Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (born September 27, 1966) is the U.S. Representative for  since 2005. She was the Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, the leader the Democratic Party from 2011 until she resigned in 2016. From 1993 to 2004, she served in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate.

Her district covers parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Her district includes the cities of Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach.

Early life, education and career
She was born Deborah Wasserman in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City. She grew up on Long Island. She received a Bachelor of Arts in 1988 and a Master of Arts with certificate in political campaigning in 1990, both in Political Science, from the University of Florida, in Gainesville.

At the University of Florida, Schultz was in student government. She was President of the Student Senate as well as founder and President of the Rawlings Area Council Government. She was also a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society, the James C. Grimm chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary, and the union Graduate Assistants United. She served as President of the Graduate Student Council. She said that student politics developed her "love for politics and the political process."

Florida House of Representatives
In 1988 Schultz became an aide to Peter Deutsch at the beginning of his state legislative career. In 1992, Deutsch won election to the United States House of Representatives, which made his Florida post vancant. Schultz recalled getting a call from Deutsch at the time: "It was really amazing. He called me at home one day in the middle of the legislative session and he said, 'You could run in my race, your house is in my district.'" She had lived in the district for only three years. Schultz then won 53 percent of the vote in a six-way Democratic primary and avoided a runoff. She went on to win the general election and succeeded Deutsch in Florida's House of Representatives. At the age of 26, she became the youngest female legislator in Florida's history.

She served in the Florida State House of Representatives for eight years. State term limits required Schultz to leave the House. In addition to her work as a state legislator, she became an adjunct instructor of political science at Broward Community College. She also worked as a public policy curriculum specialist at Nova Southeastern University. She was elected to the Florida State Senate in 2000. She was considered one of the most liberal members of Florida's state legislature. She supported legislation requiring gender price parity for dry cleaning. She supported bills to require that an equal number of men and women were appointed to state boards. She pushed through several bills including the Florida Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act and one creating a Children's Services Council for Broward County. The Save The Manatee Club gave Schultz an award for her work in the state senate to protect manatees.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments
She serves on the following committees:
 Committee on the Budget
 Committee on the Judiciary
 Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet
 Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security

Party leadership
She is Chief Deputy Whip for the House Democrats. Schultz is a member of the New Democrat Coalition.

Schultz was appointed to the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee in her first term in Congress. During the 2006 elections, she raised over seventeen million dollars in campaign contributions for her Democratic colleagues. The only two congressmen to raise more money that year were Nancy Pelosi and Rahm Emanuel. Democrats in the House of Representatives chose her to be Chief Deputy Whip. They appointed her to the Appropriations Committee. (This was a very good job for a congresswoman with only two years of experience.)

She is a member of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's "30 Something" Working Group, which consists of congressional Democrats under age 40. The group concentrates on issues affecting young people, including Social Security. She also has joined the bipartisan Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus. According to the Congress.org 2008 Power Rankings, she was the 24th most powerful member of the House and 22nd most powerful Democratic representative (also most powerful Florida representative).

Chair of the Democratic National Committee
In April 2011, Tim Kaine resigned as Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman in order to run for the United States Senate. On April 5, 2011, President Barack Obama chose Schultz to succeed Kaine as the 52nd Chairman of the DNC. Between Kaine's resignation and the next DNC meeting, current DNC Vice-Chair Donna Brazile served as the interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee. On May 4, 2011, the DNC met and elected Schultz as its chair. Schultz became the third female DNC chief in history and the first in over 15 years.

Wikileaks scandal and resignation
On July 24, 2016, it was announced that she would resign her position as chairperson of the Democratic National Committee following the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Leaked emails provided by WikiLeaks showed Schultz and other members of the DNC staff mocking and attempting to sabotage the presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders in favor of Clinton's campaign.

The Clinton campaign announced the same day that Wasserman Schultz would act as honorary chair of an effort to elect Democrats across the United States in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.

Personal life
Schultz currently lives in Weston outside Fort Lauderdale. She has three children and is married to Steve Schultz. She is an active member of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Planned Parenthood and Hadassah.

In March 2009, she said that she went through seven surgeries related to breast cancer in 2008, while remaining a member of the House. That year, she promoted efforts for early screening for breast cancer.

Awards
 Giraffe award, Women's Advocacy Majority Minority (WAMM), 1993
 Outstanding Family Advocacy award, Dade County Psychol. Assn., 1993
 Rosemary Barkett award, Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, 1995
 Woman of the Year, AMIT, 1994
 Outstanding Legislator of the year, Florida Federation of Business & Professional Women, 1994
 Quality Floridian, Florida League of Cities, 1994
 Woman of Vision, Weizmann Institute of Science
 One of Six Most Unstoppable Women, South Florida Magazine, 1994.

References

Other websites 

 Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz  official U.S. House site
 Debbie Wasserman Schultz for Congress official campaign site
 

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1966 births
Living people
Jewish American politicians
Jewish women politicians
People from Queens
Politicians from New York City
United States representatives from Florida
University of Florida alumni
US Democratic Party politicians