Biography

Terri A. Sewell, born on January 1, 1965, in Huntsville, Alabama, is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving Alabama's 7th Congressional District since 2011. She is the first Black woman elected to Congress from Alabama and, along with Republican Martha Roby, was one of the first women elected to Congress from Alabama in a regular election.

Raised in Selma, Alabama, Sewell is the daughter of Andrew A. Sewell, a high school math teacher and basketball coach, and Nancy Gardner Sewell, a librarian and the first Black woman elected to the Selma City Council.

In January 2025, Sewell was selected as the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, becoming the first Black woman to serve in a leadership role on a Ways and Means subcommittee since the committee's establishment in 1789.

Education

• Princeton University: Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, cum laude, 1986.
• University of Oxford: Master's degree in Political Science, 1988.
• Harvard Law School: Juris Doctor, 1992.

Political Experience

• U.S. House of Representatives: Elected in 2010; currently serving her eighth term representing Alabama's 7th Congressional District.
• House Committee on Ways and Means: Member since 2017; appointed as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight in 2025.
• House Armed Services Committee: Appointed in the 118th Congress.
• House Committee on Administration: Serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Elections.
• Congressional Black Caucus: Chair of the Voting Rights Task Force.
• New Democrat Coalition: Co-Chair of the Health Care Task Force.
• Congressional Voting Rights Caucus: Co-Chair.
• Congressional HBCU Caucus: Vice-Chair.
• Congressional Rural Caucus: Co-Chair.

Throughout her tenure, Sewell has been a staunch advocate for voting rights, notably authoring and sponsoring the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore and strengthen provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.