HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Alfred James Lawson Jr. (born September 23, 1948) is an American businessman and politician who was the
U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
for
Florida's 5th congressional district Florida's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. It extends along Florida's northern boundary from Jacksonville to Tallahassee. The district includes all of Baker, Gadsden, Hamilton and Madison cou ...
from 2017 to 2023. The district, which was eliminated following redistricting during the 2022 Florida legislative session, stretched across most of the border with
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, including most of the majority-black areas between
Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
and
Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
. Lawson challenged fellow Congressman
Neal Dunn Neal Patrick Dunn (born February 16, 1953) is an American surgeon and Republican Party politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2017. Early life and career Dunn was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 16, 1953. He earne ...
in the newly redrawn 2nd congressional district, which pitted them against each other in Lawson's home city. Lawson won the Democratic primary unopposed, and lost to Dunn in the general election. Lawson served in the Florida legislature for 28 years, from 1982 to 2000 in the
Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
and from 2000 to 2010 in the
Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
(representing the 6th district), where he was elected to serve as the Democratic leader and rose to the rank of "Dean of the Senate" before his election to Congress. After two failed campaigns for Congress, Lawson defeated incumbent
Corrine Brown Corrine Brown (born November 11, 1946) is an American former politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida from 1993 to 2017 and a convicted felon. She is a member of the Democratic Party. After a court-order ...
in the 2016 Democratic primary and won the general election.


Early life and education

Lawson was born in Midway, Florida, and attended Havana Northside High School, where he was a standout athlete in basketball and track. He went on to be a basketball star at
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the Un ...
(FAMU), where he earned a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in political science. After a brief stint as a professional basketball player with the
Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...
and
Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...
, Lawson returned to Tallahassee, where he landed a job at
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
as an assistant basketball coach and took the Seminoles to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. Lawson also earned his
Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...
from Florida State University.


U.S. House of Representatives


Elections


2010

Lawson ran for the Democratic nomination in in 2010, challenging seven-term incumbent
Allen Boyd Frederick Allen Boyd Jr. (born June 6, 1945) is an American politician and the former United States Representative for from 1997 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He currently works for a lobbying firm, the Twenty-First Century G ...
. He narrowly lost to Boyd in the Democratic primary, and Boyd lost to Republican newcomer Steve Southerland in the general election by more than 12 percentage points.


2012

Lawson ran for the seat again, and won the Democratic nomination against Blue Dog-endorsed state representative Leonard Bembry. He lost to Southerland in the general election by less than 6 points.


2016

A
lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
challenging the Florida congressional district map radically changed the 5th district. For the past quarter-century, the district and its predecessors had covered most of the majority-black precincts from Jacksonville to Orlando. The new map changed the district to an east–west configuration stretching across all or part of eight counties from Tallahassee to downtown Jacksonville. The redrawn district included Lawson's home in Tallahassee, and Lawson announced he would run for the 5th on December 15, 2015, setting up a battle against
Corrine Brown Corrine Brown (born November 11, 1946) is an American former politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida from 1993 to 2017 and a convicted felon. She is a member of the Democratic Party. After a court-order ...
, the only representative the district had had since its creation in 1993. The district's demographics appeared to be against Lawson. While it now included most of Tallahassee, the capital and its suburbs only accounted for 32% of the district's population, while the Jacksonville area accounted for 61%. But Lawson's candidacy received a significant boost in July 2016, when Brown was indicted on federal corruption charges. He defeated Brown in the Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic district—on August 30. He then defeated Republican Glo Smith in the November 8 general election with 64% of the vote.


Committee assignments

* Committee on Agriculture ** Subcommittee on Nutrition ** Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management *
United States House Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...
**
Diversity and Inclusion The business case for diversity stems from the progression of the models of diversity within the workplace since the 1960s. In the United States, the original model for diversity was situated around affirmative action drawing from equal opportunit ...
** Housing, Community Development and Insurance ** Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions


Caucus memberships

*
Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce ...
*
New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a congressional caucus, caucus in the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democratic Party (United States), Democrats, primarily Centrism, cent ...


Political positions


Gun law

After the
Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at t ...
in
Parkland, Florida Parkland is a suburban city, 42 miles northwest of Miami, in northern Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Parkland was 34,670. Parkland is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166 ...
, Lawson expressed frustration with the lack of action on gun regulation and placed blame on lobbying organizations, saying "the stranglehold of the gun lobby has gone on long enough". Lawson supports restriction on
assault weapon In the United States, ''assault weapon'' is a controversial term used to define firearms with specified characteristics. The definition varies among regulating jurisdictions, but usually includes semi-automatic firearms with a detachable magaz ...
s. In 2017, he voted no on the
Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, oHouse Bill 38 is a bill that would amend Title 18 of the United States Code to require all U.S. states to recognize concealed carry permits granted by other states. It would also allow the concealed transport o ...
, which would require all states to recognize concealed carry permits issued in other states. Additionally, those with concealed carry permits would be permitted to carry concealed weapons in school zones. Lawson also voted no on th
Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act
which would have allowed veterans who are considered "mentally incompetent" to purchase ammunition and firearms unless declared a danger by a judge.


Yemeni civil war

Lawson was one of five house Democrats to vote for the U.S. to continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia and to support the
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen Saudi may refer to: * Saudi Arabia * Saudis, people from Saudi Arabia * Saudi culture, the culture of Saudi Arabia * House of Saud The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is c ...
. This vote was part a vote series that allowed debate and votes on the Farm Bill in 2018, which he called a necessary step to provide assistance to farmers in his largely agricultural district.


See also

*
List of African-American United States representatives The United States House of Representatives has had 156 elected African-American members, of whom 150 have been representatives from U.S. states and 6 have been delegates from U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. The House of Represent ...


References


External links


Congressman Al Lawson
official U.S. House website
Campaign website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Alfred Jr. 1948 births 21st-century American politicians African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American state legislators in Florida Florida A&M University alumni Democratic Party Florida state senators Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida Florida State University alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people