Zoe Lofgren (born Sue Lofgren on December 21, 1947), American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995, representing the 16th District of California (map), based in San Jose. A lifelong Bay Area resident, Lofgren attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto, earned her B.A. at Stanford University and a J.D. at Santa Clara University. She left the San Jose area for a few years after graduation from Stanford, to serve years as a staff assistant to Congressman Don Edwards, where she worked, among other projects, on the impeachment of Richard Nixon. Returning to San Jose, she worked in Edwards' District Office, and took her law degree. After two years as partner at a law practice in San Jose, she was elected first to a Community College board, then to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, where she served for 13 years.
In 1994, Edwards decided to retire after 32 years in Congress. Lofgren won the Democratic nomination for the seat in a tough race in which her likely defeat was widely predicted. She defeated former San Jose mayor Tom McEnery. San Jose is so heavily Democratic that her victory in the general election was overwhelming. Lofgren was only the second representative of the 16th District (Edwards had served since the district's creation in 1963).
Lofren is currently the Chair of the 33 member California Democratic Congressional Delegation. She serves on the Judiciary Committee and as ranking member of a subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee.
