Lizzie Pannill Fletcher

Elizabeth Ann Fletcher (née Pannill; born February 13, 1975) is an American attorney and politician from Texas. A Democrat, she has represented in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. The district, which was once represented by former President George H. W. Bush, includes parts of southwestern Houston and Harris County, as well as northern portions of Fort Bend County.

Early life and education Fletcher was born Elizabeth Ann Pannill at Hermann Hospital in Houston on February 13, 1975. She grew up in the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston and graduated from St. John's School.

Fletcher left Texas to attend Kenyon College in Ohio, where she earned Phi Beta Kappa honors, and attended William & Mary Law School in Virginia. Later, she worked at Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing and became the firm's first female law partner.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections 2018

Fletcher defeated Laura Moser in the Democratic Party primary election after a primary and runoff election that sharply divided Democrats between Fletcher (backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) and Moser (backed by Our Revolution).

In the November 6 general election, Fletcher campaigned as a moderate against nine-term Republican incumbent John Culberson, defeating him by five percentage points (52.5% to 47.5%). Culberson carried his longstanding base of west Houston, parts of which he had represented for three decades at the state and federal levels, and the Memorial area, but could not overcome Fletcher's strong performance in the district's share of southwest Houston and the Bear Creek area. The 7th had historically been one of the most, if not the most, conservative districts in Houston and in Texas; underscoring this, Fletcher was only the third Democrat to win as much as 40 percent of the vote since the district was created in 1967.

Upon her swearing-in on January 3, 2019, Fletcher became the first Democrat and woman to represent the district. Despite winning by a smaller margin than 2018, she held down-ballot drop-off voting to less than 4% from top-ballot candidate Joe Biden, who carried the district with 54% of the vote.

2022

Fletcher was reelected with 63.7% of the vote to Republican nominee Johnny Teague's 36.21%. She benefited from the 2020 congressional redistricting that shifted her district from a margin of 8.5 percentage points for Democrats to a 30-point margin. Most of the more Republican parts of the old 7th were shifted to the new 38th district, which was won by Hunt.

2024

Fletcher was re-elected with 61.3% of the vote.

Tenure

As of August 2023, Fletcher had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 99% of the time.

In 2022, Fletcher was one of 16 Democrats to vote against the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.

In February 2023, Fletcher, along with Representatives Randy Weber , Nancy Mace , Abigail Spanberger , Don Davis , and Anna Eshoo , introduced the Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems Act, which aims to share federal offshore wind power revenue with states for coastal protection and restoration work. The bill was also introduced in the Senate.

In 2025, Fletcher's office was moved to the Rayburn House Office Building.

In February 2026, Fletcher was the only Democrat in the House to vote against the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.

Committee assignments Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security

Caucus memberships New Democrat Coalition Task Force on Trade (co-chair) Health Care Task Force Natural Gas Caucus (co-chair) Anti-Semitism Caucus Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Black Maternal Health Caucus Diabetes Caucus Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus Future Forum Gun Violence Prevention Task Force National Corrosion Caucus Oil and Gas Caucus Pro-Choice Caucus Small Brewers Caucus Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation Rare Disease Caucus Congressional Freethought Caucus U.S.-Japan Caucus

Electoral history

Personal life Fletcher is the sister of Katherine Center. Fletcher met her husband, Scott, at the law firm where they both worked.