Two new Commissioners assume office (2013)
Lee E. Goodman and Ann M. Ravel have assumed their new roles as Commissioners of the Federal Election Commission.
Commissioner Goodman, a Republican, replaces Vice Chairman Donald F. McGahn, who left the Commission in September. He was appointed by President Barack Obama on October 21, 2013, and sworn into office on October 22, 2013. On October 31, his colleagues elected him to serve as Vice Chairman of the Commission for the balance of 2013.
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 was recognized as a national expert in close elections, recounts and election administration. 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.
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 also has served on the boards of several political, educational and cultural non-profit organizations.
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.
Commissioner Ravel, a Democrat, replaces Commissioner Cynthia L. Bauerly, who left the Commission in February. Commissioner Ravel was sworn in on Friday, October 25. Her term will expire on April 30, 2017.
From March 2011 until her appointment to the Commission, Ms. Ravel served as Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), to which Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. appointed her. At the FPPC, Ms. Ravel oversaw the regulation of campaign finance, lobbyist registration and reporting, and ethics and conflicts-of-interest related to officeholders and public employees. During her tenure at the FPPC, Ms. Ravel was instrumental in the creation of the States' Unified Network (SUN) Center, a web-based center for sharing information on campaign finance.
Before joining the FPPC, Ms. Ravel served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Torts and Consumer Litigation in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice. Ms. Ravel also worked as an attorney in the Santa Clara County Counsel's Office, ultimately serving as the appointed County Counsel from 1998 until 2009. Ms. Ravel represented the County and its elected officials, provided advice on the state Political Reform Act, and initiated groundbreaking programs in elder abuse litigation, educational rights, and consumer litigation on behalf of the Santa Clara County government and the community.
Ms. Ravel has served as an elected Governor on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California, a member of the Judicial Council of the State of California, and Chair of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation. In 2007, the State Bar of California named Ms. Ravel Public Attorney of the Year for her contributions to public service.
Ms. Ravel received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
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