She returned to Houston, where she worked for the law firm Vinson & Elkins, where she met her husband, Scott.[5][6] Later, she worked at Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing and became the firm's first female law partner.[2][7]
In the November 6 general election, Fletcher campaigned as a moderate against nine-term Republican incumbent John Culberson, defeating him by five percentage points (52.5% to 47.5%).[10][11] Culberson carried his longstanding base of west Houston, parts of which he had represented for three decades at the state and federal levels, and the Memorial area, but could not overcome Fletcher's strong performance in the district's share of southwest Houston and the Bear Creek area.
Upon her swearing-in on January 3, 2019, Fletcher became the first Democrat and woman to represent the district since its creation in 1967.[11]
Fletcher was reelected with 50.8% of the vote to Republican nominee Wesley Hunt's 47.5%.[12] Despite winning by a smaller margin than 2018, she held down-ballot drop-off voting to less than 4% from top-ballot candidate Joe Biden, who carried the district with 54% of the vote.[citation needed]
Fletcher was reelected with 63.7% of the vote to Republican nominee Johnny Teague's 36.21%.[13] She benefited from the 2020 congressional redistricting that shifted her district from a margin of 8.5 percentage points for Democrats to a 30-point margin.[14]
Tenure
As of August 2023, Fletcher had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 99% of the time.[15]
In 2022, Fletcher was one of 16 Democrats to vote against the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.[16][17]
^ abc"Texas New Members 2019". The Hill. November 15, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018. A Houston native, Fletcher grew up in the district before heading to Ohio to attend Kenyon College, where she was in the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa. She later attended William & Mary Law School.
^ abScherer, Jasper (November 7, 2018). "Lizzie Fletcher looks to legislate the way she won: in moderation". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved November 20, 2018. When Fletcher unseated Culberson Tuesday night by a relatively comfortable five points, however, she did so behind a Houston-centric campaign that emphasized her local roots and pulled in right-leaning independents and disillusioned Republicans. Now, having flipped a seat controlled for the last 52 years by Republicans, Fletcher heads to Washington with a target on her back, but also a desire to legislate with the same moderate approach she used to build her campaign.
