Terri Sewell Explained

Terri Sewell
Term Start:January 3, 2011
Predecessor:Artur Davis
Birth Name:Terrycina Andrea Sewell
Birth Date:1 January 1965
Birth Place:Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.
Party:Democratic
Education:Princeton University (AB)

Harvard University (JD)
State:Alabama
Relations:Briana Sewell (cousin)

Terrycina Andrea "Terri" Sewell (; born January 1, 1965)[1] [2] is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served since 2011 as the U.S. representative for, which includes most of the Black Belt, as well as most of the predominantly African American portions of Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, and Montgomery.

A native of Huntsville, Sewell studied at Princeton University, Harvard Law School, and St Hilda's College at the University of Oxford. Before entering politics, she was a securities lawyer for Davis Polk & Wardwell and a public finance lawyer for Maynard, Cooper & Gale, where she was the first Black woman to make partner. She is the first African-American woman elected to Congress from Alabama and, along with Republican Martha Roby,[3] was one of the first women elected to Congress from Alabama in a regular election.[4] Sewell has been the only Democrat in Alabama's House delegation during her entire term in office, and apart from Doug Jones's U.S. Senate tenure from 2018 to 2021 she has also been the state's only congressional Democrat.

Early life and education

Terri Sewell was born in Huntsville, Alabama,[5] to Andrew A. Sewell, a former high school basketball coach, and Nancy Gardner Sewell, a retired high school librarian and former Selma city council member. Her mother was the first Black woman elected to Selma's city council.[6]

As a child, Sewell wanted to be a star on Broadway. Because her mother had hoped for her to become a lawyer, Sewell joined the debate team in high school.[6] She was the first Black valedictorian of Selma High School.[6] [7]

After graduating from high school, Sewell went to Princeton University. She was the first Selma High School graduate to attend an Ivy League school. She was recruited to attend Princeton by Julian L. McPhillips, who read about her in the local Selma newspaper.[7] At Princeton, she befriended Michelle Obama, who served as what Sewell called her "big sister" on campus.[6] Sewell completed a 158-page long senior thesis, "Black Women in Politics: Our Time Has Come".[8] During her time at Princeton, she interned with Richard Shelby (then a Democrat) and Howell Heflin.[7]

After graduating from Princeton in 1986, Sewell attended St Hilda's College, Oxford where she was a Marshall Scholar.[9] It was there that she befriended Susan Rice.[6] Her master's thesis, on the election of the first black members of the British parliament, was later published as a book, Black Tribunes: Race and Representation in British Politics (1993).[10] Sewell graduated from Oxford with a degree in political science in 1988.[7] She attended Harvard Law School for her J.D. degree, which she completed in 1992. There she overlapped with and was friends with Barack Obama, who became a lifelong friend and influenced Sewell's decision to enter politics.[6]

Early career

After graduation, Sewell served as a judicial law clerk in Birmingham, Alabama, to Chief Judge U. W. Clemon,[11] In New York, she worked at Davis Polk & Wardwell, alongside Kirsten Gillibrand, starting in 1994.[6] [7]

Sewell returned to Alabama in 2004[7] due to her father's health problems.[6] She worked for another law firm, Maynard, Cooper & Gale PC, where she was the first black woman partner at the firm.[7] She was a public finance lawyer.

In 2007, Sewell was at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, where she is a member, when then Senator Barack Obama spoke during the 2008 United States presidential election. Sewell credits Obama's speech (in which he asked "[t]he questions that I have today is, what’s called of us in this Joshua generation? What do we do in order to fulfill that legacy, to fulfill the obligations and the debt that we owe to those who allowed us to be here today?") as the catalyst for her serving in politics. Weeks after his speech, Gillibrand called Sewell, recruiting Sewell to run for office.[6]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2010

After four-term Democratic incumbent Artur Davis gave up the seat to run for governor, Sewell entered the Democratic primary, the real contest in this majority Democratic, majority-black district. She finished first in the four-way primary with 36.8% of the vote.[12] In the runoff, she defeated Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Smoot with 55% of the vote.[13] [14]

In the general election, Sewell defeated Republican opponent Don Chamberlain with 72.4% of the vote as expected.[15]

2012

Sewell was the only candidate to file for the Democratic nomination in 2012, and defeated Chamberlain again in the general election.[16] [17] This was the last time Sewell had a Republican opponent until 2022.

2014

Sewell was challenged in the Democratic primary by Tamara Harris Johnson, a former Birmingham City Attorney. She defeated Johnson with 83.9% of the vote, effectively clinching a third term.

2016

Sewell won a fourth term against a write-in opponent.

2018

Sewell won a fifth term against a write-in opponent.

2020

Sewell won a sixth term against a write-in opponent.

2022

Sewell defeated Republican nominee Beatrice Nichols and Libertarian nominee Gavin Goodman in the general election, clinching her seventh term.

Tenure

For the 114th United States Congress, Sewell was ranked as the 94th most bipartisan member of the House (and the most bipartisan member of the House from Alabama) in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy, which ranks members of Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring how often each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member co-sponsors bills by members of the opposite party). Sewell has established herself as a liberal with a focus on job creation, and arguably has the most left-wing voting record of any person to represent Alabama in Congress.[18] She is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.[19]

In January 2020, Sewell endorsed Joe Biden for president.[20]

As of October 2021, Sewell had voted in line with Biden's stated position 100% of the time.[21]

Political positions

Sewell voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.[22]

Abortion and women's issues

Sewell supports abortion rights.[23] Sewell opposed the Human Life Protection Act, which went into effect in 2019. She described the bill as "both blatantly unconstitutional and a brazen, extremist attack on women’s rights."[24] She also opposed the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it "devastating" and expressing concern that "state legislatures across the country will now begin racing to criminalize reproductive health care."[25]

In 2013, Sewell voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.[26]

Economic issues

Sewell is a proponent of a $15 minimum wage.

In 2019, she voted for the Paycheck Fairness Act, an act to address the gender pay gap.

Sewell supports tariffs on countries involved in currency manipulation. She voted for the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act 2010.[27]

Sewell supported Obama's plan to extend tax cuts for low- and middle-income Americans, but declined to discuss her stance on taxation for high-income Americans.[28] In response to Obama's Framework for Business Tax Reform, Sewell said: "I applaud the President for outlining a bold framework for reforming the U.S. business tax system."[29]

In 2019, Sewell worked with Ivanka Trump to develop policies related to paid parental leave.

Sewell wants to see the Military Widow's Tax eliminated.[30]

Sewell has voted against work requirements for welfare recipients.[31]

During the 2023 United States debt-ceiling crisis, Sewell voted for the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.[32]

Voting rights

In 2019, Sewell sponsored the Voting Rights Advancement Act (which later became the John Lewis Voting Rights Act), which would update the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by providing increased oversight of voting changes, updating the pre-clearance formula to oversee contemporary discrimination patterns, and expanding the Attorney General's power to send federal observers to jurisdictions in areas at risk of voting discrimination.[33] In 2019, Sewell co-sponsored the For the People Act of 2019.[34]

LGBT rights

Sewell voted for the Equality Act and the Respect for Marriage Act.

Tourism

Sewell co-sponsored and voted for the National Heritage Area Act of 2022, which would create a National Heritage Area system and designate 19 counties in the Alabama Black Belt as a National Heritage Area.

Education

Sewell co-sponsored the Student Non-Discrimination Act in 2013 which, if enacted, would have protected LGBT students from anti-gay bullying and discrimination in public schools.[26]

In 2019, she sponsored a bill, which passed, granting historically black colleges $70 million for capital improvements and to support their educational work.[35]

Energy policy

Sewell opposes offshore drilling and opposes allowing the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.[36]

Foreign policy

Sewell supported Obama's decisions on Afghanistan, citing "trust" of his policies.[28] She was part of a bipartisan delegation that accompanied Nancy Pelosi on a two-day trip to Afghanistan in May 2012. While there, they spent time "with American service-members and meeting local officials to discuss security and women's issues."[37]

Sewell opposed removing armed forces from Afghanistan in 2011.[38]

Government reform

Sewell co-sponsored the STOCK Act in 2011 and the DISCLOSE Act in 2012. The same year, she also co-sponsored the SIMPLE Voting Act, to require a minimum of 15 days of nationwide early voting.[39]

Gun policy

In 2019, Sewell voted for the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, requiring background checks on anyone seeking to buy a firearm.

Health care

Sewell voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). She supports Medicaid expansion and offering incentives for states to do so. She is currently sponsoring bills to lower prescription drug costs, expand funding for rural hospitals, and to support more health studies on African American health disparities.[40]

In March 2021, Sewell voted for the American Rescue Plan, which included $475 million in funding for Sewell's district including vaccination support, city employee overtime pay, and hazard pay for COVID-19 response work.[41]

Homeland security

Sewell supported extending the PATRIOT Act's wiretapping.[42] She voted against funding to support Trump's wall.[43]

Kay Ivey

When Alabama governor Kay Ivey shared that she had performed in a college skit in blackface, Sewell called Ivey's actions "reprehensible" and "deeply offensive", adding that "racism – in any of its forms – is never acceptable, not in the 1960s and not now."[44]

Impeachments of Donald Trump

In both the first and second impeachments of Donald Trump, Sewell voted in favor of articles of impeachment against Trump, the only representative from Alabama to do so.[45] [46]

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:[47]

Caucus memberships

Electoral history

Year! style="background-color:#EAECF0;" rowspan=2
OfficePartyPrimaryGeneralResultSwing.
Total%.Runoff%.Total%.
2010U.S. RepresentativeDemocratic31,53136.80%1st32,36655.00%1st136,69672.48%1stHold[50]
2012Democratic232,52075.85%1stHold[51]
2014Democratic74,95383.91%1st133,68798.37%1stHold[52]
2016Democratic229,33098.41%1stHold[53]
2018Democratic185,01097.80%1stHold[54]
2020Democratic225,74297.16%1stHold[55]
2022Democratic123,23363.54%1stHold[56]

Personal life

In 1998, Sewell married Theodore Dixie of Huntsville, Alabama.[57] They are divorced.

Sewell is a lifetime member of Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Alabama.[58]

She is the cousin of Briana Sewell, a delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates.[59]

See also

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: Terrycina Andrea Sewell - $1,802,819 raised, '10 election cycle, Alabama (AL), Democratic Party, Congress . Campaignmoney.com . 2012-08-29.
  2. Web site: New Members 2010 - Alabama - The Hill - covering Congress, Politics, Political Campaigns and Capitol Hill . October 27, 2010 . TheHill.com . 2012-08-29.
  3. Web site: Black Lawmakers Break New Ground, Suffer Losses | Madame Noire | Black Women's Lifestyle Guide | Black Hair | Black Love . Atlantapost.com . 2010-11-03 . 2012-08-29 . dead . https://archive.today/20120707163932/http://atlantapost.com/2010/11/03/black-lawmakers-break-new-ground-suffer-losses/ . 2012-07-07 .
  4. [Elizabeth B. Andrews]
  5. Web site: The Honorable Terri A. Sewell's Biography . The HistoryMakers . 24 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190115172117/http://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/honorable-terri-sewell . 15 January 2019 . en.
  6. News: Rep. Terri Sewell, a daughter of Selma, rues her city's lost promise. Thompson. Krissah. March 1, 2015. Washington Post.
  7. News: Che . Erica . Sewell '86 launches historic campaign for Congress . 24 January 2020 . The Daily Princetonian . https://web.archive.org/web/20120402215342/http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/04/08/23305/ . 2 April 2012.
  8. Sewell. Terrycina Andrea . Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University . Black Women in Politics: Our Time Has Come . 1986 . Senior .
  9. Web site: Alumnae Applause . St Hilda's College . October 27, 2020 . 12 July 2023.
  10. News: Gulden. Erin. Selma Bound. 22 August 2010. Alabama Super Lawyers. May 2008.
  11. Web site: U. W. Clemon . Encyclopedia of Alabama . 2010-08-22.
  12. Web site: AL - District 07 - D Primary Race - Jun 01, 2010 . Our Campaigns . 2012-08-29.
  13. Web site: AL District 07 - D Runoff Race - Jul 13, 2010 . Our Campaigns . 2012-08-29.
  14. News: Sonmez. Felicia. Robert Bentley clinches Republican nod for governor in Alabama. 22 August 2010. The Washington Post. July 13, 2010.
  15. Web site: AL - District 07 Race - Nov 02, 2010 . Our Campaigns . 2012-08-29.
  16. Web site: U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell uncontested in Democratic primary. January 13, 2012. January 16, 2012. The Birmingham News. Charles J.. Dean.
  17. Web site: Alabama Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election". https://web.archive.org/web/20130221041916/http://www.sos.state.al.us/downloads/election/2012/general/2012GeneralResults-AllStateAndFederalOfficesAndAmendments-WithoutWrite-inAppendix.pdf. dead. February 21, 2013.
  18. News: Terri A. Sewell (D-Ala.). https://web.archive.org/web/20130428110402/http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/terri-a-sewell-d-ala/gIQAsFMZKP_topic.html. dead. 28 April 2013. Who Runs Gov. The Washington Post. 26 June 2012.
  19. Web site: Membership. Congressional Black Caucus. 7 March 2018.
  20. Web site: Rep. Terri Sewell Endorses Joe Biden for President . The Birmingham Times . 24 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200124062557/https://www.birminghamtimes.com/2020/01/rep-terri-sewell-endorses-joe-biden-for-president/ . 24 January 2020 . 23 January 2020.
  21. Web site: Bycoffe . Anna Wiederkehr and Aaron . Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden? . FiveThirtyEight . 27 October 2021 . en . 2021-10-22.
  22. Web site: Bycoffe . Aaron . Wiederkehr . Anna . 2021-04-22 . Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden? . 2023-11-15 . FiveThirtyEight . en.
  23. Web site: Terri Sewell on Abortion . On the Issues . 24 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190624074041/http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Terri_Sewell_Abortion.htm . 24 June 2019 . 24 June 2019.
  24. Web site: ACLU says it will sue Ala. again, others react to passage of abortion bill . WBRC . 24 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190515182507/https://www.wbrc.com/2019/05/15/aclu-says-it-will-sue-ala-again-others-react-passage-abortion-bill/ . 15 May 2019.
  25. Web site: Sewell . Terri . Today marks a dark day for women's reproductive rights in the United States. With this devastating decision, SCOTUS has reversed nearly 50 years of legal precedent and stripped away a woman's right to make her own decisions about deeply personal health care matters. . Twitter . 25 June 2022 . en . 24 June 2022.
  26. Web site: Terri Sewell on Civil Rights . On the Issues . 24 January 2020.
  27. Web site: Terri Sewell on Free Trade . On the Issues . 24 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200124055745/https://www.ontheissues.org/House/Terri_Sewell_Free_Trade.htm . 24 January 2020.
  28. News: On The Issues. https://web.archive.org/web/20130428110402/http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/terri-a-sewell-d-ala/gIQAsFMZKP_topic.html#the-issues. dead. 28 April 2013. Who Runs Gov. The Washington Post. 18 July 2012.
  29. Web site: Statement From Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell on President Obama's Framework for Business Tax Reform. House Press Release. 18 July 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120916183547/http://sewell.house.gov/press-release/statement-congresswoman-terri-sewell-president-obama%E2%80%99s-framework-business-tax-reform. 16 September 2012.
  30. News: Moseley . Brandon . Sewell hopeful Congress will eliminate widow's tax in this year's NDAA . 24 January 2020 . Alabama Political Reporter . 20 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190921191154/https://www.alreporter.com/2019/09/20/sewell-hopeful-congress-will-eliminate-widows-tax-in-this-years-ndaa/ . 21 September 2019.
  31. Web site: Terri Sewell on Welfare & Poverty . On the Issues . 24 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200124061550/https://www.ontheissues.org/House/Terri_Sewell_Welfare_+_Poverty.htm . 24 January 2020.
  32. Web site: Raising the Debt Limit: See Who Voted For and Against. The New York Times. May 31, 2023. May 31, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230601015111/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/31/us/politics/house-debt-limit-live-vote.html. June 1, 2023.
  33. News: Pilkingtonin . Ed . 'We should be outraged': Alabama congresswoman tackles voter suppression . 24 January 2020 . The Guardian . 25 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191224111209/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/24/we-should-be-outraged-alabama-congresswoman-tackles-voter-suppression . 24 December 2019.
  34. News: Powell . Adam . Sewell on front lines for explosive year in Washington - The Selma Times‑Journal . 24 January 2020 . The Selma Times‑Journal . 30 December 2019.
  35. News: Terri Sewell successful in securing critical HBCU funding . 24 January 2020 . Alabama Today . 19 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200124070240/https://altoday.com/archives/29422-terri-sewell-successful-in-securing-critical-hbcu-funding . 24 January 2020.
  36. Web site: Terri Sewell on Energy & Oil . On the Issues . 24 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200124053511/https://www.ontheissues.org/House/Terri_Sewell_Energy_+_Oil.htm . 24 January 2020.
  37. News: Mali. Meghashyam. Pelosi leads delegation on Afghanistan visit. 18 July 2012. The Hill's Global Affairs. 13 May 2012.
  38. Web site: Terri Sewell on War & Peace . OnTheIssues . 24 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200124061259/https://www.ontheissues.org/House/Terri_Sewell_War_+_Peace.htm . 24 January 2020.
  39. Web site: Terri Sewell on Government Reform . On the Issues . 24 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190623022447/http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Terri_Sewell_Government_Reform.htm . 23 June 2019 . 23 June 2019.
  40. News: Boykina . Teresa . Sewell addresses issues at town hall - The Demopolis Times . 24 January 2020 . The Demopolis Times . 6 June 2019.
  41. News: Moseley. Brandon. 1 March 2021. Sewell votes in favor of American Rescue Plan coronavirus relief bill. Alabama Political Reporter. 7 March 2021.
  42. Web site: Terri Sewell on Homeland Security . On the Issues . 24 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160820023033/http://ontheissues.org/House/Terri_Sewell_Homeland_Security.htm . 20 August 2016.
  43. Web site: Check out Representative Terri Sewell's Environmental Voting Record . League of Conservation Voters Scorecard . 24 January 2020 . en . 3 July 2019.
  44. News: Moseley . Brandon . Sewell reacts to Ivey's blackface revelation . 24 January 2020 . Alabama Political Reporter . 30 August 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200124070740/https://www.alreporter.com/2019/08/30/sewell-reacts-to-iveys-blackface-revelation/ . 24 January 2020.
  45. Web site: WHIP COUNT: Here's which members of the House voted for and against impeaching Trump. Grace. Panetta. Business Insider.
  46. Web site: 2021-01-13. Alabama lawmakers react to Trump's historic second impeachment. 2021-11-21. CBS 42. en-US.
  47. Web site: Terri L. Sewell . Clerk of the United States House of Representatives . 20 April 2023.
  48. Web site: Committees & Caucuses . December 13, 2012 . U.S. Congress . 2020-07-19 . April 14, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160414081258/https://sewell.house.gov/meet-terri/committees-and-caucuses . dead .
  49. Web site: Congressional Cement Caucus . 2021-09-07 . www.ciclt.net.
  50. Primary election:

    Primary runoff:

    General election:

  51. Web site: 2012 . 2012 United States House of Representatives general election results . . Montgomery.
  52. Primary election:

    General election:

  53. Web site: 2016 . 2016 United States House of Representatives general election results . . Montgomery.
  54. Web site: 2018 . 2018 United States House of Representatives general election results . . Montgomery.
  55. Web site: 2020 . 2020 United States House of Representatives general election results . . Montgomery.
  56. Web site: 2022 . 2022 United States House of Representatives general election results . . Montgomery.
  57. Web site: Theodore Dixie Jr., Terrycina Sewell. 21 June 1998. The New York Times.
  58. News: What's the right reaction when a white stranger walks into a black church?. Thompson. Krissah. 2015-06-20. Harris. Hamil R.. The Washington Post. en-US. 0190-8286. 2016-04-28.
  59. Web site: Newcomer Briana Sewell comes out on top of 51st District House of Delegates' race. November 21, 2021. Prince Williams Times. November 2, 2021 .