Debbie Wasserman Schultz (27 September 1966-) was a member of the US House of Representatives (D-FL 20) from 3 January 2005 to 3 January 2013 (succeeding Peter Deustch and preceding Alcee Hastings) and from FL-23 from 3 January 2013 (succeeding Hastings), and chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2011 to 2016, with Donna Brazile both succeeding and preceding her. Once known as a pillar of the community, Wasserman Schultz gained negative publicity in 2016 when she was accused of rigging the presidential primaries in favor of Hillary Clinton.
Biography[]
Debbie Wasserman was born on 27 September 1966 in New York City, New York, United States to a Jewish family. Wasserman studied at the University of Florida, gaining a B.A. and M.A. in political science there in 1988 and 1990. In 1988, she became an aide to state legislator Peter Deutsch, and she succeeded Deutsch on the state legislature when Deutsch was elected to a seat in the US House of Representatives for the 23rd congressional district. In 2000, she entered the Florida State Senate, and she succeeded Deutsch as the representative from the 23rd district in 2005. She became known as a centrist in comparison to Deutsch, as she was not a war hawk, supported giving financial aid to the Palestinian Authority to fight terrorism, and opposed the legalization of medical marijuana. Nevertheless, she was appointed Chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2011, making her the de facto leader of the US Democratic Party. In 2016, she was alleged to have shown bias towards presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, as she scheduled only six debates, and she had also criticized Bernie Sanders for criticizing her perceived favoritism. After Russian government hackers revealed emails confirming the supposed prejudice, Wasserman Schultz announced her resignation as Chair, and Donna Brazile succeeded her as interim chair.