Tracy Flick

About Tracy Flick

Tracy Flick is a fictional character portrayed by Reese Witherspoon in the 1999 film Election. The character originated in the 1998 novel upon which the film is based.

In the film, Tracy is a high school student running for student body president. After spending the previous three years immersed in extracurricular activities, she expects to win the office unopposed, and is shocked when two other challengers enter the race. One of the candidates, Paul Metzler (Chris Klein) has been encouraged to enter by civics teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick), who holds a grudge against Tracy for an affair she had the previous year with another teacher, who was subsequently fired and divorced from his wife. Tracy's frustration at the possibility of losing the office to someone she feels is undeserving and unqualified leads her to sabotage Metzler's campaign posters, but through a stroke of luck, she gets away with it and ends up winning the election. In the film's postscript, she is seen attending Georgetown University, her dream school, and apparently working closely alongside a congressman in Washington, D.C..

Roger Ebert began his review of Election by noting, "I remember students like Tracy Flick, the know-it-all who always has her hand in the air, while the teacher desperately looks for someone else to call on. In fact, I was a student like Tracy Flick." He goes on to compare Tracy to "Elizabeth Dole: a person who always seems to be presenting you with a logical puzzle for which she is the answer... She is always perfectly dressed and groomed, and is usually able to conceal her hot temper behind a facade of maddening cheerfulness. But she is ruthless. She reminds me of a saying attributed to David Merrick: 'It is not enough for me to win. My enemies must lose.'"