Lizzie Pannill Fletcher

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Lizzie Pannill Fletcher
Lizzie Fletcher, official portrait, 116th Congress.jpg
Member of the U.S.HouseofRepresentatives
from Texas's 7th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2019
Preceded by John Culberson
Personal details
Born
Elizabeth Ann Pannill

(1975-02-13) February 13, 1975 (age 44)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s)Scott Fletcher
Education Kenyon College (BA)
College of William and Mary (JD)
Website House website

Elizabeth Ann Pannill Fletcher [1] (born February 13, 1975) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Texas. A Democrat, she is the member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas's 7th congressional district . The district, which was once represented by future President George H. W. Bush, includes much of western Houston.

U.S. state constituent political entity of the United States

In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons restricted by certain types of court orders. Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.

Democratic Party (United States) Major political party in the United States

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with its rival, the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party.

United States House of Representatives lower house of the United States Congress

The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they compose the legislature of the United States.

Contents

Early life and education

Fletcher was born at Hermann Hospital in Houston on February 13, 1975. [2] [3] Fletcher was raised in the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston, later graduating from St. John's School. [4]

Houston City in Texas, United States

Houston is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas, fourth most populous city in the United States, as well as the sixth most populous in North America, with an estimated 2018 population of 2,328,419. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the seat of Harris County and the principal city of the Greater Houston metropolitan area, which is the fifth most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the second most populous in Texas after the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, with a population of 6,997,384 in 2018.

St. Johns School (Texas) school in Houston, Texas, United States

St. John's School is a coeducational independent day school in Houston, Texas, United States, presenting a 13-year sequence of university preparatory training. The School was founded in 1946 and is a member of the Houston Area Independent Schools, the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS), and the Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC). Though situated adjacent to St. John the Divine church, St. John's claims no religious affiliation.

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

Kenyon College private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States

Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission.

Phi Beta Kappa honor society for the liberal arts and sciences in the United States

The Phi Beta Kappa Society (ΦΒΚ) is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and is often described as its most prestigious honor society, due to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and to induct the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at American colleges and universities. It was founded at the College of William and Mary on December 5, 1776 as the first collegiate Greek-letter fraternity and was among the earliest collegiate fraternal societies.

William & Mary Law School

The Marshall–Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary, commonly referred to as William & Mary Law School, is the oldest law school in the United States. Located in Williamsburg, Virginia, it is a part of William & Mary, the second oldest college and first university in the United States. The Law School has an enrollment of 636 full-time students seeking a juris doctor (J.D.) or an LL.M. in the American Legal System, a two or three semester program for lawyers trained outside the United States.

She then returned to Houston, where she worked for the law firm Vinson & Elkins. [5] [6] Later, she worked at Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing, where she handled complex business litigation cases, becoming their first female law partner in 2015. [2] [7]

Vinson & Elkins

Vinson & Elkins LLP is an international law firm with approximately 700 lawyers worldwide headquartered in the First City Tower in Downtown Houston, Texas.

U.S. House of Representatives

In the 2018 elections, Fletcher ran for the United States House of Representatives in Texas's 7th congressional district . [8] She defeated Laura Moser in the Democratic Party primary election after a primary and runoff election that saw Democrats sharply divided between Fletcher (backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) and Moser (backed by Bernie Sanders's group Our Revolution.) [9] [10]

Texass 7th congressional district

Texas District 7 of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves a small area of western Harris County. As of the 2000 census, District 7 comprises 651,620 people.

Laura Moser female politician and author from Texas

Laura Moser is an American author and politician, the founder of the anti-Trump resistance movement Daily Action. She was a candidate for the United States Congress in Texas's 7th congressional district for the Democratic Party.

A primary election is the process by which voters, either the general public or members of a political party, can indicate their preference for a candidate in an upcoming general election or by-election, thus narrowing the field of candidates.

In the November 6 general election, Fletcher campaigned as a moderate against nine-term Republican incumbent John Culberson, ultimately defeating him by five percentage points (52.5% versus 47.5% of all votes.) [11] [12]

John Culberson American politician

John Abney Culberson is an American attorney and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2019. A Republican, he served in Texas's 7th congressional district in large portions of western Houston and surrounding Harris County.

According to the Houston Chronicle: [12]

The [Democratic] primary in effect became a referendum on whether Democrats should oppose Culberson by whipping up the dormant part of their base or, by nominating Fletcher, pull in centrists and ex-Republicans. Tuesday's election results proved they could do both: In beating Culberson with more than 52 percent of the vote, Fletcher's winning coalition included right-leaning moderates, but also hardline progressives who turned out in droves to support Democrat Beto O'Rourke's turnout-driven Senate campaign.

Culberson held his own in his longstanding base of west Houston, parts of which he had represented for three decades at the state and federal levels, as well as in the Memorial area. However, Fletcher swamped him in the district's share of southwest Houston, as well as the Bear Creek area. When she took office in 2019, she became only the fourth person to represent the 7th since its creation in 1967, the first Democrat, and first woman. This western Houston district was best known as the district that sent future President George H. W. Bush to Congress as its first representative. He gave up the seat to make an unsuccessful run for Senate in 1970, and was succeeded by fellow Republican Bill Archer. In turn, Archer handed the seat to Culberson in 2001.

Personal life

Fletcher is the sister of Katherine Center. [13] She met her husband, Scott, when they both worked at the same law firm. [6]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ William and Mary Law Review Staff, 2004-2005
  2. 1 2 3 "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. 1 2 Elaina Plott (September 2, 2018). "Democrats Hope to Flip Houston's Seventh House District". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  7. ↑ By Andrew Edmonson. "War for the West – OutSmart Magazine". Outsmartmagazine.com. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  8. ↑ Scherer, Jasper (October 22, 2018). "Culberson, Fletcher face off in only debate - Houston Chronicle". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 23, 2018. The debate, held on the eve of early voting, contained mostly recurring themes from the campaign trail. The well-funded candidates have traded sharp rhetorical blows in the media and through TV ads, with Fletcher attacking Culberson’s record and the congressman casting his opponent as too liberal.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ Edgar Walters and Kathryn Lundstrom (November 6, 2018). "Democrat Lizzie Fletcher defeats Texas GOP Congressman John Culberson". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  12. 1 2 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.
  13. ↑ "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"". Twitter.com. May 12, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
John Culberson 		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
Ilhan Omar 		United States Representatives by seniority
398th		Succeeded by
Chris Pappas
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