What word means a person elected to represent others?

The word that means a person elected to represent others, on the USCIS reading vocabulary list, is Representative. A representative, in U.S. civics, is most commonly a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress. The House has 435 voting members apportioned among the 50 states by population, plus non-voting delegates from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Each state has at least one representative; California has the most (52 after the 2020 census), and seven states have only one.

Representatives serve two-year terms with all 435 seats up for election in even-numbered years, and there is no constitutional limit on the number of terms a representative may serve. Article I, section 2 of the Constitution lists three qualifications: a representative must be at least 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least seven years, and an inhabitant of the state from which elected. Representatives are elected from single-member districts within their states, and each represents the people of that specific district.

The Speaker of the House, elected by the members at the start of each new Congress, leads the chamber and is second in the line of presidential succession after the Vice President. Representatives introduce bills, vote on legislation, sit on committees, conduct oversight of the executive branch, and impeach federal officials (the Senate then conducts the trial).

Although the word representative most commonly refers to a U.S. House member, it can also describe state legislators, members of city councils, or any elected official who acts on behalf of constituents. On the reading test Representative may appear in a sentence about Congress or elections.