Lois Frankel

Lois Jane Frankel ( ; born May 16, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer who has been the United States representative for Florida's 22nd congressional district since 2023, having previously served it from 2013 to 2017. As a member of the Democratic Party, she represented the 21st congressional district from 2017 to 2023, was a 7-term member of the Florida House of Representatives, and was mayor of West Palm Beach for two terms.

Frankel was a member of the Florida House for fourteen years, serving as Minority Whip and later Minority Leader of the Florida State House. She was elected mayor of West Palm Beach in 2003, in New York City and received a bachelor's degree from Boston University in 1970. She earned a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1973. Frankel moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, in 1974. Mimi McAndrews, a former aide of Frankel's, was elected to replace her. Frankel lost to fellow Democratic representative Alcee Hastings in the 1992 congressional primary. Frankel won the November general election with 55% of the vote. While in office from 1995 to 2003, she became the first female House Minority Leader in Florida's history and co-authored a change to Florida's already existing AIDS omnibus law originally passed in 1988.

1992 congressional election

In 1992 Frankel retired from the State House to run for the newly created Florida's 23rd district. In the Democratic primary she came in first with 35% of the vote, but failed to reach the 50% threshold necessary to win outright and avoid a runoff election. She was sworn into office on March 27, 2003. In 2007 she was reelected, defeating Al Zucaro by 58%–42%.

On March 31, 2011, due to term limits, Frankel left office after two terms. In the race to succeed her, West Palm Beach city commissioner Jeri Muoio was elected that month with 51% of the vote, on a platform of business development and pension reform.

Frankel was also voted to be an at-large Florida delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections 2012

On March 21, 2011, Frankel announced that she would run in the newly redrawn Florida's 22nd congressional district in the 2012 House election. She was initially due to face freshman incumbent Republican Allen West, but redistricting had made the 22nd much more Democratic than its predecessor, prompting West to move to the neighboring 18th district and seek reelection there. On August 14 Frankel won the Democratic primary over Kristin Jacobs, and advanced to the general election against Republican Adam Hasner. She won the general election on November 6, 2012, defeating Hasner 54.7% to 45.3%.

2014

With no Democratic primary opponents, Frankel won the general election on November 4, 2014, defeating Republican Paul Spain, winner of his low-turnout primary, 58% to 42%. Her opponent was again Republican Paul Spain. The new 21st was no less Democratic than the old 22nd, and Frankel won with 63% of the vote to Spain's 35%.

2018

With no primary or general opponents, Frankel was reelected.

2020

With 86% of the vote, Frankel won the Democratic primary against Guido Weiss, a former adviser to Representative Tulsi Gabbard. Loomer's candidacy was widely considered a long shot, despite endorsements from high-profile Republicans including President Donald Trump, Representative Matt Gaetz, and former Trump adviser Roger Stone. She redesignated her candidacy that month with the Federal Election Commission, shifting her campaign from the 22nd to the 23rd district. Committee assignments For the 119th Congress: Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (Ranking Member)

Caucus memberships

Current Black Maternal Health Caucus Congressional Arts Caucus Congressional Taiwan Caucus United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus U.S.-Japan Caucus Medicare for All Caucus Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment Congressional Equality Caucus

Former Congressional Progressive Caucus ( 2016–2023)

Political positions

Foreign

Israel In 2017 Frankel supported President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, saying, "The President's announcement today is consistent with current U.S. law and reaffirms what we already know: Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people and the State of Israel."

Foreign assistance and diplomacy In January 2025, after the second Trump administration halted most United States foreign assistance, Frankel and Representative Gregory Meeks warned that interruptions to medicines supplied through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the President's Malaria Initiative could cost lives.

Frankel defended keeping the funding for PEPFAR during the 2025 rescissions package. In July 2025, Frankel and Representative Rosa DeLauro said that an isolated incident involving the program should not undermine its broader mission. A proposed $400 million reduction to PEPFAR was subsequently removed from the package. In May 2026, Frankel led Democratic members of the appropriations subcommittee in objecting to administration plans to withhold $19 billion in foreign assistance, including $3.2 billion in development-assistance and global-health funding.

Frankel was also the lead House sponsor of the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights Act, known as the Global HER Act, which would permanently repeal the Mexico City policy. That policy restricted U.S. funding for foreign nongovernmental organizations that provide, promote, or share information about abortion services.

Domestic

Reproductive rights Frankel supports abortion rights and has made reproductive health policy a focus of her work in Congress. In 2023, as a leader of the House Democratic Women's Caucus, she opposed provisions in the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act that would have restricted access to reproductive health care for military personnel. Frankel and other caucus leaders said they would oppose final passage of the legislation if the restrictions remained. The provision that would have blocked the Pentagon's policy of reimbursing travel expenses for service members seeking abortions or other reproductive care in another state was subsequently omitted from the final compromise bill.

Frankel also opposed Florida's six-week abortion ban, which took effect in May 2024. She supported the proposed state constitutional amendment that year that would have protected abortion access before fetal viability.

Gun policy Frankel supports gun control measures, which she calls "common-sense legislation." Specifically, she supports a high-capacity magazine ban, universal background checks, and a ban on bump stocks. Frankel supports repealing the 1996 Dickey Amendment, which discourages the CDC from researching gun violence prevention. Following the Pulse nightclub shooting, Frankel said, "This Congress offers lots of thoughts and sympathies when people are massacred by firearms, but no action to stop the carnage." After the Sutherland Springs church shooting, Frankel expressed her frustration with gun lobbying organizations and the inaction of Congress, saying: "We'll pause for a moment of silence and then this Congress will do nothing because the NRA has a stranglehold on it." She has an "F" rating from the NRA, indicating that the organization does not believe that she protects gun rights.

During her tenure in the House, Frankel has voted on several pieces of gun legislation. She voted against H. R. 38 (the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act), which would enable concealed carry reciprocity among all states. In March 2017 Frankel voted against the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act, which would allow veterans who are considered "mentally incompetent" to purchase ammunition and firearms unless declared a danger by a judge.

LGBTQ+ rights In December 2022, Frankel voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, joining the House majority that approved the legislation after it was amended by the Senate. The measure requires federal recognition of valid same-sex and interracial marriages and requires states to recognize such marriages performed legally in other states. President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law on December 13, 2022.

Impeachment of President Donald Trump Frankel voted to impeach Trump on December 18, 2019 and again on January 13, 2021. Electoral history