Laurel M. Lee

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Laurel Lee
Laurel M. Lee, Secretary.jpg
30th Secretary of State of Florida
Assumed office
January 28, 2019
GovernorRon DeSantis
Preceded byMike Ertel
Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida
In office
2013–2019
GovernorRick Scott
Preceded byDaniel Sleet[1]
Personal details
Born
Laurel Moore

1973/1974 (age 47–48)[2]
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Tom Lee
Children3
EducationUniversity of Florida (BA, JD)

Laurel Moore Lee is the Secretary of State of Florida since January 2019 and a former judge. Prior to her appointment by Governor Ron DeSantis, Lee was a judge on Florida's Thirteenth Judicial Circuit.[3]

Legal career[]

Lee began her legal career as an attorney for the Carlton Fields law firm in 2003 before becoming an assistant public defender in 2005.[4] Lee also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida from 2007 until her appointment by then-Governor Rick Scott to a judgeship on the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida in 2013.[5] She was unopposed for election to a full six-year term in 2014.[6]

Florida Secretary of State[]

Lee was appointed Florida Secretary of State by Governor Ron DeSantis on January 28, 2019, replacing Michael Ertel, who resigned after less than a month in office when a 2005 photo of him wearing blackface as part of a Halloween costume as a Hurricane Katrina victim surfaced.[7][8]

In October 2020, weeks before the 2020 election, Lee sought to purge felons from voter rolls if they had outstanding court debts. Politico described the move as "a surprise, late-hour move that comes after more than 2 million people already have voted in the presidential battleground." Lee's decision was not distributed to the wider public, only to local election officials.[9]

In December 2021, Lee made a criminal referral to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody seeking an investigation into potentially fraudulent signatures collected by Las Vegas Sands in a petition drive to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot for the November 2022 elections that would expand casino gambling.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ "Saint Peter Blog". Archived. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2020 – via Original.
  2. ^ Two UF grads appointed to Hillsborough judgeships
  3. ^ "Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Judge Laurel M. Lee as Florida Secretary of State". Office of the Governor of Florida. January 28, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  4. ^ "Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Judge Laurel M. Lee As Florida Secretary Of State". CBS Miami. January 28, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  5. ^ "Two UF grads appointed to Hillsborough judgeships". Tampa Bay Times. May 7, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  6. ^ "Gov. Ron DeSantis names Tampa judge Laurel M. Lee Florida Secretary of State". Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee Democrat. January 28, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  7. ^ "Tampa Judge Replaces Official Who Resigned Over Blackface Photos". Seminole Heights, FL Patch. January 28, 2019.
  8. ^ "Laurel Moore Lee". www.fljud13.org.
  9. ^ Fineout, Gary. "Florida acts to remove felons from voter rolls as election looms". Politico PRO. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  10. ^ https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article257481524.html[bare URL]
Political offices
Preceded by Secretary of State of Florida
2019–present 		Incumbent
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