Terri Sewell

Terri Sewell Bio

Terrycina Andrea “Terri” Sewell, born January 1, 1965, is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the U.S. representative for Alabama’s 7th congressional district since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents a district that covers most of the Black Belt and the predominantly African American portions of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. Sewell is the first African American woman elected to Congress from Alabama and one of the first women from the state elected to the chamber in a regular election.

Before entering politics, Sewell built a career in corporate and public finance law in New York and Alabama. She is widely regarded as a reliable Democratic vote in Washington, having aligned with President Joe Biden’s stated position 100 percent of the time during the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.

Early Life and Background

Terri Sewell was born in Huntsville, Alabama, 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 holds the distinction of being the first Black woman elected to Selma’s city council, a family connection that helped shape Sewell’s early interest in public service.

As a child, Sewell dreamed of becoming a Broadway star. However, after her mother encouraged her to pursue law, she joined her high school debate team. She graduated as the first Black valedictorian of Selma High School, a milestone that drew the attention of Julian L. McPhillips, who recruited her to Princeton University. Sewell became the first graduate of Selma High School to attend an Ivy League institution.

At Princeton, Sewell majored in political science and wrote a 158-page senior thesis titled “Black Women in Politics: Our Time Has Come.” She also interned with Alabama Senators Richard Shelby, then a Democrat, and Howell Heflin. It was during her undergraduate years that she befriended Michelle Obama, who served as a mentor and “big sister” on campus.

Path to US Politics

After graduating from Princeton in 1986, Sewell earned a second bachelor’s degree in political science from St Hilda’s College, Oxford, as a Marshall Scholar. Her Oxford thesis on the election of the first Black members of the British Parliament was later published as the book “Black Tribunes: Race and Representation in British Politics” in 1993. She went on to earn her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1992, where she befriended Barack Obama, a connection that would influence her eventual decision to enter politics.

Following law school, Sewell clerked for Chief Judge U. W. Clemon in Birmingham, Alabama, before joining Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York in 1994. She worked alongside future Senator Kirsten Gillibrand during her time at the firm. She returned to Alabama in 2004 because of her father’s health problems and joined Maynard, Cooper & Gale PC, where she became the first Black woman partner at the firm.

Sewell’s entry into politics was catalyzed in 2007, when she attended a speech by then-Senator Barack Obama at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma. Obama’s call to the “Joshua generation” inspired her to run for office. Shortly afterward, Gillibrand contacted her to encourage the same, leading Sewell to enter the 2010 race for Alabama’s 7th congressional district.

Terri Sewell Career

Early Career (2010–2011)

After four-term incumbent Artur Davis vacated the seat to run for governor of Alabama, Sewell entered the Democratic primary for the 7th congressional district. She finished first in a four-way primary with 36.8 percent of the vote and then defeated Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Smoot in a runoff with 55 percent.

In the general election, Sewell defeated Republican Don Chamberlain with 72.4 percent of the vote, becoming the first African American woman elected to Congress from Alabama. She took office in January 2011.

Congressional Elections and Re-elections (2012–2024)

Sewell was unopposed for the Democratic nomination in 2012 and defeated Chamberlain again in the general election, the last time she faced a Republican challenger until 2022. In 2014, she defeated former Birmingham City Attorney Tamara Harris Johnson with 83.9 percent of the vote, effectively clinching a third term.

Sewell went on to win fourth, fifth, and sixth terms against write-in opponents. In 2022, she returned to facing a Republican challenger, defeating Republican nominee Beatrice Nichols and Libertarian nominee Gavin Goodman to secure her seventh term.

7th Congressional District Era (2011–Present)

Since taking office, Sewell has focused on job creation, voting rights, education funding, and health care access for rural and minority communities. She has voted in favor of the Affordable Care Act, the American Rescue Plan, and the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, while also supporting Medicaid expansion and legislation aimed at lowering prescription drug costs. In March 2021, her district received $475 million in funding through the American Rescue Plan to support vaccinations, overtime pay, and hazard pay for COVID-19 response work.

In 2019, Sewell sponsored the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which later became the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, aimed at updating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to address contemporary discrimination patterns. That same year, she helped secure $70 million in funding for historically Black colleges. In 2013, she co-sponsored the Student Non-Discrimination Act to protect LGBT students, and she voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

Sewell has been a vocal critic of Republican policies, voting for both articles of impeachment against Donald Trump and against funding for the border wall. In December 2025, she voted in favor of the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act, which passed the House 399–5 to extend federal payments to rural counties. In January 2025, she was one of 48 House Democrats to vote for the Laken Riley Act.

Notable Events and Milestones

In the 114th Congress, Sewell was ranked the 94th most bipartisan member of the House and the most bipartisan member of the House from Alabama, according to the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy. She is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and has built relationships across the aisle, including working with Ivanka Trump in 2019 on paid parental leave policies.

Terri Sewell Career Wins

Terri Sewell has won every congressional election she has contested since 2010, steadily extending her tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives. Her victories include general election wins in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2022, as well as unopposed or write-in wins in 2016, 2018, and 2020.

7th Congressional District Highlights

Sewell’s first congressional victory came in 2010, when she defeated Republican Don Chamberlain with 72.4 percent of the vote. Her most recent general election win came in 2022, when she defeated Republican Beatrice Nichols and Libertarian Gavin Goodman to clinch her seventh term. She has never lost a general election and has held the seat for more than a decade.

Other Wins & Achievements

Sewell became the first Black woman to make partner at Maynard, Cooper & Gale and the first African American woman elected to Congress from Alabama. She has also been recognized for her bipartisanship, ranking as the most bipartisan member of the Alabama delegation during the 114th Congress.

Terri Sewell Family

Family Background and Political Lineage

Sewell was raised by Andrew A. Sewell and Nancy Gardner Sewell, both of whom were active in public service and education in Alabama. Her mother, Nancy Gardner Sewell, was a retired high school librarian and the first Black woman elected to the Selma city council. Sewell is the cousin of Briana Sewell, a delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Personal Life

In 1998, Sewell married Theodore Dixie of Huntsville, Alabama. They later divorced. Sewell is a lifetime member of Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Alabama, where she attended the 2007 speech that inspired her political career.