Terri Sewell to host congressional forum on current state of U.S. voting rights
In an effort to to raise awareness about the importance of protecting voting rights and to urge Congress to support legislation to restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) will host “Restore the Vote: A Congressional Forum on the Current State of Voting Rights in America” on Saturday. Joined by 11 of her House colleagues — Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Rep. Hank Jonson (GA-04), Rep. Stacy Plaskett (VI), Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-13), Rep. Karen Bass (CA-37), Rep. Marc Veasey (TX-33), Rep. John Lewis (GA-05), Rep. Jim Clyburn (SC-06), Rep. John Conyers (MI-13), Rep. G.K. Butterfield (NC-01) — Sewell will hear directly from voters about their concerns and modern-day challenges to voting. According to Sewell’s office, issues that will be discussed include the effects of the Shelby decision, current barriers to the ballot box and the need for Congress to act to protect the right to vote for all Americans The event will take place at the Birmingham City Council Chambers at City Hall from 1 to 3 p.m.
In Alabama congressional races, incumbents stay safe
Despite incessant worrying over what Donald Trump-anti-incumbent-fueled voter turnout would mean at the polls, all members of the Alabama congressional delegation managed to hold on to their seats in Tuesday’s primary election. U.S. Senate Republican Richard Shelby, who was first elected to the Senate in 1986, faced challenges from four Republican opponents. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Shelby won by over 35 points. His closest opponent former Marine Capt. Jonathan McConnell garnered only 28 percent of the vote to Shelby’s 65 percent, with all other challengers taking only about 8 percent of the vote. On the Democratic side, business owner Shadrack McGill, who served in the state Senate from 2010 and 2014, and challengers John Martin, Marcus Bowman and Ron Crumpton faced off also in hopes of unseating Shelby, with Crumpton taking home the Democratic nomination, winning 56 percent of the vote. U.S. House of Representatives AL-01 Former state senator U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne secured his first full term in office after defeating challenger Dean Young. Byrne, first elected to Congress in a special election in 2013, took home 60 percent of the vote, with 100 percent of precincts reporting. AL-02 Former Montgomery City Council member and three-term Congresswoman, U.S. Rep. Martha Roby defeated Wetumpka Tea Party founder Becky Gerritson to represent the 2nd District, which includes much of Montgomery and southeast Alabama. Roby won slightly more than 66 percent of the vote, meanwhile Gerritson took home only 27 percent of the vote, and Bob Rogers just over 5 percent. AL-03 First elected to the House in 2003, former Calhoun County commissioner U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers defeated longtime Auburn public school administrator Larry DiChiara to represent the 3rd District, which covers east-central Alabama. Rogers won 76 percent of the vote to DiChiara 24 percent. Standing between Rogers and his eighth term in Congress is Jesse Smith. Smith, a Phenix City native, was was unchallenged for the Democratic nomination. AL-04 Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-04) defeated opponent Phil Norris the Republican nomination for representative of Alabama’s 4th Congressional District, moving one step closer to his eleventh term in office. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996, Aderholt received 102,348 votes, 81 percent, with 100 percent of precincts reporting. AL-05 Third term Congressman Rep. Mo Brooks, who represents Alabama’s 5th District — encompassing the counties of Lauderdale, Limestone, Madison, Morgan and most of Jackson — was un-opposed. AL-06 Co-founder and former longtime president of the Alabama Policy Institute, U.S. Congressman Gary Palmer, was un-opposed. Palmer is Alabama’s newest Congressman and first elected in 2014 to represent portions of Birmingham, nearly all of Jefferson County outside of Birmingham, and the entirety of Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Colbert, Coosa and Shelby counties. AL-07 Alabama’s lone Democratic representative, Terri Sewell, who assumed office in 2011 was un-opposed. Her district encompasses portions of Birmingham,Tuscaloosa and Montgomery.
