Voters in rural Alabama will cast historic votes this November. It’s the first time residents in the newly redrawn Congressional District two will pick their member of the U.S. House. It took a fight before the U.S. Supreme Court to create the new map to better represent African Americans in Congress. That’s what the high court seems to want. Now, let’s look at how things are and the impact that has on Terri Sewell. She’s the only Congressional Democrat in Alabama and the only African American…
“Everybody hear me? Can you hear me?” says Amanda Lopez. She’s a tour guide in a red coat. Lopez is checking the earphones worn by today’s group of visitors.
“You can’t hear me? Let me see…” she says.
Lopez needs a microphone to be heard. An average of ten thousand people crowd this spot every day. And the rotunda inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. creates an echo.
“But today, you see the room is filled with statues. There are about 35 state statues in this room. We the collection started in 1864, and over time, it's expanded,” said Capitol Communication specialist Jessica Wall.
I don’t need earphones as I head into Statuary Hall. My guide Jessica Wall used to be a tour guide, red coat and all. She works in the Capitol Communication Office now. She and I are just a few steps ahead of today onslaught of tourists.
“So you have chief Standing Bear of Nebraska. You have Thomas Edison from Ohio,” Wall pointed out.
I’m here to interview Alabama U.S. House member Terri Sewell. That’s a few hours away, so I stopped by the Capitol to see where she works. During our visit to statuary hall, Jessica Wall explains the rules on which sculptures get in
“You can pick someone born in your state, or someone who moved your state and did something important. So if anyone from New Jersey is listening and they're like, Wait, Edison, Ohio, it's okay, send us Frank Sinatra,” said Wall.
It’s clear Wall likes what she does. Especially when she talks about the hidden messages in these works of art…
“So the pedestal that President Reagan is standing on, you see those little rocky pieces. Those are pieces of the Berlin Wall,” she said.
Everything here is meant to capture a perfect moment. The statue of Abraham Lincoln stands near a brass plaque on the floor. It marks where he sat as a member of the U.S. House. Speaking of which…
“Our military's focus should be the protection of the American people and our freedoms, not liberals feelings,” said Republican Ralph Norman of South Carolina as thing got gritty on the House floor not far from Statuary Hall. The subject is the 2025 Defense Department Budget.
“Therefore, my amendment would eliminate any offices of DEI Diversity Equity and Inclusion in the armed forces, and then the DOD, we should focus on diversity of ideas and opinions, not races and genders," he added.
Norman’s not the only House member with an opinion on this.
“The gentlewoman from Alabama is recognized for two minutes…” said the presiding officer.
That gentlewoman is Terri Sewell. She’s the only Democrat in Alabama’s U.S. House delegation.
“But once again, Republicans are pushing poison pill amendments into our bipartisan defense bill focusing more on culture wars and division than on our national security,” said Sewell from the floor.
“You know, I have been in Congress gratefully for the last seven terms, and I've always voted in favor of the defense national defense authorization bill,” said Sewell after the dust settled, and we met with her in her office.
“All these amendments are coming back up from members, and makes it makes it difficult. You know, diversity is our strength, and so the attacks on being woke in the military and attacks against diversity, equity, inclusion, are just vicious and not helpful,” she said.
The day of our interview, Sewell cast her first ever no vote on the Defense budget bill. Fights on the House floor like the one you heard earlier may make the evening news. But, for voters Sewell’s district in Alabama, a lot of the work takes place here. Congressional intern Morgan Patrick mans the phones in Sewell’s office where she represents Alabama’s District seven. That’s in west central part of the State. But, it’s the calls that come from outside the district that’s the point.
“I grew up in Birmingham, and so I'm from the district,” said Robyn Gulley. She works in Sewell’s office, too. “I'm from the congresswoman is my member of Congress, so I'm a constituent and staffer, which is really cool.”
Gulley handles calls from constituents. Once the details are logged, Robyn Gulley goes to work ironing out the problems.
“And one of the things I've noticed, is that for people who live in parts of the for people who live in parts of our state that are not necessarily in the seventh congressional district, there are some of them that consider Congresswoman Sewell as their member of Congress,” Gulley observed.
And Gulley tries to be diplomatic on why an African American voter would call Democrat Terri Sewell for help instead of the white Republican in the district where they live…
“I think, I think that it's a matter of, I definitely think I can say this as a black voter like I think that it is a matter of, we trust you more,” she said.
But, taking calls from people from outside the district can get tricky. Federal agencies don’t technically have to anything if a House member is acting on behalf of someone they don’t represent. Sewell says it points to a bigger problem in Alabama…
“You know what it tells me is that there are not enough Alabamians here in Congress representing those views and those values,” said Representative Sewell. “And so it just means it to me, it just reinforces the reason why we need a second democratic seat in Alabama.”
And, that’s why having a new House member serving in the redrawn District Two is a big deal. Remember that fight over the Pentagon budget? Sewell spoke up because she’s a member of the House Armed Services Committee. She’s also on Ways and Means. Sewell says however wins Alabama’s District two could get something like Appropriations.
“It gives us an opportunity to divide and conquer, to be able to have better representation across the board for the shared values that that we're so, that we are so honored to be able to represent at decision making tables in Washington,” Sewell noted.
Campaign ads are airing to help the election go Terri Sewell’s way. Democrat Shomari Figures is campaigning to win the new District Two seat in the U.S. House. But, Republicans in Alabama are working to upset the political apple cart. There’s a new court challenge to flip District two back to the old map that favored the GOP. Also, Republican Caroleene Dobson is running against Figures. District Two is forty nine percent African American. But, over the summer, Dobson outspent her Democratic opponent three to one. We asked Terri Sewell, what happens if the GOP wins.
“I'd obviously be very disappointed, and I actually think that the Supreme Court would be disappointed at the end of the day,” said Sewell. “What they said was that Alabama should draw another district for fair representation that is either a majority minority district or something quite close to it.
Remember Jessica Wall from our tour of the U.S. Capitol? The day to day work here goes on leading up to the election that will leave Terri Sewell disappointed or not. During our tour with Wall, there were lots of statues and paintings. But, we also paused by a large window overlooking the west side of the Capitol. Construction crews are already busy building the platform where either President elect Harris or Trump will take the oath of office in January. There’s a good chance that House member elect Figueres or Dobson will be among the onlookers.
