Mike Lee

Personal details

Full name

Michael Shumway Lee

Born

June 4, 1971 · Mesa, Arizona

Parents

Rex E. Lee (lawyer and former U.S. solicitor general); Janet Griffin Lee (later Janet Lee Chamberlain)

Education

Brigham Young University, B.A. political science (1994); BYU law degree (1997)

Religion

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Spouse

Sharon Burr Lee

Children

John, James, and Eliza

Profession

Federal judicial clerk, appellate attorney, assistant U.S. attorney

Political party

Republican

Public service

U.S. Senate (2011– )

Family and education

Lee was born to Rex E. Lee and Janet Griffin Lee. His father later served as U.S. solicitor general during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, and the family lived at different times in Utah and Washington, D.C. Lee graduated from Brigham Young University in 1994 and its law school in 1997. He and his wife Sharon have three children, named in an original Congressional Directory.

Legal profession and volunteer religious service

Lee served a two-year Latter-day Saint mission in Texas. After law school, he clerked for federal judge Dee Benson and then Judge Samuel Alito on the Third Circuit; he later worked for Alito after his Supreme Court appointment. Lee also practiced appellate law at Sidley Austin and Howrey, served as an assistant U.S. attorney, and was counsel to Utah Governor Jon Huntsman.

2010 campaign and Senate

Lee won election in November 2010 after incumbent Republican Senator Bob Bennett failed to advance at his party’s convention. Senator Jim DeMint endorsed Lee after his nomination campaign reached a later stage, according to contemporaneous reporting. Lee entered the Senate in 2011 and was reelected in 2016 and 2022.

Related entries

• Jim DeMint

References

1. 2022 Congressional Directory, original family and biographical record
2. Official Senator Mike Lee biography
3. Senate Energy Committee official biography
4. Local Utah interview with mother and family background
5. Roll Call 2010 endorsement timing