Congresswoman Ellmers' Biography

Since first being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, Congresswoman Renee Ellmers has become a leading voice on behalf of her constituents in the second district and the people of North Carolina. Ellmers currently sits on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee where she focuses on healthcare, oversight, and communications and technology in their respective subcommittees. She is also chairwoman of the Republican Women's Policy Committee (RWPC) - a new caucus comprised of all 19 female Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives. In both of these roles she is working to generate new ideas and innovative ways of promoting conservative principles which will improve our economy and give a new voice to the challenges facing all Americans.

Congresswoman Renee Ellmers is a rising star and leader in the U.S. House of Representatives where she works to promote common sense policies geared toward protecting liberty, protecting the free enterprise system, and limiting the growth of the federal government. As a former nurse, small business owner, mother and Member of Congress, she works each and every day to make our nation live up to its creed as the guardian of liberty and foundation for prosperity.

Before her election to Congress, Renee served as a registered nurse for over twenty-one years, initially as a surgical intensive care nurse and then focusing on surgical and wound care patients along with her husband Dr. Brent Ellmers in their General Surgery practice. She never saw herself as a politician, nor dreamed that she would be elected to federal office, but felt the call to action as she saw her industry and life's work coming under attack. In 2009, she and her husband attended a town hall meeting on President Obama’s health care plan and came away distraught over the government's impending takeover of patients' rights and access to health care.

Congresswoman Ellmers has always been a proactive leader in her community, where she instinctively incorporated new solutions and innovative tactics to make people's lives better. Before her election to Congress, Ellmers had been a champion of community affairs by being very active in the Dunn Chamber of Commerce, reaching the level of President-Elect. She served as Chairman of the Dunn City Planning Board, was a founding Board Member of the Betsy Johnson Hospital Foundation and was a member on the Harnett County Nursing Home Committee.

Originally born and raised in Michigan, Congresswoman Ellmers received her nursing degree from Oakland University. Mrs. Ellmers and her husband Brent moved to North Carolina following the birth of their son Ben and have resided in Harnett County ever since.