Luizianne holds a journalism degree from the Federal University of Ceará. She was a prominent activist in the student movement, serving as the president of the university student union and as a director of National Union of Students. After graduating, she became a professor at the same university and is currently on authorized leave to serve in Congress.
In 1996, she was elected to Fortaleza's city council and was reelected in 2000. During her time on the City Council, she chaired the Education, Culture, and Sports Commission and also presided over the Women, Youth, and Children Commission, which was established following a bill proposed by Lins.
In 2002, she was elected to the State Congress. She resigned in late 2003 after being elected as the mayor of Fortaleza.
In 2004, she ran for the position of Fortaleza's mayor. During the first round of the elections, the national leadership of her party supported the PCdoB candidate, Inácio Arruda, due to PT's national strategy and alliances. Nevertheless, she advanced to the second round of elections. In the second round, she received full support from the Workers' Party and several other historically leftist parties, including PSB. She then defeated Moroni Torgan from the Liberal Front Party and was elected as the mayor of Fortaleza.
Luizianne was re-elected as mayor in 2008, completing her second term as mayor of Fortaleza in December 2012. Brazilian law does not allow politicians in executive branch to serve more than two consecutive terms.
Luizianne Lins was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2014 with 130,717 votes (2.99% of the total votes). She was re-elected in 2018 and 2022 with 173,777 and 182,232 votes, respectively.
Lins unsuccessfully attempted to regain the position of Mayor of Fortaleza in 2016 and 2020, finishing in third place in both elections.
