Susan Lee
72ndSecretary of State of Maryland
Incumbent
Assumed office January 18, 2023 Acting: January 18, 2023 – February 13, 2023
Governor	Wes Moore
Preceded by	John C. Wobensmith
Member of theMaryland Senate from the 16th district
In office January 14, 2015 – January 18, 2023
Preceded by	Brian Frosh
Succeeded by	Ariana Kelly
Member of theMaryland House of Delegates from the 16th district
In office February 21, 2002 – January 13, 2015 Serving with Marilyn R. Goldwater (2002–2007) William A. Bronrott (2002–2010) William Frick (2007–2015) Ariana Kelly (2011–2015)
Preceded by	Nancy Kopp
Succeeded by	Marc Korman
Personal details
Born	(1954-05-14)May 14, 1954 (age 71) San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Residence(s)	Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Education	University of Maryland, College Park (BA) University of San Francisco (JD)
Signature
Susan Lee's voice Susan C. Lee on the responsibilities of the Maryland Secretary of State Recorded February 10, 2023

Susan Clair Lee (Chinese:李鳳遷;pinyin:Lǐ Fèngqiān; born May 14, 1954) is an American politician. She has served as the 72ndMaryland Secretary of State since 2023. She was a member of theMaryland State Senate from 2015 to 2023, and of theMaryland House of Delegates from 2002 to 2015. She representedDistrict 16, covering parts ofMontgomery County, and was the first Asian American elected to the Maryland State Senate, as well as the first Asian American woman and first Chinese American elected to the Maryland legislature.^[1][2]

Lee was born inSan Antonio,Texas. She grew up in Montgomery County and attendedWinston Churchill High School. She earned aBachelor of Arts degree from theUniversity of Maryland College Park before graduating from theUniversity of San Francisco School of Law. She is a member of theDistrict of Columbia Bar and theCalifornia State Bar.^[1] Before becoming a state legislator, Lee was an attorney in private practice, having previously worked as an attorney for theUnited States Commission on Civil Rights and theUnited States Patent and Trademark Office.^[2] She was also co-chairwoman of the Montgomery CountyNAACP Multicultural Community Partnership.^[3]

On February 19, 2002, GovernorParris Glendening appointed Lee to the Maryland House of Delegates following the election ofNancy Kopp asTreasurer of Maryland.^[3] This appointment came after a recommendation by the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee, on which she sat.^[4] She was sworn in on February 21^[1] and was subsequently elected to her first full term in 2002.^[5] She was re-elected in 2006^[6] and 2010.^[7]

In August 2013, Lee announced that she would run for the Maryland Senate, seeking to succeed state senatorBrian Frosh, who ran forAttorney General of Maryland in2014.^[8] She won the Democratic primary with 85.1 percent of the vote,^[9] and later won the general election with 70 percent of the vote.^[10] Lee was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 14, 2015. Since November 2018, she has served as the Senate majority whip.^[11]

Maryland House of Delegates

• Member, Judiciary Committee, 2002–2015 (member, gaming law & enforcement subcommittee, 2002–2003; civil law & procedure subcommittee, 2003–2006; chair, juvenile law subcommittee, 2007–2011; chair, family law subcommittee, 2011–2015)
• Deputy Majority Whip, 2003–2015
• Member, Joint Committee on Access to Mental Health Services, 2011–2014

Maryland Senate

• Majority Whip, 2019–2023
• Deputy Majority Whip, 2017–2018
• Member, Judicial Proceedings Committee, 2015–2023
• Joint Committee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Biotechnology, 2015–2023
• Executive Nominations Committee, 2019–2023
• Legislative Policy Committee, 2020–2023

^[1]

On January 10, 2023, Governor-electWes Moore named Lee to serve as theMaryland Secretary of State. She took office in an acting position on January 18, the same day that Moore was sworn in as Governor, and is the first Asian American person to serve as the Maryland Secretary of State.^[12][13] On February 14, the Maryland Senate unanimously approved Lee's nomination.^[14]

In September 2023, Lee said that her office would consider removing former PresidentDonald Trump from the primary election ballot under theFourteenth Amendment.^[15][16][17] She ultimately decided against excluding Trump.^[18] Lee was an at-large delegate to the2024 Democratic National Convention, pledged toKamala Harris.^[19]

Between late May and June 2020, Lee virtually met four times with representatives from theMaryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, theMaryland Department of Juvenile Services, and the Maryland Judiciary. These meetings resulted in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee releasing a report with 19 recommendations to help the state's correctional systems navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.^[20]

In March 2021, Lee rebuked disparaging statements made by former presidentDonald Trump regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, in which phrases like "Kung Flu" and the "China virus" stokedracism toward Asian communities.^[21][22] Later that month, afterCNN aired a clip showing seniorHogan health advisor and then-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention directorRobert R. Redfield saying he believed theCOVID-19 virus "escaped" from a lab inChina in September or October 2019, Lee took to the floor of the Maryland Senate to condemn Redfield's comments and suggested that Asian-Americans could be targeted because of his remarks.^[23][24]

During the 2020 legislative session, Lee introduced a bill that would require prosecutors to disclose whetherfacial recognition orDNA profiling were used during the criminal investigation of a case. The bill was withdrawn after its first hearing.^[25] She also introduced a bill that would make it a crime to possessransomware with the intent to use it, with sentences up to 10 years in prison and or a $10,000 fine, following a ransomware attack that froze government computers inBaltimore.^[26]

During the 2021 legislative session, Lee introduced a bill that would repeal the prohibition on prosecutingsexual crimes against a victim who is the spouse of the assailant.^[27] The bill unanimously passed out of the Maryland Senate and passed the Maryland House of Delegates by a vote of 115-18.^[28]

In January 2020, Lee criticized the proposedCapital Beltway andInterstate 270 expansions, tellingThe Washington Post, "So far the state's top-down kind of planning [on the toll lanes] has disregarded any dialogue about some of the financial risks, the risk to our environment, the risk to our communities, and to our businesses and to our quality of life".^[29] She also introduced a bill that would give counties the ability to block state toll projects.^[30]

During the 2019 legislative session, Lee introduced a bill that would banprivately made firearms in Maryland.^[31] The bill was reintroduced during the 2022 legislative session,^[32] during which it passed the House of Delegates and the state Senate, and became law without Governor Hogan's signature.^[33][34] Following the bill's passage, she was invited to theWhite House by U.S. PresidentJoe Biden,^[34] where he announced a newUnited States Department of Justice rule regulating privately made firearms.^[35]

During the 2020 legislative session, Lee introduced a bill that would requirebackground checks for private sales oflong guns.^[36] The bill passed the Maryland Senate by a vote of 31-14 and the Maryland House of Delegates by a vote of 87-47,^[37] but was vetoed by Governor Hogan on May 7, 2020.^[38] The Maryland General Assembly voted to override the governor's veto on February 9, 2021.^[39]

In June 2018, following national outcry about theTrump administration's family separation policy, Lee called on Maryland counties to "stop taking blood money fromICE" to detain immigrants. At the time, only three counties (Frederick,Howard, andWorcester counties) had facilities for detaining immigrants that were used by ICE.^[40]

In April 2015, Lee endorsed U.S. RepresentativeChris Van Hollen in the2016 United States Senate election in Maryland.^[41] In November, she endorsed former Secretary of StateHillary Clinton forpresident.^[42]

In February 2004, Lee criticized a bill that would have defined marriages in Maryland as the union of a man and woman, saying before a House Judiciary Committee hearing, "These bills are inflammatory, they are divisive and they promote intolerance to a large portion of our population".^[43] In February 2006, Lee voted against a bill that would amend theMaryland Constitution to bansame-sex marriage in the state. The bill failed to pass by a vote of 61-78.^[44] In 2012, she voted for theCivil Marriage Protection Act, which passed out of the Maryland House of Delegates by a vote of 72-67.^[45]

During the 2020 legislative session, Lee introduced a bill that would codify the right to abortion access. The bill was withdrawn in the final week of the legislative session, which was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[46]

During the 2021 legislative session, Lee introduced a bill that would have granted adoptees above the age of 18 access to their originalbirth certificates. The bill failed to pass out of the state Senate by a vote of 16-31.^[47] She also introduced a bill that would have requiredfamily law judges to undergo a minimum of 60 hours of training on child abuse investigations,implicit bias in custody decisions,parental alienation, and qualifications for child abuse evaluators and treatment providers.^[48]

In November 2007, Lee voted in favor of House Bill 2, which raised individual and corporate income tax provisions, and House Bill 5, which increased the state sales tax, car titling tax, and hotel tax.^[49]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSusan C. Lee.

• Susan Lee for Maryland Senate campaign website
• Appearances onC-SPAN
• "Members – Senator Susan C. Lee".mgaleg.maryland.gov.Maryland General Assembly. RetrievedJanuary 10, 2023.

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