Terri Sewell | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2014 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromAlabama's7th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Artur Davis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Terrycina Andrea Sewell (1965-01-01)January 1, 1965 (age 60) Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Briana Sewell (cousin) |
| Education | Princeton University (BA) St Hilda's College, Oxford (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Terrycina Andrea "Terri"Sewell (/ˈsjuːəl/; born January 1, 1965)[1][2] is an American politician and lawyer serving as theU.S. representative forAlabama's 7th congressional district as member of theDemocratic Party since 2011. The district includes most of theBlack Belt, as well as most of the predominantly African American portions ofBirmingham andTuscaloosa.
A native ofHuntsville, Sewell studied atPrinceton University for a bachelor's,Harvard Law School for aJuris Doctor degree, andSt Hilda's College, Oxford for a second bachelor's that waspromoted by tradition to an MA. Before entering politics, she was a securities lawyer forDavis Polk & Wardwell and a public finance lawyer forMaynard, 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 withRepublicanMartha Roby,[3] was one of the first womenelected to Congress from Alabama in a regular election.[4]
Terri Sewell was born inHuntsville, 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 onBroadway. 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 ofSelma High School.[6][7]
After graduating from high school, Sewell went toPrinceton University. She was the first Selma High School graduate to attend anIvy League school. She was recruited to attend Princeton byJulian L. McPhillips, who read about her in the local Selma newspaper.[7] At Princeton, she befriendedMichelle 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, sheinterned withRichard Shelby (then a Democrat) andHowell Heflin.[7]
After graduating from Princeton in 1986, Sewell attendedSt Hilda's College, Oxford where she was aMarshall Scholar.[6][9] It was there that she befriendedSusan Rice.[6] Her thesis was on the election of the first black members of the British parliament, and 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.[5][7] She attendedHarvard Law School for herJuris Doctor, which she completed in 1992. There she overlapped with and was friends withBarack Obama, who became a lifelong friend and influenced Sewell's decision to enter politics.[6]
After graduation, Sewell served as a judiciallaw clerk inBirmingham, Alabama, to Chief JudgeU. W. Clemon,[11] In New York, she worked at Davis Polk & Wardwell, alongsideKirsten 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.[7] She was apublic finance lawyer.[5]
In 2007, Sewell was atBrown Chapel A.M.E. Church, where she is a member, when then SenatorBarack Obama spoke during the2008 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]
After four-term Democratic incumbentArtur Davis gave up the seat to run forgovernor, 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 defeatedJefferson CountyCommissioner 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]
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.
Sewell was challenged in the Democratic primary by Tamara Harris Johnson, a formerBirmingham City Attorney. She defeated Johnson with 83.9% of the vote, effectively clinching a third term.[citation needed]
Sewell won a fourth term against a write-in opponent.[citation needed]
Sewell won a fifth term against a write-in opponent.[citation needed]
Sewell won a sixth term against a write-in opponent.[citation needed]
Sewell defeated Republican nominee Beatrice Nichols and Libertarian nominee Gavin Goodman in the general election, clinching her seventh term.
For the114th 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 byThe Lugar Center and theMcCourt 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).[18] 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.[19] She is a member of theCongressional Black Caucus.[20]
In January 2020, Sewell endorsedJoe Biden for president.[21]
As of October 2021, Sewell had voted in line with Biden's stated position 100% of the time.[22]
For the118th Congress:[23]
Sewell voted with PresidentJoe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the117th Congress, according to aFiveThirtyEight analysis.[29]
Sewell supportsabortion rights.[30] Sewell opposed theHuman 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."[31] She also opposed theJune 2022 overturning ofRoe v. Wade, calling it "devastating" and expressing concern that "state legislatures across the country will now begin racing to criminalize reproductive health care."[32]
In 2013, Sewell voted to reauthorize theViolence Against Women Act.[33]
Sewell is a proponent of a$15minimum wage.[34]
In 2019, she voted for thePaycheck Fairness Act, an act to address thegender pay gap.[35]
Sewell supports tariffs on countries involved incurrency manipulation. She voted for theCurrency Reform for Fair Trade Act 2010.[36]
Sewell supported President 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.[37] In response to President 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."[38]
In 2019, Sewell worked withIvanka Trump to develop policies related topaid parental leave.[34]
Sewell supports eliminating the Military Widow's Tax.[39]
Sewell has voted against work requirements forwelfare recipients.[40]
During the2023 United States debt-ceiling crisis, Sewell voted for theFiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.[41]
In 2019, Sewell sponsored theVoting Rights Advancement Act (which later became theJohn Lewis Voting Rights Act), which would update theVoting Rights Act of 1965 by providing increased oversight of voting changes, updating the pre-clearance formula to oversee contemporary discrimination patterns, and expanding theAttorney General's power to send federal observers to jurisdictions in areas at risk of voting discrimination.[42] In 2019, Sewell co-sponsored theFor the People Act of 2019.[35]
Sewell co-sponsored theStudent Non-Discrimination Act in 2013, which, if enacted, would have protected LGBT students from anti-gay bullying and discrimination in public schools.[33]
In 2019, she sponsored a bill, which passed, granting historically black colleges $70 million for capital improvements and to support their educational work.[43]
In 2025, she congratulated Veronica Pitts, a high school teacher inSelma, Alabama, on the House floor for winning the National Civics Teacher of the Year award presented by theBill of Rights Institute.[44] She stated, "Each year, only one teacher in the nation is selected to receive this prestigious honor, and I am thrilled that this year, the teacher hails fromAlabama's 7th Congressional District."[44]
Sewell opposesoffshore drilling. She also opposes allowing theEnvironmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.[45]
Sewell supported President Obama's decisions onAfghanistan, citing "trust" of his policies.[37] She was part of a bipartisan delegation that accompaniedNancy 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."[46]
Sewell opposed removing armed forces from Afghanistan in 2011.[47]
Sewell co-sponsored theSTOCK Act in 2011 and theDISCLOSE Act in 2012. The same year, she also co-sponsored the SIMPLE Voting Act, to require a minimum of 15 days of nationwideearly voting.[48]
In 2019, Sewell voted for the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, which required background checks for anyone seeking to buy a firearm.[35]
Sewell voted for theAffordable Care Act (Obamacare). She supportsMedicaid expansion and the use of incentives to encourage states to expand it. She is currently sponsoring bills to lower prescription drug costs, expand funding for rural hospitals, and support more health studies on African Americanhealth disparities.[34]
In March 2021, Sewell voted for theAmerican Rescue Plan, which included $475 million in funding for Sewell's district, including support for vaccinations, city employee overtime pay, and hazard pay forCOVID-19 response work.[49]
Sewell supported extending thePATRIOT Act's wiretapping.[50] She voted against funding to supportTrump's wall.[51]
When Alabama governorKay Ivey shared that she had performed in a college skit inblackface, 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."[52]
In January 2025, Sewell was one of 48 Democrats to have voted for theLaken Riley Act, which requiresU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain illegal immigrants charged with theft. She was one of seven House Democrats who had previously voted against the proposal in March 2024.[53] Sewell later became one of 46 House Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for a Senate-amended version of the bill.[54]
In both thefirst andsecond impeachments ofDonald Trump, Sewell voted in favor of articles of impeachment against Trump, the only representative from Alabama to do so.[55][56]
| Year | Office | Party | Primary | General | Result | Swing | Ref. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | P. | Runoff | % | P. | Total | % | P. | ||||||||
| 2010 | U.S. Representative | Democratic | 31,531 | 36.80% | 1st | 32,366 | 55.00% | 1st | 136,696 | 72.48% | 1st | Won | Hold | [57] | ||
| 2012 | Democratic | Does not appear | 232,520 | 75.85% | 1st | Won | Hold | [58] | ||||||||
| 2014 | Democratic | 74,953 | 83.91% | 1st | Does not appear | 133,687 | 98.37% | 1st | Won | Hold | [59] | |||||
| 2016 | Democratic | Does not appear | 229,330 | 98.41% | 1st | Won | Hold | [60] | ||||||||
| 2018 | Democratic | Does not appear | 185,010 | 97.80% | 1st | Won | Hold | [61] | ||||||||
| 2020 | Democratic | Does not appear | 225,742 | 97.16% | 1st | Won | Hold | [62] | ||||||||
| 2022 | Democratic | Does not appear | 123,233 | 63.54% | 1st | Won | Hold | [63] | ||||||||
| 2024 | Democratic | 59,143 | 92.6% | 1st | Does not appear | 186,723 | 63.68 | 1st | Won | Hold | [64] | |||||
In 1998, Sewell married Theodore Dixie of Huntsville, Alabama.[65] They are divorced.
Sewell is a lifetime member ofBrown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Alabama.[66]
She is the cousin ofBriana Sewell, a delegate in theVirginia House of Delegates.[67]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromAlabama's 7th congressional district 2011–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 90th | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
