Current office and Tampa Bay connection
Kathy Castor represents Florida’s 14th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. A Democrat, she began congressional service on January 3, 2007, after election in 2006. Her earlier career included environmental and land-use law and membership on the Hillsborough County Commission. The current House directory identifies her assignments on Energy and Commerce and the select committee on strategic competition with the Chinese Communist Party. S1S2S3
Castor was born in Miami on August 20, 1966, and graduated from Chamberlain High School in Tampa in 1984. Her official biography describes a current district including Tampa and St. Petersburg and parts of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. That regional description is useful context, but residents should use the official district lookup to determine representation for a particular address. S1S2
Education and environmental law
Castor earned a bachelor’s degree at Emory University in 1988 and a law degree at Florida State University in 1991. Her early professional work included the Florida Department of Community Affairs. Her official biography describes work involving environmental and growth-management laws, followed by private practice representing local governments on land-use and environmental matters. S1S2
This professional period connects her legal training with Florida’s development and natural-resource questions. It should not be confused with her later federal role. A member of Congress does not personally decide a county zoning application or represent a private client simply because the member previously practiced in those areas.
The chronology is also important: legal work preceded her county commission service and her election to Congress. Her biography therefore includes experience with state administration, private practice and local government before federal lawmaking. Those are distinct institutions with different powers, even when the same policy questions cross their boundaries.
Hillsborough County and the path to Congress
The House historian records Castor’s Hillsborough County Commission service from 2002 to 2006. Her official account identifies environmental-protection responsibilities during that period. She then won election to Congress in 2006 and entered the House in January 2007. S1S2
Her current district is numbered 14, but that number should not be applied retroactively to every earlier term. Congressional maps and district numbers can change while a member’s service continues. The person page follows Castor’s career, while the seat record identifies the office she holds on the checked date. S1S3
The transition from county office to Congress widened the scale of her work. A county commission governs local matters, while a U.S. representative participates in federal legislation, oversight and constituent services. Neither role alone controls all the agencies that affect housing, transportation, health care or environmental conditions in a community.
Current committee responsibilities
Castor’s official biography identifies her as ranking member of the Energy Subcommittee of Energy and Commerce. It also lists service on the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade and Communications and Technology subcommittees. The ranking-member role is the minority party’s leading position on that subcommittee, not the chairmanship of the full committee. S2
The current House directory also lists the China select committee. These assignments indicate institutional responsibilities in the current Congress. They do not certify the accuracy of every policy claim made in an office announcement, and older committee lists should not be combined with the current list as though all assignments are simultaneous. S3
Climate-committee leadership
Castor chaired the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis during the 116th and 117th Congresses, corresponding to 2019–2022. Both the House historian and her official biography record that service. It is a former chairmanship, not a current committee that should be listed without dates. S1S2
That period forms a significant part of her federal public record. A select committee can gather evidence and develop recommendations, while implementation may require legislation or executive action elsewhere. Describing its work as recommendations or a committee record avoids treating every proposal as an enacted national policy. Her current energy-related assignment is separate from the former climate-committee chairmanship.
A recent housing-transparency proposal
On August 27, 2026, Castor announced introduction of the Housing Price Transparency Act. Her office described provisions involving disclosure of algorithmic rental pricing, Federal Trade Commission enforcement, state-attorney-general actions and a proposed private right of action. The article is evidence of an introduced bill and its stated design, not confirmation that the proposed remedies are already available to a renter. S4
The announcement connects her consumer-policy work with housing costs in the Tampa Bay area. This biography does not repeat its allegations about industry practices as findings against a particular business. Nor does it infer that a company’s use of software automatically violates existing law. Those are separate factual and legal questions. S4
This is one example of her public record, selected because it has a dated official source and a clear subject. The larger record includes votes, other bills and agency-related casework. A neutral biography should let readers follow those records without turning a list of announcements into an effectiveness ranking.
Official contact and services
Castor’s Washington office is at 2188 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, with telephone 202-225-3376. Her official page lists Tampa and St. Petersburg offices and directs readers to current casework and correspondence channels. District appointment arrangements should be confirmed with the office. S3S4
Federal-agency assistance and comments on bills are different requests. A person with an urgent legal deadline should not assume a congressional inquiry pauses that deadline. The profile records Castor as the current holder checked on October 28, 2026 and preserves her earlier legal, county and congressional experience as dated history rather than campaign material.