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 2018. The district includes much of western Houston.

Early life and education

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

Elections

2018

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

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

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

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]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Energy and Commerce^[18][19]
  • Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security

Caucus memberships

• New Democrat Coalition^[20]
  • Task Force on Trade (co-chair)
  • Health Care Task Force
• Natural Gas Caucus (co-chair)
• Anti-Semitism Caucus
• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• Black Maternal Health Caucus
• Diabetes Caucus
• Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus
• Gun Violence Prevention Task Force
• National Corrosion Caucus
• Oil and Gas Caucus
• Pro-Choice Caucus
• Small Brewers Caucus
• Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation
• U.S.-Japan Caucus

^{[21][better source needed]}

Electoral history

Personal life

Fletcher is the sister of Katherine Center.^[24] She met her husband, Scott, at the law firm where they both worked.^[6]

Fletcher is a Methodist.^[25]

See also

• Women in the United States House of Representatives

References

External links

• Congresswoman Lizzie Pannill Fletcher official U.S. House website
• Campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Appearances on C-SPAN