[2][4] In 1980, Lehtinen ran against incumbent Democratic State Representative Gene Flinn in a multi-member southwest Dade County district.

[6] In 1982, he won reelection in the newly redrawn 118th district—encompassing parts of rural southwestern Dade and areas stretching from Homestead to Richmond Heights—with 65%.

[20] The U.S. Senate refused to act on his nomination and Lehtinen on January 13, 1992, called a news conference to announce his resignation.

[21] Lehtinen said his departure had nothing to do with a well-publicized internal Justice Department investigation of him because of the Martinez case.

[33] In November 2011, the same tribe filed a lawsuit against Lehtinen for alleged malpractice regarding tax advice.

He was previously married to Donna L. Stevenson and had two children with her, Katharine Natasha and Douglas Hooper.