Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Deborah Wasserman Schultz (born September 27, 1966) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 25th congressional district, first elected to Congress in 2004.

A member of the Democratic Party, she is a former chair of the Democratic National Committee.

From 1968 to 1978, the family lived in Lido Beach on Long Island.

In 1978, her family moved to Melville, also on Long Island, where she graduated from Half Hollow Hills High School East in 1984.

She received a Bachelor of Arts in 1988 and a Master of Arts with a certificate in political campaigning in 1990, both in political science, from the University of Florida.

At the University of Florida, Wasserman Schultz was active in student government, serving as president of the Student Senate and the founder and president of the Rawlings Area Council Government.

She was also a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society, the James C. Grimm chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary, and the union Graduate Assistants United.

She served as president of the Graduate Student Council and vice president of the UF College Democrats.

She has credited her experience in student politics with developing her "love for politics and the political process."

Wasserman Schultz lives in Weston, near Fort Lauderdale.

She is married to Steve Schultz; they have three children.

She is an active member of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Planned Parenthood, and Hadassah.

In 1988, Wasserman Schultz became an aide to Peter Deutsch at the beginning of his state legislative career.

In 1992, Deutsch successfully ran for United States Representative of Florida's 20th congressional district, and suggested to Wasserman Schultz that she run for his vacated seat in the Florida House of Representatives.

Wasserman Schultz won 53% of the vote in a six-way Democratic primary, avoiding a runoff, and won the general election.

At 26, she became the youngest female legislator in the state's history.

She served four terms in the Florida State House of Representatives, for eight years, leaving due to state term limits.

She became an adjunct instructor of political science at Broward Community College, as well as a public policy curriculum specialist at Nova Southeastern University.

Wasserman Schultz was elected to the Florida State Senate in 2000.

She supported several bills, including the Florida Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act and one creating a Children's Services Council for Broward County.

She received an award from the Save The Manatee Club for her commitment as a state senator in the 2002 legislative session to manatee protection.

During the 2006 elections, she raised over $17 million in campaign contributions for her Democratic colleagues (third-most after Nancy Pelosi and Rahm Emanuel), was chosen as Chief Deputy Whip, and was appointed to the Appropriations Committee, a plum assignment for a sophomore representative.

Wasserman Schultz chairs the committee's Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies.

Shortly after joining the Appropriations Committee, she received a waiver necessary to sit on an additional committee (Appropriations is typically an exclusive committee), and she is now a member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Aside from her committee and leadership roles, she was a member of Nancy Pelosi's "30 Something" Working Group, which consists of congressional Democrats mostly under age 40.

The group concentrates on issues affecting young people, including Social Security.

She joined the bipartisan Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus.

Wasserman Schultz served in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate and was a national co-chair of Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign for president.

Her district covers much of southern Broward County, including a large part of Fort Lauderdale.

It also covers much of northern Miami-Dade County.

According to the Congress.org 2008 Power Rankings, she was the 24th-most powerful member of the House, the 22nd-most powerful Democratic representative, and the most powerful Florida representative.

In March 2009, she revealed that she had undergone seven surgeries related to breast cancer in 2008 while maintaining her responsibilities as a member of the House.

That year, she promoted efforts for early screening for breast cancer.

Wasserman Schultz was elected chair of the Democratic National Committee in May 2011, replacing Tim Kaine.

For the 118th Congress:

Wasserman Schultz was appointed to the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee in her first term.

On July 28, 2016, she resigned from that position after WikiLeaks released leaked emails showing that she and other members of the DNC staff had favored Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primaries in exchange for funding to eliminate the DNC's remaining debt from the 2012 presidential campaign.

Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, to a Jewish family, she is the daughter of Ann and Larry Wasserman.

Her father is a Certified Public Accountant, and her brother Steven Wasserman is an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.

In December 2019, Wasserman Schultz voted to impeach President Donald Trump.