Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is a politician and lobbyist from Miami, Florida. She is known as the representative for Florida's 27th congressional district from 1989 to 2019 and became the most senior U.S. Representative from Florida at the end of her tenure. In 1989, Ros-Lehtinen became the first Cuban American and Latina elected to Congress. She was also the first Republican woman elected to the House from Florida. Ros-Lehtinen served as the Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 2011-2013 and played a key role in preventing the passage of the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010.

Throughout her career, she has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge and voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. In September 2011, Ros-Lehtinen became the first Republican member of the U.S. Congress to co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. In July 2012, Ros-Lehtinen became the first Republican in the House to support same-sex marriage. After leaving Congress, Ros-Lehtinen was hired by the lobbying firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld (Akin Gump) and continues to remain active in politics by endorsing candidates from both parties.

Ros-Lehtinen is also noted for giving the first Republican response to the State of the Union address in Spanish in 2011. Notably, she announced in 2017 that she would not be running for re-election in 2018. Before her political career, Ros-Lehtinen was an educator and the owner/operator of a private school in Miami-Dade County. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in education and a Master of Arts in educational leadership from Florida International University.