Zoe Lofgren has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995. She represents the 19th District of California, based in the “Capital of Silicon Valley,” San Jose, and the Santa Clara Valley.
A lifelong Bay Area resident and the daughter of a truck driver and a cafeteria cook, Zoe attended public schools and attended Stanford University on a California State Scholarship, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1970. Prior to attending Stanford, Lofgren worked the night shift at the Eastman Kodak plant in Palo Alto to save money for non-tuition college expenses not covered by her scholarship. After graduating from Stanford, she attended, with the help of a scholarship, Santa Clara University School of Law, graduating cum laude in 1975.
The bedrock of American democracy is our right to vote in fair and open elections. As Chair of the House Administration Committee, Zoe helps oversee U.S. federal elections to ensure every citizen’s vote is counted equally, and that our system of government remains the true representative democracy our founders intended.
Zoe is a member of the Congressional Task Force on Election Security, formed to address the lack of action to protect electoral infrastructure following Russia's interference and attempts to influence the 2016 Presidential election. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the election systems in 21 states were breached and voter records containing personal information were compromised. Despite this, there has been no action from the Republican Congress or the Trump Administration to provide greater protection to our election systems.
When a sovereign nation meddles in our elections, it is an attack on our country. We cannot leave states to defend against the sophisticated cyber tactics of state actors on their own.
In June, 2019, the U.S. House passed H.R. 2722, the Securing America's Federal Elections (SAFE) Act, legislation Zoe authored which would make meaningful investments to upgrade the security of voting systems across the country to guard against foreign interference in our democracy.
Following passage of the SAFE Act, Zoe delivered the Democratic Weekly Address to urge the Senate to pass this critical elections security legislation.
A Message from Zoe on Citizens United
I support campaign finance reform and believe that the Supreme Court ignored judicial precedent and common sense in the Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission ruling.
I have added my name as a cosponsor to H. J. Res. 48, the “We the People Amendment”; H. J. Res. 2, the “Democracy for All Amendment”; and H. J. Res. 57.
A bill is the starting point of the legislative process.
By adding my name as a cosponsor to these resolutions proposing constitutional amendments to mitigate the effects of the Citizens United decision I hope to move the conversation on campaign finance reform forward as Congress debates the best way address this issue.
H.R. 1, The For The People Act
As Chair of the House Administration Committee, Zoe was tapped to shepherd H.R. 1, The For the People Act, through the legislative process, culminating with its House passage in March. The Democrats’ landmark legislation is a sweeping package of pro-democracy and anticorruption reforms to put power back in the hands of the American people by ending the dominance of big money in politics; making it easier, not harder, to vote; and ensuring that politicians actually serve the public interest.
H.R. 1 offers the most transformational and comprehensive democracy reforms in more than four decades, following through on Democrats’ election promise to clean up the chaos and corruption in Washington. You can learn more about H.R. 1 HERE.