Photo by Jon Anderson
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, at right, speaks with a voter at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, on primary election day — Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell on Tuesday captured a victory in the Democratic primary for Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District over challenger Chris Davis.
With all counties in Alabama reporting results, Sewell had 93% of the vote (59,040 votes) to Davis’ 7% (4,709 votes), according to unofficial results from the Alabama secretary of state’s office website.
“While we celebrate our victory tonight, we know that our fight is not over,” Sewell said in a statement sent out by email Tuesday night. “There is too much at stake for us to be on the sidelines. We have to keep working to lower costs and grow our economy. We have to keep working to make health care more affordable. We have to keep working to make our communities safer. And we have to protect our democracy and our sacred right to vote from those who seek to take us back.”
Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District includes most of Birmingham, parts of Homewood, Hoover and western Jefferson County, parts of Clarke, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa counties and all of Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Marengo, Pickens, Perry, Sumter and Wilcox counties.
Sewell thanked her supporters and said she looks forward to working with them as they march toward the general election in November.
Davis, in a text Tuesday night, said he had no comment about the election results other than congratulations to Sewell.
Photo by Jon Anderson
Chris Davis, a Democatic candidate for Alabama's Seventh Congressional District, speaks to a voter arriving at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, on primary election day, Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
Sewell apparently will face Republican Robin Litaker in the Nov. 5 general election.
Litaker initially faced opposition from Christian Horn in the Republican primary, but Horn announced in February he was withdrawing from the race. However, his decision did not come in time to have his name removed from the ballot, and (with 66 of 67 of counties reporting) Horn actually received more votes than Litaker. Horn received 17,926 votes (58%) compared to 12,852 votes (42%) for Litaker, according to the Alabama secretary of state’s office.
The Alabama Republican Party posted congratulations to Litaker on the X social media platform, calling her the party’s nominee for the Seventh Congressional District.
Litaker on Tuesday night said the primary results “kind of took the wind out of my sails moving forward” but noted she put her campaign on pause after Horn announced he was withdrawing from the race. “I didn’t see any sense in wasting money,” she said.
Still, she looks forward to taking on Sewell in the general election, she said.
“I think it’s a prime year for a Republican to win, especially in District 7,” Litaker said. “People are tired of being ignored. … There are so many things in District 7 that have been overlooked. It’s one of the most impoverished areas of the country, and it is the most impoverished area of this state. The question is: Why is District 7 the way it is and no other district in this state? I look at Terri Sewell.”
Earlier Tuesday, when Sewell was campaigning at Legion Field in Birmingham, she said she has been energized by the voters and fully confident that they understand she has delivered on her promise to lower unemployment, create jobs, give more money to historically black college and universities and fight for affordable health care and affordable housing.
Sewell noted she was the only member of Alabama’s Congressional delegation who voted for a 2021 infrastructure bill that will provide $5.3 billion to Alabama in the next five years for roads and bridges and over $100 million for broadband in Alabama.
“When you are the poorest district in the state of Alabama, you are not going to change overnight,” Sewell said. “I think I’ve earned the right to ask voters for another term, and I look forward to going back and continuing to roll up my sleeves to do all that I can to help Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District.”
