Terri A. Sewell
DemocratU.S. Representative, AL-7| Age | 61 (b. 1965-01-01) |
| Gender | Female |
| In office since | 2011-01-05 (~15 yrs) |
| Race / ethnicity | Black/African American |
| Religion | Baptist (raised in Baptist tradition; describes herself as 'a Southerner steeped in the church') |
| Education | B.A. Princeton University (1986); M.A. St. Hilda's College, Oxford University (1988, Marshall/Commonwealth Scholar); J.D. Harvard Law School (1992) |
| Prior occupation | Attorney — law clerk (U.S. District Court, N.D. Alabama); securities lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell (1994–2004, New York); public finance attorney and first Black woman partner at Maynard, Cooper & Gale (Birmingham, 2004–2010) |
| Military service | No |
| Birthplace | Huntsville, Alabama |
| Marital status | divorced — Theodore Dixie (divorced) |
| Residence | Selma, Alabama |
| Notable relatives | Mother: Nancy Gardner Sewell, first Black woman elected to Selma City Council; Cousin: Briana Sewell, Virginia House of Delegates member |
Pending research: languages · children · openly lgbtq.
Career & politics
| First elected | 2010 |
| Previous offices | No prior elected office before Congress; served as congressional staff to Rep. Richard Shelby and Sen. Howell Heflin |
| Committees | House Committee on Ways and Means (Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Oversight; also Subcommittees on Trade and Social Security) · House Committee on Armed Services · Committee on House Administration (Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Elections) |
| Caucuses | Congressional Black Caucus (Chair, Voting Rights Task Force) · New Democrat Coalition (Vice Chair for Outreach) · Congressional Voting Rights Caucus (Co-Chair) · Congressional HBCU Caucus (Vice-Chair) · Rural Caucus (Co-Chair) |
| Leadership | Chief Deputy Whip (since 113th Congress, continuing through 119th Congress) · Member, Democratic Steering and Policy Committee (119th Congress) · Ranking Member, House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight (119th Congress) — first Black woman to hold this role |
| Ideology | Centrist Democrat; member of the New Democrat Coalition (pro-growth, fiscally moderate); GovTrack places her on the left of the Alabama delegation but as a moderate within the House Democratic caucus overall. Does not support Medicare for All or Green New Deal. |
| Signature legislation | John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (lead sponsor, repeatedly introduced to restore VRA protections after Shelby County v. Holder) · New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act (bipartisan, permanent extension) · New Markets Stabilization Act (bipartisan, COVID-era) · Rural Jobs Act (bipartisan, targeted NMTC allocations for rural zones) |
Financial
Net worth: estimate
No holdings recorded yet (from official Financial Disclosure filings).
Top industries: Lawyers/Law Firms · Real Estate · Health Professionals · Securities & Investment · Leadership PACs
Scandals & crimes ledger
No recorded incidents. Under the adjudicated-only methodology, an entry appears only when a court or official body has formally acted and the record is cited.