Who is U.S. Rep. Summer Lee? What to know about the Western Pennsylvania congresswoman

Summer Lee, a lawyer and a former labor organizer, is the state’s first Black congresswoman and a progressive political organizer. In November she defeated Republican Mike Doyle — not to be confused with Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, whom Lee replaced, to represent Pennsylvania’s 12th District, which includes parts of Pittsburgh and its outlying towns and suburbs.

Five women serve in Pennsylvania’s 17-member delegation, but Lee is the only one from the western side of the state.

Lee is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and won several elections without the support of the Democratic Party. She’s also a political organizer known for anchoring a progressive movement in Western Pennsylvania.

» READ MORE: Breaking a ‘cement’ ceiling: Summer Lee’s journey to becoming the state’s first Black congresswoman

Lee grew up in the North Braddock and Rankin neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, and currently lives in Swissvale. She comes from a family of political activists – her grandmother was vice president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the NAACP, and her uncle was a member of the Black Panther Party.

She graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2009 and earned a Juris Doctor from the Howard University School of Law in 2015. At Howard, Lee interned for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Lee volunteered in 2016 for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential primary campaign and then for Hillary Clinton, after Clinton had won the nomination. She also organized locally for criminal justice, health care, and energy policy reform and increasing the minimum wage.

Her first foray into local campaigns came in 2017 when she attended a school board meeting at her old district. A video had surfaced showing school officials using a stun gun and physical force on Black students and parents were outraged. Lee spoke at the meeting and then encouraged a friend and parent in the district to run. She managed the woman’s successful write-in campaign.

Lee was elected to the Pennsylvania state House in 2018, ousting an incumbent who had the party’s backing, and becoming the first Black woman elected to the statehouse from Western Pennsylvania.

In 2022, Lee was elected to represent the 12th Congressional District, a heavily Democratic area that includes parts of Pittsburgh. She won a contested five-person primary in April and then beat a Republican challenger in November.

She replaces retired U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, also a Democrat, who had represented the district since 1994.

Lee is a self-described progressive who has focused her campaigns on economic inequality, environmental justice, raising wages, and “Medicare for All.”

Sanders endorsed her congressional bid, and she founded a political action committee in Pittsburgh dedicated to advancing progressive political candidates’ strength in the region. She joins a wave of lawmakers that includes U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.), who are gaining prominence in the tightly divided House.