Laurel Moore Lee (née Moore; born March 26, 1974) is an American attorney, former judge, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida’s 15th congressional district since 2023.^[1] A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as Florida’s secretary of state from 2019 to 2022 and as a judge on Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit from 2013 to 2019.^[2]

Lee was born on March 26, 1974, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio,^[3] the daughter of a U.S. Air Force officer who later attained the rank of major general^[4][5] and a public-school teacher.^[6][7] She graduated from the University of Florida, where she was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame in 1999 and was a member of Florida Blue Key.^[8][9] She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.^[10][11]

Lee began her legal career at Carlton Fields, P.A., specializing in antitrust and complex business litigation.^[12] She later served both as an Assistant Federal Public Defender and as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Florida.^[12] As a federal prosecutor, she coordinated the federal-state Task Force on the Sexual Exploitation of Children and served as Violence Against Women Act coordinator.^[13][14]

In 2013, Governor Rick Scott appointed Lee to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court in Hillsborough County.^[15] She was subsequently elected without opposition in 2014.^[16] During her tenure, she presided over civil, appellate, and domestic relations cases and served on Florida Supreme Court commissions.^[16][17]

Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Lee as Florida’s 30th secretary of state in January 2019.^[18][19] She oversaw Florida’s elections, corporate registrations, and cultural affairs.^[19]

In 2020, Florida saw a record turnout of more than 11 million ballots, the highest in nearly three decades, in an election widely regarded as secure and efficient.^[20][21] Under Lee’s tenure, the Department of State implemented election security measures, referred fraudulent petition forms for investigation, and advanced voter registration security.^[22]

Lee resigned on May 16, 2022, to run for Congress.^[23]

In 2022, Lee won election to Florida’s 15th congressional district, defeating Democrat Alan Cohn.^[24] She was sworn in on January 3, 2023.^[25] She was re-elected in 2024, defeating Democrat Pat Kemp.^[26]

Lee has focused on national security, law enforcement, and technology policy.^[27][28][29] She was the lead sponsor of the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISA), a bill to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act including Section 702.^[29] She also introduced the bipartisan DEFIANCE Act, addressing non-consensual “deepfake” intimate images.^[30]

She serves on the bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence.^[31] She also sits on the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittees on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, and on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, and on the Energy and Commerce Committee.^[32]

In 2024, Lee was named as an impeachment manager in the case against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas^[33] and was appointed to the bipartisan task force investigating the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump.^[34]

• Committee on Energy and Commerce^[32]
• Committee on the Judiciary^[32]
• Committee on House Administration (Vice Chair)^[35]
  • Subcommittee on Elections (Chair)^[35]

Lee is Vice Chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus,^[36] and she is also a member of the Republican Study Committee,^[37] the Republic Governance Group,^[38] the Congressional Western Caucus^[39] and the Everglades Caucus.^[40]

Lee is married to Tom Lee, former president of the Florida Senate.^[41] They have three children and live in the Brandon area near Tampa.^[3] She has volunteered with Bay Area Legal Services’ Domestic Violence Assistance Project and served on the board of the Emergency Care Help Organization (E.C.H.O.) of Brandon.^[42][43]

• Congresswoman Laurel Lee 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