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
SpouseDavid Trahan
Children5
EducationGeorgetown University (BS)
WebsiteHouse website

Lori Ann Trahan (/trəˈhæn/ trə-HANN; née Loureiro; born October 27, 1973) is an American businesswoman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district since 2019.[1] The district covers Boston's northwestern suburbs, and includes Lowell, Lawrence, Concord, and Trahan's hometown, Westford. A Democrat, she formerly served as chief of staff to Representative Marty Meehan in Massachusetts's 5th congressional district.

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, into whose Sports Hall of Fame she was later inducted. Trahan has said her family lived "paycheck to paycheck".[3] Her father, Tony Loureiro, had Portuguese parents. His father was from Porto, and his mother was born in Brazil to Portuguese parents and moved to the Azores to live with relatives as a child after her mother's death. Trahan's mother is also of partial Portuguese ancestry (from the Azores).[4]

At Lowell High, Trahan earned an athletic scholarship in volleyball to Georgetown University.[5] She graduated from Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service with a bachelor's degree in comparative and regional studies in international relations.[6][7]

Earlier career

After college, Trahan worked for Marty Meehan, the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 5th congressional district, eventually becoming his chief of staff. In 2005, she 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

Elections

2018

In October 2017, Trahan announced her candidacy for the 2018 election to succeed retiring U.S. Representative Niki Tsongas.[8] Tsongas had succeeded Trahan's former boss, Meehan, in a 2007 special election (the district was renumbered as the 3rd district after the 2010 census).

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

2020

Trahan was reelected with 97% of the vote in 2020, running unopposed.[12]

2022

In 2022, Trahan was reelected with 63.6% of the vote, defeating Republican challenger Dean Tran.

Tenure

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 2018 Democratic primary. In the last days before the primary, Trahan put hundreds of thousands of dollars into TV advertising, and the Globe investigated the source of the money. Trahan told the Globe 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 loan.[13]

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 2018 campaign.[14] The Ethics Committee voted unanimously to dismiss the inquiry on July 15, 2020, saying in its final report that it "did not find that Representative Trahan acted in violation of House Rules, laws, regulations, or other standards of conduct."[15]

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
Massachusetts' 3rd congressional district, 2022
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lori Trahan (incumbent) 154,496 63.5
Republican Dean Tran 88,585 36.4
Write-in 220 0.1
Total votes 243,301 100.0
Democratic hold

Political positions

In April 2019, Trahan supported the presidential candidacy of Senator Elizabeth Warren.[18] She voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.[19]

In an April 2019 interview, Trahan said she did not support the impeachment of President Trump, but that Congress should continue investigating Trump.[18] In December 2019, after the revelation that Trump had spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about investigating his rival Joe Biden, Trahan told The Salem News that she supported impeaching the president, calling Trump's abuses in office a "clear and present danger" that required action.[20] On December 19, 2019, Trahan voted for both articles of impeachment against Trump.[21]

On October 1, 2020, Trahan co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemning Azerbaijan’s offensive operations against the Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and 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."[22]

On March 28, 2019, Trahan voted to protect transgender troops from the Trump Administration's ban on transgender people serving in the military.[23]

On February 7, 2019, Trahan became an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal.[24]

In October 2022, Trahan introduced the Stop Online Suicide Assistance Forums Act, a bill that would make it a crime to use "the mail or interstate communication to intentionally assist another individual in taking that individual's own life".[25] The bill was a bipartisan effort that included Representatives Chris Stewart, Mike Carey and Katie Porter.

In January 2023, Trahan was one of 13 cosponsors of an amendment to the Constitution of the United States extending the right to vote to citizens sixteen years of age or older.[26]

Syria

In 2023, Trahan was among 56 Democrats to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.[27][28]

Ukraine

In 2023, Trahan was among 49 Democrats to break with President Joe Biden, by voting for a ban on cluster munitions to Ukraine.[29][30]

Personal life

Trahan lives in Westford, Massachusetts, with her two daughters,[31] three stepsons,[31] and husband Dave.[8] She is 6 feet (1.83 m) tall,[32] the same height as her former fellow House Democrat Cindy Axne.[33] Trahan is Roman Catholic.[34]

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. 1 2 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. 1 2 Lisinski, Chris (October 12, 2017). "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. ↑ "NARAL Pro Choice America Endorses Lori Trahan for U.S. Congress". NARAL Pro-Choice America. October 10, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ "Rep. Lori Trahan cleared by House Ethics Committee". Roll Call. July 16, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Caucus Members". Congressional Progressive Caucus. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Members". New Democrat Coalition. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  18. 1 2 Keller, Jon (April 28, 2019). "Keller @ Large: Rep. Lori Trahan Says Merrimack Valley Explosions 'Could Have Been Avoided". WBZ-TV. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  19. ↑ Bycoffe, Aaron; Wiederkehr, Anna (April 22, 2021). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  20. ↑ Christian M., Wade (December 13, 2019). "House Democrats to vote for impeachment". The Salem News. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  21. ↑ Staff Writer (December 19, 2019). "Trump is impeached: How did House members vote?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  22. ↑ "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.
  23. ↑ "U.S. Representative Lori Trahan". trahan.house.gov. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Page | U.S. Representative Lori Trahan". trahan.house.gov. November 13, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Opinion: The last thing we need in a mental health crisis is online suicide assistance forums". Deseret News. December 21, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  26. ↑ "H.J.Res.16 - Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States extending the right to vote to citizens sixteen years of age or older". Congress.gov. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  27. ↑ "H.Con.Res. 21: Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of … -- House Vote #136 -- Mar 8, 2023".
  28. ↑ "House Votes Down Bill Directing Removal of Troops From Syria". Associated Press. March 8, 2023.
  29. ↑ Sfortinsky, Sarah. “Almost 50 Democrats Snub Biden with Vote against Cluster Bombs for Ukraine.” The Hill, 14 July 2023, https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4097677-almost-50-democrats-snub-biden-with-vote-against-cluster-bombs-for-ukraine/.
  30. ↑ “H.Amdt. 243 (Greene) to H.R. 2670: To Prohibit Cluster Munitions ... -- House Vote #317 -- Jul 13, 2023.” GovTrack.Us, https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/118-2023/h317. Accessed 16 July 2023.
  31. 1 2 "Meet Lori". loritrahan.com. 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  32. ↑ "Lori Trahan helped set a mark for women elected to Congress. Here's what makes her tick". The Boston Globe. January 6, 2019. The 6-foot Trahan easily stood out.
  33. ↑ "Cindy Axne tells how she fought off would-be rapist in speech to Des Moines business leaders". The Des Moines Register. October 2, 2018. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. A former West Des Moines Valley basketball player who stands six feet tall...
  34. ↑ Religious affiliation of members of 118th Congress Pew Research. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
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