Summer Lee

ON THE ISSUES

• Vocal opponent of fracking
• Supports the Green New Deal and a just transition to a 100% clean and renewable energy economy
• While serving as a PA state legislature, she sponsored several bills related to climate and environmental justice

WHY THIS RACE MATTERS

• Member of the House Committee on Space Science and Technology and Co-chair of Race and Justice Taskforce on the Congressional Black Caucus 
• In 2022, she became the first first Black woman elected to Congress from Pennsylvania
• Holding this seat in Pennsylvania will help win a pro-environmental majority in the House, making it easier to pass climate legislation at the federal level
• Earned a 100% lifetime score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard

Candidate Background

Representative Summer Lee is running for a second term to represent Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was born and raised in Pittsburgh and earned a law degree from Howard University School of Law, specializing in civil rights and constitutional law. At law school, Lee interned with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and was a student attorney in the Howard University School of Law Civil Rights Clinic, representing and assisting indigent clients with civil rights complaints. After Howard, she returned home and led organizing and voter outreach initiatives with the Pennsylvania Democratic Party in 2016. After repeated incidents of violence against students from administrators and police, Summer spearheaded a successful initiative and write-in effort to transform the Woodland Hills School Board. And after winning the primary in 2018, she became the first Black woman from Southwestern Pennsylvania to serve in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. In the legislature, she has sponsored and cosponsored several bills related to climate and environmental justice including legislation for achieving 100 percent clean energy by 2050; energy efficiency tax credits; to protect clean air, clean water and address PFAS pollution; on fees on plastic and paper bags; on community solar; to establish a native pollinator program in the state Department of Transportation; to use green clean supplies in schools; to create a Fresh Food Financing Program; outlawing inhumane hunting practices and many others. Additionally, she worked alongside community leaders and groups across the Mon Valley to stop a dangerous fracking proposal in its tracks. Her strong environmental record has earned her a 100% lifetime score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard. Representative Lee is endorsed by LCV Action Fund.