Dara Lindenbaum elected Chair, Sean J. Cooksey elected Vice Chair for 2023

WASHINGTON—At its open meeting today, the Federal Election Commission elected Dara Lindenbaum as Chair and Sean J. Cooksey as Vice Chairman for 2023.

Vice Chair Lindenbaum was nominated by President Joseph Biden on February 3, 2022, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 24, 2022. Prior to her appointment, Vice Chair Lindenbaum was a partner at Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C. (Sandler Reiff) where she advised candidates, political committees, and organizations on a wide range of laws and regulations, including complying with state and federal campaign finance and election laws. She served as outside general counsel for several organizations and worked with directors, boards, and staff on general business matters, structuring their programs, and navigating the complex legal and compliance landscape.

Before joining Sandler Reiff, Vice Chair Lindenbaum was an associate counsel in the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she focused on election law and voting rights.

Vice Chair Lindenbaum received her B.S. from Northeastern University and her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School. She was named a 2019, 2020, and 2021 Rising Star in the District of Columbia edition of Super Lawyers.

Commissioner Cooksey was nominated by President Donald J. Trump on October 30, 2020, and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 9, 2020.

Prior to his appointment, Commissioner Cooksey served as General Counsel to U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, working on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary and advising the Senator on issues including constitutional law, judicial nominations, election law, federal criminal law, immigration law, antitrust policy, intellectual property, and ethics compliance. He previously served as Deputy Chief Counsel for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.

Prior to his Senate service, Commissioner Cooksey worked as an attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Washington, D.C., where his practice focused on appeals and constitutional law. He also served as a law clerk for Judge Jerry E. Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Houston, Texas.

Commissioner Cooksey received his B.A. in economics, summa cum laude, from Truman State University. He received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where he graduated with High Honors and Order of the Coif, and served as a Managing Editor on the University of Chicago Law Review.