Laurel M. Lee
A request that this article title be changed to Laurel Lee is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed. |
Laurel Lee | |
---|---|
30th Secretary of State of Florida | |
Assumed office January 28, 2019 | |
Governor | Ron DeSantis |
Preceded by | Mike Ertel |
Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida | |
In office 2013–2019 | |
Governor | Rick Scott |
Preceded by | Daniel Sleet[1] |
Personal details | |
Born | Laurel Moore 1973/1974 (age 47–48)[2] |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Tom Lee |
Children | 3 |
Education | University 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[]
- ^ "Saint Peter Blog". Archived. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2020 – via Original.
- ^ Two UF grads appointed to Hillsborough judgeships
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Judge Laurel M. Lee As Florida Secretary Of State". CBS Miami. January 28, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
- ^ "Two UF grads appointed to Hillsborough judgeships". Tampa Bay Times. May 7, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
- ^ "Gov. Ron DeSantis names Tampa judge Laurel M. Lee Florida Secretary of State". Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee Democrat. January 28, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "Tampa Judge Replaces Official Who Resigned Over Blackface Photos". Seminole Heights, FL Patch. January 28, 2019.
- ^ "Laurel Moore Lee". www.fljud13.org.
- ^ Fineout, Gary. "Florida acts to remove felons from voter rolls as election looms". Politico PRO. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article257481524.html[bare URL]
- Pages using Party stripe with other party
- 1970s births
- Living people
- 20th-century American women lawyers
- 20th-century American lawyers
- 21st-century American judges
- 21st-century American women lawyers
- 21st-century American lawyers
- 21st-century American women politicians
- American women judges
- Assistant United States Attorneys
- Florida Republicans
- Florida state court judges
- Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni
- Public defenders
- Secretaries of State of Florida
- University of Florida alumni
- Women in Florida politics
- 21st-century American politicians