Lori Trahan

Lori Ann Loureiro Trahan (/trəˈhæn/ trə-HANN; born October 27, 1973) is an American businesswoman and politician who serves as the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district, having been elected in November 2018.[1] The district covers the Northwestern suburbs of Boston and includes Lowell, Lawrence, Concord, and her hometown of Westford. A Democrat, she previously served as chief of staff to former Representative Marty Meehan in Massachusetts's 5th congressional district.

Lori Trahan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 3rd district
Assumed office
January 3, 2019
Preceded byNiki Tsongas
Personal details
Born
Lori Ann Loureiro

(1973-10-27) October 27, 1973
Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)David Trahan
Children5
EducationGeorgetown University (BS)
WebsiteHouse website

Early life and education

Trahan was born on October 27, 1973 and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts.[2] She grew up with three sisters. Trahan attended Lowell High School, where she would later be inducted into the school's Sports Hall of Fame. Trahan described her family as "living paycheck to paycheck".[3] Her father, Tony Loureiro, had Portuguese parents. His father was from Porto in northern Portugal, and his mother was born in Brazil to Portuguese parents and moved to the Azores to live with relatives as a child following her mother's death. Trahan's mother is of partial Portuguese ancestry (from the Azores).[4]

At Lowell High, she earned an athletic scholarship in volleyball to Georgetown University.[5] She graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree in comparative and regional studies in International Relations.[6][7]

Earlier career

After college, Trahan worked for Marty Meehan, member of the United States House of Representatives for Massachusetts's 5th congressional district, eventually becoming his chief of staff. In 2005, Trahan left the public sector to work for ChoiceStream, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based marketing software company. She became the CEO of the Concire Leadership Institute, a small, woman-owned consulting firm.[6]

U.S. House of Representatives

2018

In October 2017, Trahan announced her candidacy for the November 2018 election for the House to succeed retiring Representative Niki Tsongas.[8] Tsongas had succeeded Trahan's former boss, Meehan, in a 2007 special election (the district was renumbered as the 5th district after the 2010 census).

In September 2018, Trahan won the Democratic primary election, the real contest in the Democratic district, after narrowly defeating Daniel Koh, the former Chief of Staff to Mayor of Boston Marty Walsh, in a field of 10 candidates.[9] The victory was upheld following a recount.[10] In the November general election, Trahan defeated her Republican challenger, Rick Green, garnering 62% of the vote.[11]

Campaign finance investigation

On March 4, 2019, The Boston Globe published an analysis of contributions to Trahan's campaign in the weeks before the 3rd congressional district's primary where she beat Daniel Koh by less than 150 votes. In the last days before the primary, Trahan put hundreds of thousands of dollars into TV advertising and the Globe asked the question about the source of the money. Trahan offered an explanation to the Globe, claiming she used $371,000 in personal funds, but federal financial disclosures she filed in the late summer of 2018 appeared to show that she did not have the funds to cover such a campaign loan.[12]

On December 17, 2019, the United States House Committee on Ethics launched a continuing investigation of Trahan after congressional investigators found "substantial reason to believe" that she violated campaign finance laws in her election win in 2018.[13] The Ethics Committee voted unanimously to dismiss the inquiry on July 15, 2020, saying in their final report that they "did not find that Representative Trahan acted in violation of House Rules, laws, regulations, or other standards of conduct."[14]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Electoral history
Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lori Trahan 18,527 21.6
Democratic Daniel Koh 18,405 21.5
Democratic Barbara L'Italien 13,029 15.2
Democratic Juana Matias 12,982 15.1
Democratic Rufus Gifford 12,856 15.1
Democratic Alexandra Chandler 4,848 5.7
Democratic Beej Das 1,496 1.7
Democratic Jeffrey Ballinger 1,388 1.6
Democratic Bopha Malone 1,344 1.6
Democratic Leonard Golder 585 0.7
Democratic write-ins 131 0.2
Democratic Blanks 3,227
Total votes 88,818 100.0
Massachusetts' 3rd congressional district, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lori Trahan 173,175 62.0
Republican Rick Green 93,445 33.4
Independent Mike Mullen 12,572 4.5
n/a Write-ins 135 0.1
Total votes 279,327 100.0
Democratic hold
Massachusetts' 3rd congressional district, 2020
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lori Trahan 286,896 97.7
n/a Write-ins 6,643 2.7
Total votes 293,539 100.0
Democratic hold

Political positions

In April 2019, Trahan said she supports the candidacy of the senior Senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren for president in 2020.[16]

In an Interview with WBZ-TV in April 2019, Trahan told the political commentator, Jon Keller, that she does not support the impeachment of President Trump, but said Congress should continue investigating the president.[16] In December 2019, however, after the revelation that president Trump had spoken to the Ukrainian president about investigating his rival Joe Biden, Trahan told The Salem News that she supported the impeachment of the president saying Trump's "abuses in office a "clear and present danger" that requires action.[17] On December 19, 2019, Trahan voted to impeach on both articles of impeachment against Trump.[18]

On October 1, 2020, Trahan co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that condemned Azerbaijan’s offensive operations against the Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, denounced Turkey’s role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and criticized "false equivalence between Armenia and Azerbaijan, even as the latter threatens war and refuses to agree to monitoring along the line of contact."[19]

Personal life

Trahan lives in Westford, Massachusetts, with her two daughters,[20] three stepsons,[20] and husband, Dave.[8]

See also

References
  1. Hanson, Melissa (November 6, 2018). "Lori Trahan to succeed Niki Tsongas in Washington, D.C. after emerging winner in Third Congressional District race". MassLive.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  2. "Lori Trahan for Congress". The Boston Globe. October 25, 2018.
  3. "Editorial endorsement: Lori Trahan earns nod for 3rd". Boston Herald. August 23, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  4. Medeiros, Feligénio; Martins, Paulo (August 17, 2018). "Lori Loureiro Trahan, a Massachusetts Candidate for Congress with Portuguese Roots". FeelPortugal.com. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  5. "Lori Loureiro Trahan, Class of 1991 - Lowell High School Athletic Hall of Fame". Lhsathletichalloffame.com. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  6. Lisinski, Chris (September 18, 2017). "Trahan appears eager to follow in the footsteps of her former boss - Lowell Sun Online". Lowellsun.com. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  7. Lucas, Peter (November 17, 2017). "Peter Lucas: Lori Trahan's run for Congress is built on experience - Lowell Sun Online". Lowellsun.com. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  8. Lisinski, Chris. "Westford's Lori Trahan launches campaign for 3rd District seat - Lowell Sun Online". Lowellsun.com. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  9. "Battling 10 opponents, Lori Trahan emerges as Democratic winner in Massachusetts 3rd Congressional District". masslive.com. September 5, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  10. Schoenberg, Shira (September 17, 2018). "After recount, Lori Trahan wins 3rd District congressional nomination; Dan Koh concedes". MassLive.com.
  11. "Massachusetts Election Results". The New York Times. November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  12. Estes, Andrea (March 4, 2019). "Questions raised about source of late funds that helped carry Rep. Lori Trahan to victory". The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  13. Estes, Andrea (December 17, 2019). "Rep. Lori Trahan's campaign finances will be investigated further by House Ethics Committee". The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  14. "Rep. Lori Trahan cleared by House Ethics Committee". Roll Call. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  15. "Members". New Democrat Coalition. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  16. Keller, Jon (April 28, 2019). "Keller @ Large: Rep. Lori Trahan Says Merrimack Valley Explosions 'Could Have Been Avoided". WBZ-TV. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  17. Christian M., Wade (December 13, 2019). "House Democrats to vote for impeachment". The Salem News. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  18. Staff Writer (December 19, 2019). "Trump is impeached: How did House members vote?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  19. "Senate and House Leaders to Secretary of State Pompeo: Cut Military Aid to Azerbaijan; Sanction Turkey for Ongoing Attacks Against Armenia and Artsakh". The Armenian Weekly. October 2, 2020.
  20. "Meet Lori". loritrahan.com. 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Niki Tsongas		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district
2019–present		 Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Rashida Tlaib		 United States Representatives by seniority
363rd		 Succeeded by
David Trone
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