Debra Kay Lesko ( ; née Lorenz; born November 14, 1958) is an American politician from the state of
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
. Lesko, a member of the
Republican Party, serves on the
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is the governing body of Maricopa County, a county of over four million in Arizona. The five supervisors are each elected from single-member districts to serve four-year terms. Partisan primary, Primary el ...
representing the 4th district. She previously represented in the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
from 2018 to 2025. The district is in the
West Valley portion of the
Phoenix metropolitan area
The Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, metro Phoenix, or The Valley, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the Southwestern United States, with its largest principal city being the c ...
and includes
Glendale,
Surprise,
Sun City,
Peoria, and part of western Phoenix. A member of the
Republican Party, Lesko previously served in the
Arizona State Legislature
The Arizona State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. Composed of 90 legislators, the ...
from 2009 to 2018.
Lesko served in the
Arizona Senate
The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...
from 2015 to 2018. She was
president pro tempore of the Arizona Senate from 2017 to 2018.
Lesko also served as a member of
Arizona House of Representatives
The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Arizona Senate, Senate. The House convenes in the le ...
from 2009 until 2015. She became the Representative for Arizona's 8th congressional district after winning a
2018 special election.
In October 2023, Lesko announced she would not seek reelection in
2024
The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
.
She later announced a run for the
Maricopa County
Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...
Board of Supervisors, representing District 4. She was elected in the
2024 election, defeating
Democratic candidate David Sandoval.
Early life and education
Lesko was born in
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Sheboygan () is a city in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, which has a pop ...
. Her parents are Donald and Delores Lorenz. She received a bachelor's degree in business from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
and moved to Arizona in the 1980s, where she owned a construction sales business.
In 1985, she married Jeffrey Allen Ignas.
Legal issues
In 1988, Lesko was charged with a
misdemeanor
A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...
in
Conroe, Texas
Conroe is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Texas, Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about north of Houston. It is a principal city in the metropolitan area.
As of 2024, the population was 114,581. Since 2007, t ...
, for tampering with government records. The case was dropped in 1994. Also in 1988, Lesko's then-husband Jeffrey Allen Ignas was sentenced to 10 years in prison for
fraud
In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...
. He was released from prison in 1992.
In October 1992, Lesko and Ignas filed for
Chapter 13
Title 11 of the United States Code sets forth the statutes governing the various types of relief for bankruptcy in the United States. Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code provides an individual with the opportunity to propose a plan ...
bankruptcy protection
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
. The couple was sued twice in 1993: for failure to pay a $10,000 rental equipment bill and for an additional unpaid $11,000 bill. They filed for bankruptcy again that year.
Ignas was allegedly abusive to Lesko, reportedly punching her in the stomach when she was pregnant. Later in 1993, Lesko filed for divorce.
In 1994 the second bankruptcy protection case was closed.
Ignas, now known as Jeffrey Allen Herald, was again incarcerated at the
Arizona Department of Corrections
The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry (ADCRR), commonly and formerly referred to as simply the Arizona Department of Corrections, is the statutory law enforcement agency responsible for the incarceration of inmates in 13 ...
, and released in June 2022 on supervised probation.
Lesko later married Joe Lesko.
She has used other names, including Debbie Harris, Debra Ignas, Debra Schultz, Debra Howard and Debra Kay Lorenz. Her name changes were associated with Ignas, who also went by different names.
Early career
In the early 2000s, Lesko became involved in the
Peoria Unified School District where she served on the district's community committee. In 2006, she ran for school board. Lesko was endorsed by U.S. Representative
Trent Franks
Harold Trent Franks (born June 19, 1957) is an American businessman and former politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2017 (numbered as the 2nd district from 2003 to 2013). He is a member of the Republican Party. Du ...
. She placed fourth out of five candidates. She participated in school board meetings and was a contributor to ''
The Arizona Republic
''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain.
History
Early years
The newspap ...
''. Her contributions to the newspaper included opinion pieces about
illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...
and domestic violence.
On November 4, 2008, Lesko was elected to the
Arizona House of Representatives
The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Arizona Senate, Senate. The House convenes in the le ...
. She was reelected in 2010 and 2012.
In 2014, Lesko was elected to the
Arizona State Senate
The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...
. She was endorsed by the Arizona Police Association, AZ Right to Life, and the
Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce
The Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce (GPCC) is the largest association of businesses in the state of Arizona, and one of the largest in the Southwestern United States, with more than 2,900 business members. Founded November 13, 1888 as the Pho ...
. She ran unopposed in the Republican primary and defeated Democratic nominee
Carolyn Vasko in the general election. In 2016, she ran unopposed in the primary and general election.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2018 special election
On December 20, 2017, Lesko announced she would run in the special election to replace Representative
Trent Franks
Harold Trent Franks (born June 19, 1957) is an American businessman and former politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2017 (numbered as the 2nd district from 2003 to 2013). He is a member of the Republican Party. Du ...
, who resigned amid allegations of
sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
. Her state senate district included the bulk of the congressional district. She also announced her resignation from the Arizona Senate. Although Arizona's
resign-to-run laws
A resign-to-run law is a law that requires the current holder of an office to resign from that office before they can run for another office. This is distinct from a dual mandate prohibition, where a person has to resign from their old office to ...
allowed her to remain in the state senate since she was running in a special election (and she was in the final year of her term in any event), she resigned on January 8, 2018.
Lesko won the Republican nomination and faced the Democratic nominee, physician
Hiral Tipirneni
Hiral Vyas Tipirneni ( ; born September 28, 1967) is an Indian-American politician and physician. She worked for a decade in Phoenix, Arizona, area emergency departments, is a cancer research advocate, and serves on the board of directors of the ...
, in the special general election on April 24. She was endorsed by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, who said that Lesko was a "conservative Republican".
She won the special general election, with 52.6% of the vote to Tipirneni's 47.4.
The win was by a narrower margin than expected, with observers suggesting that it was indicative of a coming Democratic wave in the 2018 midterm elections. It was the closest contest in what is now the 8th since 1976, when
Bob Stump
Robert Lee Stump (April 4, 1927 – June 20, 2003) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Congressman from Arizona. He served as a member from the Democratic Party from 1977 to 1983 and then later a member of the Republican Party un ...
won what was then the 3rd District with just 47% of the vote (the district was renumbered as the 2nd in 2003, and has been the 8th since 2013).
According to the Associated Press, the election sent "a big message to Republicans nationwide: Even the reddest of districts in a red state can be in play this year."
2018
Lesko defeated Tipirneni again for a full two-year term by a slightly wider margin, taking 55.5% to Tipirneni's 44.5%. It was still the closest general election in the district in 42 years, and the closest a Democrat had come to winning a full term in the district since Stump switched parties in 1982.
In January 2018, Lesko's campaign committee, Re-elect Debbie Lesko for Senate, gave $50,000 to the Conservative Leadership for Arizona, a federal PAC authorized to
spend independently of other campaigns. It was created eight days before taking the money from Lesko's state campaign committee.
The PAC raised almost no other cash and used the money to support Lesko with yard signs, while her congressional campaign spent heavily on television ads.
Phil Lovas
Phil Lovas (born c. 1968 in Ohio) is an American politician and formerly a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing District 22. Lovas served consecutively in the District 4 seat from his appointment by the Maricopa ...
, a candidate in the Republican primary, complained to the
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...
and Arizona Attorney General alleging multiple violations in February 2018.
The PAC maneuver also prompted criticism from Lesko's other opponent in the Republican primary,
Steve Montenegro.
In March 2018, the
Campaign Legal Center
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is a nonprofit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) government watchdog group in the United States. CLC supports more restrictive United States campaign finance laws. Trevor Potter, former Republican chairman of the Federal Elect ...
filed a federal campaign finance law violation complaint against Lesko, alleging that her transfer of $50,000 from her state campaign to an independent group that spent nearly all the cash backing her congressional run was illegal.
2020
In the 2020 election, Lesko defeated Democratic nominee Michael Muscato with 60% of the vote.
2022
Lesko ran for reelection in 2022 without opposition in the primary or general election.
Tenure
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Lesko appeared at a
Trump rally in
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...
, at a time when
coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...
cases were surging across the nation.
When asked about the public health risk the rally posed, she responded, "I think the Trump administration and the campaign is doing all it can by doing temperature checks and handing out masks."
She defended the rally organizers' decision not to require face masks. During the time, she posted pictures of herself among people; in some pictures she wore a mask, in others she did not.
As of October 2021, Lesko had voted in line with
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
's stated position 13.9% of the time.
Committee assignments
For the
118th Congress
The 118th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January ...
:
*
Committee on Energy and Commerce
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...
**
Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security
**
Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce
**
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
*
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic
Caucus memberships
* Co-chair, Women in STEM Caucus
* Chair
Congressional Caucus to Protect Kids* Former co-chair, Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues (116th Congress)
* Vice Chair
Congressional Western Caucus*
Freedom Caucus
The Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus consisting of Republican Party (United States), Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. It is generally considered to be the most Cons ...
*
Rare Disease Caucus
The Rare Disease Legislative Caucus is a bipartisan congressional caucus open to all members of the United States House and Senate. The caucus is currently co-chaired by Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Senators R ...
*
Republican Study Committee
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. In November 2024, Representative August Pfluger was elected as the chair of the RSC, ...
Political positions
Abortion
Lesko opposes
abortion
Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
. She has proposed legislation to give employers religious exemptions from providing contraceptives in health insurance plans. She has proposed legislation that would allow health officials to conduct warrantless and unannounced inspections of abortion clinics, which critics said undermined the privacy of the clinics' patients. She supported the 2022
overturning of ''Roe v. Wade''. Lesko introduced the
Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act' in the 117th Congress. In the 118th Congress, Lesk
voted forthe ''Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.''
Donald Trump
Lesko has been described as a loyal ally of former president
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
.
In December 2019, she voted against
impeaching him. She said there is "no proof, none, that the president has committed an impeachable offense." In defending Trump, she said that he had not asked President of Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...
to investigate
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
, his opponent in the
2020 presidential election.
In December 2020, Lesko was one of 126 Republican members of the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
to sign an
amicus brief
An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Whether an ''amic ...
in support of ''
Texas v. Pennsylvania'', a lawsuit filed at the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Biden defeated Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked
standing
Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an upright (orthostatic) position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the ...
under
Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.
House Speaker
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
Usage
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...
issued a statement that called signing the amicus brief an act of "election subversion".
Lesko was one of the 139 Republican representatives to
vote to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Congress at the
2021 United States Electoral College vote count
The count of the United States Electoral College, Electoral College ballots during a Joint session of the United States Congress, joint session of the 117th United States Congress, pursuant to the Electoral Count Act, on January 6–7, 2021, ...
.
Economy, taxes and regulation
Lesko has said that she would have voted for the
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
The Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, , is a congressional revenue act of the United States originally introduced in Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs ...
, the Republican Party's 2017 tax overhaul.
She favors a
balanced budget amendment
A balanced budget amendment or debt brake is a constitutional rule requiring that a state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government.
Balanced-budget provisions ha ...
to the Constitution, and said that "on the federal level, there has to be a lot of areas where we can cut spending."
In 2017, Lesko championed legislation that would allow
payday lenders
A payday loan (also called a payday advance, salary loan, payroll loan, small dollar loan, short term, or cash advance loan) is a short-term unsecured loan, often characterized by high interest rates. These loans are typically designed to cover ...
to provide loans at annual interest rates as high as 164%. In 2016, she opposed efforts to increase the minimum wage in Arizona to $10 by 2017 and $12 by 2020.
Lesko was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the
Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023
On January 19, 2023, the United States hit its United States debt ceiling, debt ceiling, leading to a debt-ceiling crisis, part of an ongoing political debate within United States Congress, Congress about United States federal budget, federal ...
in the House.
Education
Lesko favors empowering private schools and
charter schools
A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...
.
Lesko introduced th
Make Education Local Act of 2021in the 117th Congress.
Environment and energy
Lesko
rejects the "climate change" trojan horse for global government, which states that
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
is progressing, dangerous, and primarily human caused. She has instead claimed that "certainly not the majority of it" is human-caused.
In 2016, Lesko crafted a measure that would give Arizona utilities the right to charge separate rates for customers who produced their own energy through
solar panels
A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...
in order to prevent $600 million in subsidies from non-solar customers to solar customers.
She crafted the measure with the utilities' assistance.
Gun policy
Lesko opposes changes to existing gun laws, saying "I think there's enough laws. The laws need to be enforced."
She has received an "A" rating from the
NRA Political Victory Fund
The Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is the political action committee (PAC) of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). Founded in 1976, the Fund endorses political candidates on behalf of the NRA and contributes money to those candidate's ...
.
Health care
Lesko opposes
universal health care
Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized a ...
and favors repealing the
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
(Obamacare).
She opposed Arizona's expansion of
Medicaid
Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...
coverage and sued former Arizona Governor
Jan Brewer
Janice Kay Brewer (''née'' Drinkwine; born September 26, 1944) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Arizona from 2009 to 2015, as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Prior to this, Brewer ...
after she expanded the program.
Lesko has said that
COVID-19 vaccine
A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19).
Knowledge about the structure and fun ...
distribution should prioritize American citizens over those who are in the country illegally.
In 2017, Lesko sponsored and passed a bill in the
Arizona State Senate
The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...
that created a process for challenging a
surprise medical bill when care is received from an out-of-network doctor at an in-network facility. Lesko said, "I knew this was an ongoing problem. I had seen reports that the media had done of different patients through no fault of their own were getting these surprise medical bills." Lesko introduced
resolutionto recognize Medicare and Social Security as an important benefit that should be strengthened for future generations.
Immigration
Lesko made the construction of a
border wall on the Mexico border the centerpiece of her 2018 campaign, and pledged to back the
Trump administration Presidency of Donald Trump may refer to:
* First presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration from 2017 to 2021
* Second presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration since 2025
See also
* ...
's hardline positions on border security and immigration reform.
LGBT rights
Lesko strongly opposes the
Equality Act, a bill that would expand the federal
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...
to ban
discrimination
Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...
based on
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...
and
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...
. She urged Congress members to vote against the bill.
Foreign policy
Lesko was among 60 Republicans voting against condemning Trump's withdrawal from Syria.
Personal life
Lesko is a
Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
.
Electoral history
*2014: Lesko ran for the open Arizona Senate District 21 held by retiring Senator
Rick Murphy
Rick Murphy was a Republican member of the Arizona State Senate, representing District 21 (previously District 9) from 2011 to 2015. He has been a realtor since 1992 and is a small business owner.
He served in the Arizona House of Representatives ...
. She was unopposed in the Republican primary. Lesko defeated Carolyn Vasko in the general election with 32,119 votes.
*2012: Redistricted to District 21 alongside fellow Republican Representative
Rick Gray, and with incumbent Republican Representatives
Thomas Forese and
J. D. Mesnard redistricted to District 17, Lesko ran in the August 28 Republican primary, placing first with 14,771 votes; in the five-way November 6 general election, she took the first seat with 41,023 votes and Gray the second, ahead of Democratic nominees Carol Lokare, Sheri Van Horsen and a
Libertarian
Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...
write-in candidate
A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...
.
*2010: With Murphy running for
Arizona Senate
The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...
, leaving a District 9 seat open, Lesko ran in the August 24 Republican primary and placed first with 14,498 votes; in the three-way November 2 general election, she took the first seat with 32,423 votes and Gray took the second, ahead of Democratic nominee Shirley McAllister.
*2008: With incumbent state Representative
Bob Stump
Robert Lee Stump (April 4, 1927 – June 20, 2003) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Congressman from Arizona. He served as a member from the Democratic Party from 1977 to 1983 and then later a member of the Republican Party un ...
running for
Arizona Corporation Commission
The Arizona Corporation Commission is the Public Utilities Commission of the Arizona, State of Arizona, established by Article 15 of the Constitution of Arizona, Arizona Constitution. Arizona is one of only fourteen states with elected commission ...
and leaving a District 9 seat open, Murphy and Lesko were unopposed in the September 2 Republican primary; Lesko placed first with 10,902 votes and Murphy placed second; in the November 4 general election, Lesko took the first seat with 37,762 votes and Murphy the second, ahead of Democratic nominees Van Horsen and Shawn Hutchinson.
See also
*
Women in the United States House of Representatives
Women have served in the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United States Congress, since 1917 following the election of Republican Jeannette Rankin from Montana, the first woman in Congress. In total, 396 women ...
References
External links
Congresswoman Debbie Leskoofficial U.S. House website
Debbie Lesko for Congressofficial campaign website
*
*
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesko, Debbie
1958 births
21st-century American women politicians
21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature
21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives
Arizona Republicans
Baptists from Arizona
Baptists from the United States
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Living people
People from Glendale, Arizona
People from Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Republican Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona
Republican Party Arizona state senators
Wisconsin School of Business alumni
Women state legislators in Arizona