Alma Shealey Adams (born May 27, 1946) is an American politician who represents
North Carolina's 12th congressional district
North Carolina's 12th U.S. House of Representatives, congressional district is a congressional district located in the city of Charlotte and surrounding areas in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County represented by Democrat Alm ...
in the
United States House of Representatives
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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
. A
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, Adams represented the state's 58th
House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
district in Guilford County in the
North Carolina General Assembly
The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...
from her appointment in April 1994 until her election to Congress, succeeded by
Ralph C. Johnson. A college administrator and art professor from
Greensboro
Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...
, Adams is known for her many distinctive hats (she claims to own 900). She won the
2014 special election in North Carolina's 12th congressional district to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of
Mel Watt
Melvin Luther Watt (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician who served as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency from 2014 to 2019. He was appointed by President Barack Obama. He is a former United States Representative for , from ...
, becoming the 100th woman serving in the
113th Congress
The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the ...
. She won election to a full two-year term at the same time.
Early life and education
Adams was born on May 27, 1946, in
High Point, North Carolina
High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...
. Her parents were Benjamin Shealey and the former Mattie Stokes. She graduated from
West Side High School in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.[B.S.
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...]
degree in 1969 and her
M.S.
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
degree in 1972, both from
North Carolina A&T University
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...
and both in art education. She received her
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in art education/multicultural education from
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
in 1981.
Adams is a member of
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...
sorority.
State legislature
Adams was a member of the Greensboro City School Board from 1984 to 1986 and a Greensboro City Council member from 1987 until her appointment to the House in 1994.
She was appointed to North Carolina House in 1994 to replace
Herman Gist
Herman may refer to:
People
* Herman (name), list of people with this name
* Saint Herman (disambiguation)
* Peter Noone (born 1947), known by the mononym Herman
Places in the United States
* Herman, Arkansas
* Herman, Michigan
* Herman, Minn ...
, who died in office. The district is in
Guilford County
Guilford County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population is 541,299, making it the third-most populous county in North Carolina. The county seat, and largest municipality, is Greensboro. S ...
and includes most of southeastern
Greensboro
Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...
. She had already announced that she was going to challenge Gist in the Democratic primary that year.
After being appointed to the seat, Adams faced conservative businessman and retired engineer O. C. Stafford in the Democratic primary. Stafford was a perennial candidate who had run for various offices, sometimes as a Democrat and sometimes as a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
. He had challenged Gist as a Republican in the 1992 general election. In 1994, as a Democrat, he lost to Adams in the primary.
Adams won a full term in the general election, beating Republican Roger G. Coffer. She faced a rematch with Stafford in the general elections of 1996 and 1998 when Stafford ran as a Republican. Adams won both elections. In 2000 Adams did not have an opponent in the Democratic primary; she defeated Republican real estate broker Jim Rumley in the general election.
In 2002, after redistricting, Adams's seat was changed from the 26th district to the 58th. Her only challenger that year was
Libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
lawyer David Williams, who withdrew from the race in October because he was moving to Colorado. His name still appeared on the ballot, but Adams won with nearly 86% of the vote.
Adams has been challenged for her seat for many years by Republican legal assistant and party activist Olga Morgan Wright. Wright has run for the seat held by Adams in nearly every election since 2004. Adams defeated Wright and Libertarian challenger Walter Sperko with 66% of the vote in 2004. In the next election Adams had no competition in the primary; she defeated Wright in the general election 66%–34%. In 2008, the year
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
was elected president, Democratic voters had a high rate of participation, and Adams defeated Wright 71.35%–28.65%
In 2008, Adams was elected to a second term as chair of the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus.
Adams was vice-chair of the Government Committee in the state House. Previously she was chair of the Appropriations Committee as well as vice-chair of the Commerce, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.
In 2010, Adams was challenged in the Democratic primary by Ralph C. Johnson. She defeated Johnson with 76.56% of the vote. Adams next faced Republican Darin H. Thomas in the general election, beating him 63.15%–36.85%. In 2012, Adams had no primary opposition and defeated Olga Wright in the general election, 79.86%–20.14%.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2014 special and general elections
In April 2013,
Mel Watt
Melvin Luther Watt (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician who served as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency from 2014 to 2019. He was appointed by President Barack Obama. He is a former United States Representative for , from ...
, the only congressman to have served the 12th District since its creation in 1993, was appointed director of the
Federal Housing Finance Agency
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is an independent federal agency in the United States created as the successor regulatory agency of the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB), the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), an ...
. Adams was one of the first to announce that if Watt were confirmed, she would run in the ensuing special election. Watt was confirmed in December 2013. Adams formally filed paperwork to run in both the Democratic primary for a full two-year term in the
114th Congress and the
special election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...
held in November 2014 to fill the balance of Watt's 11th term.
Adams was sworn in on November 12, 2014, to complete the remaining seven weeks of Watt's term.
After the swearing-in, Adams became the 100th female member of the congressional class, beating the previous record of 99.
Adams was reelected to the seat in 2016 and 2018.
![Alma Adams - Jan 30 2020](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Alma_Adams_-_Jan_30_2020.jpg)
Analysts thought that Adams was at a geographic disadvantage in the five-way primary for both the special and regular elections (held on the same day in November 2014). She is from Greensboro, but the bulk of the district's population is in Charlotte. But with three Charlotteans in the race splitting that region's vote, Adams won both primaries with about 44% of the vote, a few thousand votes over the 40% threshold needed to avoid a
runoff
Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to:
* RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program
* Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed
* Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
. She faced Republican Vince Coakley, a former television and radio broadcaster from Matthews, in the general and special elections, which were held on the same day. The 12th was a heavily Democratic district with a majority-black voting population and a
Cook Partisan Voting Index
The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic or Republican Party, compared to the nation as a whole, based ...
of D+26, and Adams won both elections handily.
Adams is the second woman of color to represent North Carolina in the House. The first was
Eva Clayton
Eva McPherson Clayton (born September 16, 1934) is an American politician from North Carolina. On taking her seat in the United States House of Representatives following a special election in 1992, Clayton became the first African American to rep ...
, who represented much of eastern North Carolina from 1992 to 2002.
In the
2016 presidential election, Adams endorsed
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
and pledged her support as a
superdelegate
In American politics, a superdelegate is an unpledged delegate to the Democratic National Convention who is seated automatically and chooses for themselves for whom they vote. These Democratic Party superdelegates (who make up slightly under 15 ...
.
Adams is a member of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most Left-wing politics, left-leaning faction of the ...
, the
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 ...
, and the
Congressional Arts Caucus
The Congressional Arts Caucus is a registered Congressional Member Organization for the US House of Representatives in the 115th Congress.
History
The Congressional Arts Caucus was created in the 1980s as a way for the various members of Congres ...
.
Adams decided not to attend the January 2017
Inauguration of Donald Trump
The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States marked the commencement of Donald Trump's term as president and Mike Pence as vice president. An estimated 300,000 to 600,000 people attended the public ceremony hel ...
.
Tenure
In February 2022, Adams and Representatives
A. Donald McEachin
Aston Donald McEachin ( ; October 10, 1961 – November 28, 2022) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 4th congressional district from 2017 until his death in 2022. His district was based in ...
and
Brian Fitzpatrick introduced the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act, would have the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
work with local governments to identify, survey, research, and preserve historic African American cemeteries and burial grounds. The legislation has bipartisan support in the House.
Adams's residency questioned
A court-ordered redistricting in 2016 made the 12th somewhat more compact. It now comprised nearly all of
Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte. Adams's home in Greensboro was drawn into the 13th district. She had already filed for a second full term, but announced she would move to Charlotte. She claims a home in Charlotte's Fourth Ward neighborhood owned by Mary Gaffney, one of her prominent supporters, as her official residence in the district. Both Gaffney and Adams maintain active voter registrations at that address. On May 31,
WBTV
WBTV (channel 3) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Gray Television. The station's studios are located off Morehead Street, just west of Uptown Charlotte, and its transmitter is ...
in Charlotte reported that Adams filed campaign finance documents listing her longtime home in Greensboro as her residence, and also spends most weekends in her Greensboro home. WBTV also reported that Adams had scrubbed all references to her service as a local official in Greensboro from her campaign website, though her biography on her campaign's Facebook page still contained references to that service.
When a WBTV reporter approached Adams at her home in Greensboro, she backed out of her driveway and drove away and was later found hiding out in her car near the entrance to her neighborhood. When the reporter attempted to confront her, she drove away a second time.
While members of Congress are only required to live in the state they represent, it is customary for them to live in or near the district they represent.
With seven Charlotteans splitting the vote, Adams won the 2016 Democratic primary with 42%. This all but assured her of a second full term; due to Charlotte and Mecklenburg County's heavy swing to the Democrats in recent years, the reconfigured 12th is no less Democratic than its predecessor.
Committee assignments
*
Committee on Agriculture (Vice Chair)
**
Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations
*
Committee on Education and Labor
The Committee on Education and Labor is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 50 members in this committee. Since 2019, the chair of the Education and Labor committee is Robert Cortez Scott of Virginia.
Hi ...
**
Subcommittee on Workforce Protections (Chair)
*
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 ...
**
Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion
Caucus memberships
*
Congressional Progressive Caucus
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most Left-wing politics, left-leaning faction of the ...
*
Blue Collar Caucus
*
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 ...
*
Congressional Arts Caucus
The Congressional Arts Caucus is a registered Congressional Member Organization for the US House of Representatives in the 115th Congress.
History
The Congressional Arts Caucus was created in the 1980s as a way for the various members of Congres ...
Other work
Adams has been a professor of art at
Bennett College
Bennett College is a private historically black liberal arts college for women in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was founded in 1873 as a normal school to educate freedmen and train both men and women as teachers. Originally coed, in 1926 it ...
in Greensboro, as well as the director of the Steel Hall Art Gallery.
In 1990, she and
Eva Hamlin Miller co-founded the African American Atelier, an organization established to advance awareness and appreciation for visual arts and cultures of African Americans.
Adams chairs the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Foundation, which gives scholarships to students who attend one of North Carolina's
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...
.
Personal life
Adams is divorced and has two children.
She is well known for her many distinctive hats.
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 ...
*
Women in the United States House of Representatives
Women have served in the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber, since the 1916 election of Republican Jeannette Rankin from Montana, the first woman in Con ...
References
External links
Congresswoman Alma Adamsofficial U.S. House website
Alma Adams for Congress*
*
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, -
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Alma S.
1946 births
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American women politicians
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
Bennett College faculty
African-American members of the United States House of Representatives
African-American state legislators in North Carolina
African-American women in politics
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Living people
Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives
North Carolina A&T State University alumni
Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology alumni
Politicians from Newark, New Jersey
West Side High School (New Jersey) alumni
Women state legislators in North Carolina
American women academics
20th-century African-American women
20th-century African-American politicians
21st-century African-American women
21st-century African-American politicians