Jackie Speier

Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier (; born May 14, 1950) is the U.S. Representative for California's 14th congressional district, serving in Congress since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 12th District from 2008 to 2013, includes the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and the southwest quarter of San Francisco. She represents much of the territory that had been represented by her political mentor, Leo Ryan. She is also a former member of the California State Senate who represented parts of San Francisco and San Mateo counties. On April 8, 2008, she won the special election for the vacated United States House of Representatives seat of late Congressman Tom Lantos. One of the Caltrain "Baby Bullet" express locomotives is named in her honor. 2Early life and education Speier was born in 1950 in San Francisco, and grew up in an apolitical family, the daughter of Nancy (née Kanchelian) and Manfred "Fred" Speier. Her mother (she was a survivor of Armenian Genocide) was of Armenian descent, while her father was an immigrant from Germany. Speier took Jacqueline as her confirmation name after Jackie Kenned