Jackie Speier is an American politician representing California's 14th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is a member of the Democratic Party and first elected in 2008. Her district re-elected her on November 3, 2020, and this term ends on January 3, 2023.
Speier first ran for Congress in 1979 following the assassination of Rep. Leo Ryan (D) in the Jonestown massacre. Speier had been Ryan's legislative aide and traveled to Guyana with him to investigate the Jonestown settlement in 1978. She was seriously injured but survived the incident.
Several years later, Speier was elected to the California State Assembly, where she served from 1986 to 1998. Following that, she was elected to the California State Senate. She served in that position until 2006.
Speier was born in San Francisco, California. She earned her B.A. from the University of California, Davis, in 1972 and her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings School of Law, in 1976.
