Laurel M. Lee

Laurel Moore Lee is an American judge currently serving as the Secretary of State of Florida, in office since January 2019. Prior to her appointment by Governor Ron DeSantis, Lee was a judge on Florida's Thirteenth Judicial Circuit.[3]

Laurel Lee
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 46–47)[2]
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Tom Lee
Children3
EducationUniversity of Florida (BA, JD)

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 former 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]

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.
Political offices
Preceded by
Mike Ertel		 Secretary of State of Florida
2019–present		 Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.