Topic: Zoe Lofgren

Zoe Lofgren (born December 21, 1947) is the U.S. Representative for California's 16th congressional district, serving since 1995. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in San Jose.

A lifelong Bay Area resident, Lofgren attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto, earned her B.A. at Stanford University and a J.D. at Santa Clara University School of Law. She left the San Jose area for a few years after graduation from Stanford, to serve as a staff assistant to Congressman Don Edwards, in whose office she worked on, among other projects, the attempted impeachment of Richard Nixon. She was also instrumental in the creation of a Bay Area wilderness area that now bears the name of Edwards.

Returning to San Jose, Lofgren worked in Edwards' district office, while at the same time earning her law degree. After two years as partner at an immigration law firm in San Jose, she was elected first to a community college board, then to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, where she served for 13 years. Lofgren also spent three years teaching classes on immigration law at her former law school at Santa Clara University.