primary election after a primary and runoff election that sharply divided Democrats between Fletcher (backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) and Moser (backed by Our Revolution).[8][9]

In the November 6 general election, Fletcher campaigned as a moderate against nine-term Republican incumbent John Culberson, defeating him by five percentage points (52.5% to 47.5%).[10][11] 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 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.[11]

2020

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See also: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas § District 7

Fletcher was reelected with 50.8% of the vote to Republican nominee Wesley Hunt's 47.5%.[12] 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.[citation needed]

2022

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See also: 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas § District 7

Fletcher was reelected with 63.7% of the vote to Republican nominee Johnny Teague's 36.21%.[13] She benefited from the 2020 congressional redistricting that shifted her district from a margin of 8.5 percentage points for Democrats to a 30-point margin.[14]

Tenure

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As of August 2023, Fletcher had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 99% of the time.[15]

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.[16][17]

In February 2023, Fletcher, along with Representatives Randy Weber (R‑TX 14th), Nancy Mace (R‑SC 01st), Abigail Spanberger (D‑VA 07th), Don Davis (D‑NC 01st), and Anna Eshoo (D‑CA 16th), introduced the Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems Act, which aims to share federal offshore wind power revenue with states for coastal protection and restoration work. The bill was also introduced in the Senate.[18][19]

Committee assignments

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Caucus memberships

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[24][better source needed]

Electoral history

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Democratic primary results, 2018[25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lizzie Fletcher 9,731 29.3
Democratic Laura Moser 8,077 24.4
Democratic Jason Westin 6,364 19.2
Democratic Alex Triantaphyllis 5,219 15.7
Democratic Ivan Sanchez 1,890 5.7
Democratic Joshua Butler 1,245 3.7
Democratic James Cargas 650 2.0
Total votes 33,176 100.0
Democratic primary runoff results, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lizzie Fletcher 11,423 67.1
Democratic Laura Moser 5,605 32.9
Total votes 17,028 100.0
Texas's 7th congressional district, 2018[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lizzie Fletcher 127,959 52.5
Republican John Culberson (incumbent) 115,642 47.5
Total votes 243,601 100.0
Democratic gain from Republican
Texas's 7th congressional district, 2020
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lizzie Fletcher (incumbent) 159,529 50.8
Republican Wesley Hunt 149,054 47.4
Libertarian Shawn Kelly 5,542 1.8
Total votes 314,125 100.0
Democratic hold
Texas's 7th congressional district, 2022
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lizzie Fletcher (incumbent) 115,994 63.8
Republican Johnny Teague 65,835 36.2
Total votes 181,829 100.0
Democratic hold
Texas's 7th congressional district, 2024
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lizzie Fletcher (incumbent) 149,820 61.3
Republican Caroline Kane 94,651 38.7
Total votes 244,471 100.0
Democratic hold

Personal life

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Fletcher is the sister of Katherine Center.[27] She met her husband, Scott, at the law firm where they both worked.[6]

Fletcher is a Methodist.[28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "William and Mary Law Review Staff, 2004-2005" (PDF). Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Texas New Members 2019". The Hill. November 15, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018. A Houston native, Fletcher grew up in the district before heading to Ohio to attend Kenyon College, where she was in the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa. She later attended William & Mary Law School.
  3. ^ "Meet Lizzie Fletcher | Lizzie Pannill Fletcher | U.S. Congress | Texas 7th Congressional District". Lizziefletcher.com. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  4. ^ Abby Livingston (May 24, 2018). "Lizzie Pannill Fletcher's bid against U.S. Rep. John Culberson emerging as major fall fight". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  5. ^ "In this Texas district, the Democrats seem serious about winning". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Elaina Plott (September 2, 2018). "Democrats Hope to Flip Houston's Seventh House District". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  7. ^ Andrew Edmonson (October 5, 2018). "War for the West – OutSmart Magazine". Outsmartmagazine.com. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  8. ^ Sullivan, Sean; Weigel, Dave (May 23, 2018). "Lizzie Fletcher defeats Laura Moser in bitter Democratic primary in Texas". Washington Post. Retrieved May 26, 2018. Moser still made it into a runoff against Fletcher but was unable to build momentum during the next two months.
  9. ^ Livingston, Abby (May 24, 2018). "With primary behind her, Lizzie Pannill Fletcher's bid against U.S. Rep. John Culberson emerging as major midterm fight for fall". Texas Tribune. Retrieved November 21, 2018. Moser placed second behind Fletcher out of seven candidates in the March primary but lost badly to Fletcher in a runoff Tuesday night...But while Moser ran a spirited campaign against Fletcher, she conceded the race quickly and graciously and pledged to back Fletcher's bid.
  10. ^ Edgar Walters & Kathryn Lundstrom (November 6, 2018). "Democrat Lizzie Fletcher defeats Texas GOP Congressman John Culberson". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  11. ^ a b Scherer, Jasper (November 7, 2018). "Lizzie Fletcher looks to legislate the way she won: in moderation". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved November 20, 2018. When Fletcher unseated Culberson Tuesday night by a relatively comfortable five points, however, she did so behind a Houston-centric campaign that emphasized her local roots and pulled in right-leaning independents and disillusioned Republicans. Now, having flipped a seat controlled for the last 52 years by Republicans, Fletcher heads to Washington with a target on her back, but also a desire to legislate with the same moderate approach she used to build her campaign.
  12. ^ "Rep. Lizzie Fletcher wins 2nd term in Texas' District 7 race". November 3, 2020.
  13. ^ "Lizzie Fletcher re-elected U.S. House Representative for Texas's 7th District". November 8, 2022.
  14. ^ Corasaniti, Nick; Koeze, Ella; Lu, Denise (October 3, 2021). "How Texas Plans to Make Its House Districts Even Redder". The New York Times.
  15. ^ Bycoffe, Anna Wiederkehr and Aaron (August 31, 2023). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?". Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  16. ^ "House passes antitrust bill that hikes M&A fees as larger efforts targeting tech have stalled". CNBC. September 29, 2022.
  17. ^ "H.R. 3843: Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022 -- House Vote #460 -- Sep 29, 2022".
  18. ^ "Cassidy, Whitehouse Reintroduce Bill to Strengthen Revenue Sharing Program" (Press release). February 9, 2024.
  19. ^ "Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher Reintroduces Bipartisan Legislation To Strengthen Coastal Revenue Sharing Program" (Press release). February 9, 2024.
  20. ^ "Committees and Caucuses". U.S. Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  21. ^ "Rep. Lizzie Fletcher". House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  22. ^ "Leadership | New Democrat Coalition". newdemocratcoalition.house.gov. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  23. ^ "Rare Disease Congressional Caucus". Every Life Foundation for Rare Diseases. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  24. ^ "Committees and Caucuses". Lizzie. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  25. ^ "2018 Primary Election Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  26. ^ "Texas Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  27. ^ @katherinecenter (May 12, 2017). "NYT bestselling author Katherine Center on Twitter: "Totally in awe of my little sister, Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, who just announced she is running for Congress in Texas"" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  28. ^ "Religious affiliation of members of 118th Congress" (PDF). PEW Research Center. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lizzie Fletcher.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 7th congressional district
2019–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States representatives by seniority
235th 		Succeeded by
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