Lauren Necochea
American politician
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Lauren Necochea (née Smith) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Idaho House of Representatives from 2019 to 2024. She represented the 19th district, which includes a portion of Boise, the state capital. Since 2022, she has served as chair of the Idaho Democratic Party.[1]
Lauren Necochea | |
|---|---|
| Chair of the Idaho Democratic Party | |
| Assumed office March 12, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Deborah Silver (acting) |
| Member of the Idaho House of Representatives from the 19th district | |
| In office December 2019 – November 30, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Mat Erpelding |
| Succeeded by | Monica Church |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lauren Bentley Smith Boise, Idaho, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Pomona College (BA) Princeton University (MPA) |
Early life and education
Necochea was born Lauren Bentley Smith in Boise, Idaho to Dr. Michael Smith and Susan Smith.[2] Her father is a dentist and her mother founded the Idaho Women's Charitable Foundation.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Pomona College and a Master of Arts in public affairs from Princeton University.[3] Necochea was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship.
Career
After earning her master's degree, Necochea worked as a program evaluator for the Baltimore City Health Department.[4] She later returned to Boise. She worked as the director of the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy and Idaho Voices for Children.[5] Necochea was on the steering committee for the Idahoans for Healthcare campaign, which supported the 2018 Proposition 2 campaign to expand Medicaid in Idaho.[1]
Political career
In December 2019, Necochea was appointed to the Idaho House of Representatives by Governor Brad Little, succeeding Mat Erpelding, who resigned from the House to take a lobbying position.[6][7] She was elected in the 2020 and 2022 House of Representatives elections.
In March 2022, she was elected chair of the Idaho Democratic Party, replacing acting chair Deborah Silver.[1] Necochea announced February 2024 that she will not run for re-election and focus on being chair of the Idaho Democratic Party.[8]
Personal life
In 2006, she married Alejandro José Necochea, a Yale School of Medicine-educate internal physician.[2] Necochea lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband and two daughters.[9]