Zoe Lofgren Bio
Susan Ellen “Zoe” Lofgren (born December 21, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California’s 18th congressional district. A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected to Congress in 1994 and is serving her fifteenth term. Lofgren has long served on the House Judiciary Committee and has chaired the House Administration Committee during the 116th and 117th Congresses.
Representing much of Silicon Valley, Lofgren has been noted for her involvement in technology policy, including net neutrality, privacy, and intellectual property matters. She has also led high-profile impeachment prosecutions and served on ethics and science-related panels. Prior to Congress, she served on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and practiced immigration law in San Jose.
Early Life and Background
Zoe Lofgren was born in San Mateo, California, the daughter of Mary Violet, a school cafeteria employee, and Milton R. Lofgren, a beer truck driver. Her grandfather was Swedish, giving the family a Scandinavian heritage. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area during the post-World War II era, a period of rapid expansion across California.
Lofgren attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto, graduating in 1966. While in high school, she joined the Junior State of America, a student-run political debate, activism, and student governance organization. The experience helped shape her interest in government and public policy at a young age.
She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Stanford University in 1970, during a time of significant national debate over the Vietnam War and civil rights. After completing her undergraduate studies, Lofgren worked as a staff member for Congressman Don Edwards, gaining firsthand experience in legislative work.
Path to US Politics
After graduating from Stanford, Lofgren joined the staff of Congressman Don Edwards and served on the House Judiciary Committee when the committee prepared articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon in 1973. The experience gave her an early understanding of constitutional law and congressional procedure at a historic moment in American politics.
In 1978, Lofgren married John Marshall Collins, an attorney she had met at an election party. Returning to San Jose, she worked in Don Edwards’s district office while pursuing a law degree. She earned her Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1975 and later became a partner at a San Jose immigration law firm, focusing on immigration cases for two years.
Her early political career took shape in local government. Lofgren was elected to the board of San Jose City College and, in 1981, to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, where she represented downtown San Jose and surrounding communities for 13 years. These local offices provided a foundation for her eventual move to national politics.
Zoe Lofgren Career
Early Career (1970s-1994)
Lofgren’s early career combined legal practice with local political service. After two years as a partner at a San Jose immigration law firm, she transitioned into elected office, joining the board of San Jose City College before winning a seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in 1981.
As a supervisor for 13 years, Lofgren represented downtown San Jose and nearby communities, building a record on local issues. Her long tenure gave her visibility across the region and prepared her for a statewide run. In 1994, she entered a six-way Democratic primary for what was then California’s 16th congressional district after Don Edwards retired following 32 years in Congress.
Congressional Breakthrough (1994)
The 1994 Democratic primary was the decisive race in a Democratic stronghold district. As a decided underdog, Lofgren managed to defeat the favorite, former San Jose mayor Tom McEnery, by just over 1,100 votes. The narrow victory proved enough to lock in the seat.
She breezed to victory in the November general election and has been reelected every two years since with no substantive opposition. That first win made her the 16th district’s first female U.S. representative, a milestone for women in California politics. The district has since been renumbered as the 18th and briefly the 19th due to redistricting.
Judiciary and Impeachment Work (2009-Present)
Lofgren has built much of her national profile through the House Judiciary Committee. In 2009, she was appointed and served as an impeachment manager in the impeachment trial of Judge Samuel B. Kent. The following year, in 2010, she was appointed and served as an impeachment manager, or prosecutor, in the impeachment trial of Judge Thomas Porteous.
Beginning in 2009, Lofgren served as chair of the House Ethics Committee, where she presided over a rare sanction of censure against longtime member Charles B. Rangel. In January 2020, she was selected as one of seven impeachment managers who presented the impeachment case against President Donald Trump during his first trial before the United States Senate, marking her third time serving in that role. She also chairs the 46-member California Democratic Congressional Delegation and chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.
Silicon Valley and Tech Policy Era (2000s-Present)
Representing a district that covers much of Silicon Valley, Lofgren has been a leading voice on technology policy. She has supported net neutrality rules to prevent internet service providers from engaging in data discrimination and, in 2018, signed a discharge petition to force a vote on net neutrality protections in Congress.
In 2012, she was one of two Democrats in Congress to oppose the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust probe of Google. In 2013, following the prosecution and subsequent suicide of internet activist Aaron Swartz, Lofgren introduced Aaron’s Law to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In 2025, she introduced the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act, which would allow copyright owners to ask courts to require internet providers to block access to foreign websites alleged to facilitate copyright infringement.
Zoe Lofgren Family
Family Background and Personal Life
Lofgren was raised in a working-class family in San Mateo, California. Her mother, Mary Violet, worked as a school cafeteria employee, and her father, Milton R. Lofgren, worked as a beer truck driver. Her grandfather was of Swedish descent, reflecting the Scandinavian immigration patterns common across parts of California.
In 1978, Lofgren married John Marshall Collins, an attorney, whom she met at an election party. The couple has two children and twin grandsons. Their daughter, Sheila Collins, is a corporate counsel at Google. The family resides in San Jose, California, the heart of the Silicon Valley district Lofgren has represented in Congress since 1994.