Summer Lee — Democrat Candidate for U.S. House in Pennsylvania, 2026

Summer Lee voted against a Department of Homeland Security funding bill in January 2026, which included Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) funding, due to a lack of reforms. She co-introduced the Melt ICE Act, aiming to end DHS funding for immigrant detentions and reallocate funds to community services. Lee consistently advocates for the abolishment of ICE and supports a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including Dreamers and TPS holders, emphasizing the necessity of a just and humane immigration system.

“We can create a just and humane immigration system. And let’s be clear: you can’t reform oppression or hatred. You must abolish it." - Congresswoman Summer Lee, Working Families Party response to the 2026 State of the Union, February 24, 2026”

Congresswoman Summer Lee supports healthcare access, stating it is a fundamental human right and that Medicare For All would save money and lives. She voted against a Republican continuing resolution in November 2025, arguing it failed to address skyrocketing healthcare costs for Americans. In January 2026, she applauded the House passage of H.R. 1834 to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, aimed at helping millions maintain health insurance.

““It is a relief the bill to restore the ACA tax credits has passed the House, but it never should have come to this. Republicans could have voted to extend these credits in September—which would have avoided a government shutdown—and prevented healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for people in Western Pennsylvania and across the country. We need Medicare for All to ensure no one is forced to ration care any longer. In the meantime, the Senate must now heed the calls of the American people and pass this bill immediately.” - Congresswoman Summer L. Lee, January 8, 2026, in a press release titled "Rep. Summer Lee Applauds House Passage of Extension to ACA Tax Credits."”

Representative Summer Lee advocates for environmental justice, believing all people deserve clean air and water. She has opposed fracking, citing a history of fighting proposals in the Mon Valley. In Congress, she denounced the EPA's repeal of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and voted against bills like the Homeowner Energy Freedom Act (HR 4758) and the Don't Mess With My Home Appliances Act (HR 4626). Lee cosponsored the Environmental Justice For All Act and is endorsed by the Sierra Club.

“As a state representative, I was always vocal in my opposition to fracking and have emphasized the need for sustainable jobs. When there was a fracking proposal in the Mon Valley, we joined with the community to fight back and stopped it in its tracks. The people in our community have been fighting back against fossil fuel corporations’ fracking proposals for decades, and I am proud to continue to stand with them. (Congresswoman Summer L. Lee, http://summerlee.house.gov/issues/environmental-justice)”

Summer Lee strongly supports abortion rights and reproductive healthcare, advocating for federal protection and access. She backs legislation such as the Women’s Health Protection Act to codify abortion rights. Lee emphasizes addressing healthcare inequities, particularly for marginalized Black and brown communities and the LGBTQ+ community, to ensure safe, inclusive, and affordable care as a human right.

“Make no mistake, abortion bans and attempts to chip away our reproductive rights are attacks that fall hardest on the most marginalized Black and brown communities that already lack necessary access to care. Right now the maternal mortality rate for Black women is four times higher than it is for white women. Members of the LGBTQ+ community - particularly trans women of color and non-binary people - also experience major disparities in sexual and reproductive health care and worse health outcomes overall. We need to address these inequities in healthcare access and outcomes to ensure that all people have access to safe, inclusive, and affordable health care, as is their human right. The right-wing extremists on the Supreme Court have gutted our constitutional right to abortion care, and Congress must do everything in its power to protect this fundamental right. In Pennysvlania, the only thing protecting our access to abortion care from the Republican extremists in the state legislature is a Democratic governor’s veto. We cannot rely on a patchwork of state-level rights that are consistently under threat, we need to protect reproductive rights at the federal level. And Congress must not only safeguard the federal right to abortion, but also repeal laws like the Hyde amendment which puts care out of reach for marginalized and low-income communities and end the criminaization of abortion at the federal level. We must actively pursue legislation that codifies our abortion rights and makes reproductive health care more accessible like the Women’s Health Protection Act and the EACH Act and end the filibuster to ensure an outdated Senate rule doesn’t stand in the way of protecting our rights.”

Representative Summer Lee opposes what she describes as authoritarianism in government actions, including the use of force by Department of Homeland Security agents. She advocates for funding education over what she terms 'endless war and genocide in Palestine, Sudan, or anywhere else in the world.' Lee also states her commitment to human rights, dignity, and justice for all people, which has led her to oppose organizations like AIPAC because she believes they do not share this goal.

“We can fund education instead of endless war and genocide in Palestine, Sudan, or anywhere else in the world. (Rep. Summer Lee, Working Families Party Response to the 2026 State of the Union, February 24, 2026)”

Summer Lee advocates for equitable access to first-rate, free public education, opposing funding mechanisms that disadvantage working-class communities and communities of color. She condemned the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, asserting that students, families, and educators depend on its protections. She champions investments in public schools, support for teachers and staff, and protections for student civil rights.

““The Trump Administration’s latest effort toward dismantling the Department of Education is a direct assault on the students, families, and educators who depend on its essential protections. Even Education Secretary Linda McMahon has acknowledged that only Congress has the authority to eliminate the Department. Trump and his administration understand the harm this will inflict on classrooms across the country, but they simply do not care. Cruelty is the point for them, and we’ve said it again and again because this administration does little else but sow chaos and hurt the most vulnerable. Our children deserve better than political stunts that jeopardize their futures. And let’s be clear: an uneducated electorate isn’t a by-product of authoritarianism — it’s a prerequisite for it. We will” - Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12), November 18, 2025”

Summer Lee supports an assault weapons ban and expanded background checks, advocating for the end of protections for corporate gun manufacturers. She also co-sponsored the Enhanced Background Check Act and the Office of Gun Violence Prevention Act. She states that addressing gun violence requires social investments in schools, after-school programs, and jobs, linking it to issues of poverty and underfunded communities.

“Like communities across the country, Western Pennsylvania is facing a gun violence epidemic. We need an assault weapons ban, expanded background checks, end protections for corporate gun manufacturers and bold gun-safety legislation to stop the mass shootings that have become all too common across schools, churches, stores and cities across America. But in communities like ours, gun violence even more often means the widespread violence that happens in our streets with handguns. That violence is rooted in poverty, rooted in communities that have gone underfunded and ignored for too long. We need an investment in our schools, after-school programs, and wrap-around services. We need an investment in jobs and higher wages, so people have a choice in shaping their future. Gun violence cannot be addressed in isolation, it’s rooted in every social service funding we cut and must be combatted at that level too.”