Prior to coming to Congress, Lance served as a member of the New Jersey State Senate beginning in 2002, where he represented the 23rd Legislative District. He held the position of Minority Leader of the Senate from 2004 to 2008.

Lance was sworn in as a Member of Congress on January 6, 2009 and was appointed to the House Financial Services Committee, where he worked on a wide range of issues relating to the financial services sector and the American economy.

In 2011 Congressman Leonard Lance left the House Financial Services Committee and has been appointed to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The Committee on Energy and Commerce has a broad legislative jurisdiction including national energy and environmental policy, health and health facilities, interstate and foreign commerce, consumer affairs and consumer protection, and travel and tourism.

As a member of the powerful committee Lance will play a greater role in protecting and growing jobs in New Jersey’s energy, life sciences and telecommunication sectors.

Before his election to the State Senate Lance served in the New Jersey General Assembly for 11 years (1991-2002), where he chaired the Budget Committee.

As a member of the State Legislature Lance led the fight against borrowing without voter approval. In 2004 he successfully sued Governor James McGreevey on the issue before the State Supreme Court and in 2008 New Jersey voters approved the “Lance Amendment” to the State Constitution, which requires all future borrowing to be approved by the voters. Lance also authored the successful effort to require funding for open space preservation and he was the prime sponsor of the measure that established funds for the New Jersey Cultural Trust.

Leonard Lance was the third generation of his family to serve in the New Jersey State Legislature, following his great-uncle, H. Kiefer Lance, and his father, Wesley L. Lance.

Lance was born in 1952 and raised in Hunterdon County, where he attended North Hunterdon Regional High School. Lance received a bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He also holds a law degree from Vanderbilt University and a master’s degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University.

Lance served as the law clerk to the Warren County (NJ) Court in 1977 and 1978. He was assistant counsel for county and municipal matters to Governor Thomas H. Kean from 1983 to 1990. He has been a member of the New Jersey Council on the Humanities and a trustee of the Newark Museum, McCarter Theatre in Princeton and Centenary College in Hackettstown.

He is married to Heidi A. Rohrbach and they have a son, Peter Frank, a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin. The Lances reside in Clinton Township, Hunterdon County with Fritz, the family’s 100-pound yellow Labrador Retriever.