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Federal Election Commission | United States of America

Lee E. Goodman

Headshot of Lee E. Goodman
Republican
October 2013 to February 2018

Biography

Commissioner Lee E. Goodman was appointed to the Federal Election Commission by President Barack Obama on October 21, 2013, and sworn into office on October 22, 2013. President Obama nominated Commissioner Goodman, a Republican, on June 24, 2013, on the recommendation of Senator Mitch McConnell and he was confirmed by unanimous consent of the United States Senate on September 23, 2013. Commissioner Goodman served as Chairman of the Commission in 2014 and Vice Chairman in 2013.

Commissioner Goodman has advocated free speech on the Internet, robust free press rights, including new media, and common sense deregulation of political parties. He also has promoted fair treatment and agency transparency in the Commission's enforcement procedures. He has lectured at dozens of law schools, universities, civic organizations, and continuing legal education programs while serving on the Commission.

Prior to joining the Commission, Mr. Goodman practiced election law in private practice for the better part of two decades and served in a number of governmental and political posts. In private practice, he represented candidates, public officials, political parties, political action committees, non-profit organizations, and media companies in addressing a wide range of laws regulating their political activities and speech. He advised four presidential campaigns from 2007 to 2012. He served as general counsel of the Republican Party of Virginia (2009-2013). He also represented non-political clients in addressing other regulatory and public policy issues before courts, regulatory agencies, and legislative bodies.

His prior government service includes four years as legal counsel and policy advisor to the Governor of Virginia (1998-2002) and three years as counsel and special assistant to the Attorney General of Virginia (1995-1997). He served as chief advisor to the Chairman of the Congressional Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce (1999-2000).

Mr. Goodman has authored several articles on election law, including a chapter on regulation of political speech on the Internet in the book Law and Election Politics - The Rules of the Game (Routledge 2013), and he has lectured frequently on election law topics. He has served on the boards of several political, educational and cultural non-profit organizations. He is recognized as a national expert in close elections, recounts and election administration.

He received his B.A. with highest distinction in 1986 from the University of Virginia, where he double majored in American Government and Rhetoric & Communication Studies. He received his J.D. in 1990 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as Articles Editor for the U.Va. Journal of Law & Politics.

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