Attica Woodson Scott (born January 30, 1972) is an American politician serving as a member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form ...

from the 41st district.

Early life and education

Scott was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, and attended

duPont Manual High School duPont Manual High School is a public magnet high school located in the Old Louisville neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It serves students in grades 9– 12. It is a part of the Jefferson County Public School District. DuP ...

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from

Knoxville College Knoxville College is a historically black liberal arts college in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, which was founded in 1875 by the United Presbyterian Church of North America. It is a United Negro College Fund member school. A slow peri ...

and a Master of Arts in communications from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

Career

Activism

Before her appointment to

Louisville Metro Council The Louisville Metro Council is the city council of Louisville, Kentucky (Louisville Metro). It was formally established in January 2003 upon the merger of the former City of Louisville with Jefferson County and replaced the city's Board of A ...

, Scott was a

community organizer Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community bui ...

for 15 years and worked as a coordinator for Kentucky Jobs with Justice, working on migrant rights, health care, and racial inequality.

Louisville Metro Council

The

selected Scott to replace Judy Green, who was removed from the council for ethics violations, in 2011. She won a

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 ...

to fill the remainder of Green's term in 2012, but lost her reelection in 2014 to Jessica Green, Judy's daughter.

Kentucky House

In 2016, Scott ran for the Kentucky House, defeating Democratic incumbent

Tom Riner Tom Riner (born October 7, 1946) is an American politician and pastor who served as a Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives for the 41st District from 1982 until 2017. He was defeated by Attica Scott in the 2016 Democratic ...

in the

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

. She was unopposed in the general election on November 8, 2016, and became the first African American woman to serve in the

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in the ...

since 2000. Her committee assignments include Elections, Constitutional Amendments & Intergovernmental Affairs, Judiciary, Natural Resources & Energy, and Education. In 2020, Scott supported the Maternal Care Access and Reducing Emergencies Act, a bill to improve

maternal health Maternal health is the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. In most cases, maternal health encompasses the health care dimensions of family planning, preconception, prenatal, and postnatal care in order to ens ...

. She sponsored House Bill 54, which would remove the tax on certain baby products, such as diapers, wipes, baby bottles, nipples for the bottles, and bottle liners.

U.S. House

On July 7, 2021, Scott announced her candidacy for

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

Kentucky's 3rd congressional district Kentucky's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It encompasses almost all of Louisville Metro, which, since the merger of 2003, is consolidated with Jefferson County, though other incorporated c ...

, a seat held by Kentucky's sole Democratic U.S. representative,

John Yarmuth John Allan Yarmuth ( ; born November 4, 1947) is an American politician and former newspaper editor serving as the U.S. representative for since 2007. His district encompasses the vast majority of the Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville Metro Area. ...

. On October 12, Yarmuth announced his decision to retire. Consequently, Kentucky Senate Minority Leader

Morgan McGarvey John Morgan McGarvey (born December 23, 1979) is an American attorney and politician serving as a Democratic member of the Kentucky Senate, where he represents the 19th district. In December 2018, he was elected as minority leader, becoming one ...

entered the race.

Personal life

Scott is a single mother and has two children, one of whom was arrested with her at a protest in Louisville in late 2020 and later cleared of all charges.

Breonna Taylor protests

In late May and June 2020, Scott marched during

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

in Louisville after the

shooting of Breonna Taylor Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment on March 13, 2020, when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing op ...

. During the protest she made accusations of excessive use of force against protesters by law enforcement. Scott claimed that she and her daughter, along with other protesters, were sprayed with tear gas without warning by police during the protest. She was critical of Kentucky Governor

Andy Beshear Andrew Graham Beshear (born November 29, 1977) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 63rd governor of Kentucky since December 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the son of the 61st governor of Kentucky, Steve B ...

's decision to send in the Kentucky National Guard to support Louisville Metro Police in controlling protesters; called for Louisville Mayor

Greg Fischer Gregory Edward Fischer (born January 14, 1958) is an American businessman, entrepreneur and 2nd mayor of Louisville Metro. In 2019, he was elected vice president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and served as its president in 2020. Fischer ra ...

's resignation, claiming that the public had lost confidence in his ability to address police brutality; and demanded that Louisville police be held accountable in the shooting deaths of

Breonna Taylor Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment on March 13, 2020, when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing op ...

and

David McAtee David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. On September 24, 2020, Scott was arrested in Louisville during protests, but before the start of the curfew, and spent the night in jail. With 17 others, Scott was charged with felony first-degree rioting, misdemeanor failure to disperse and misdemeanor unlawful assembly. The charge of rioting was dismissed on October 6 and the misdemeanor charges were dropped on November 16. On June 14, 2021, Scott filed a lawsuit against

Louisville Metro Police The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) began operations on January 6, 2003, as part of the creation of the consolidated city-county government in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It was formed by the merger of the Jefferson County Po ...

alleging her arrest on September 14, 2020, violated her constitutional rights to due process and equal protection and inflicted "severe emotional distress."

Electoral history

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Attica 1972 births 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American city council members African-American state legislators in Kentucky American community activists Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Kentucky politicians convicted of crimes Knoxville College alumni Living people Louisville Metro Council members Democratic Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Minority rights activists Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky University of Tennessee alumni Women city councillors in Kentucky Women state legislators in Kentucky