Sue Wilkins Myrick

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Sue Myrick
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 9th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1995
Preceded by	Alex McMillan
Born	August 1, 1941 (1941-08-01) (age 66) Tiffin, Ohio
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Ed Myrick
Religion	Methodist

Sue Wilkins Myrick (born August 1, 1941) is a North Carolina congresswoman; she has represented North Carolina's 9th Congressional district (map) in the United States House of Representatives since 1995. From 1987 to 1991, Myrick served as the first and so far only female mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1992, she ran for US Senate, but lost in the primary to Lauch Faircloth.

[edit] Congressional career

In 1994, Myrick was elected to the House succeeding five-term incumbent Alex McMillan. Myrick is one of the most conservative members of the House. She chaired the Republican Study Committee, a group of House conservatives, in the 108th Congress.

Myrick was overwhelmingly elected to her sixth consecutive term in the 2004 Congressional elections, earning 70% of the popular vote and defeating Democrat Jack Flynn. Similarly, she defeated Democrat William Glass in 2006 with almost 67 percent of the vote.^[1]

Two Charlotte-area Democrats have announced challenges to Myrick in 2008: Harry Taylor and Ross Overby.^[2]

Myrick was one of the leading Republican opponents of an abortive 2006 sale of port operations at six major American ports along the East Coast to Dubai Ports World, a state-owned company from the United Arab Emirates. In a February 22, 2006 letter to President Bush, Myrick wrote: "In regards to selling American ports to the United Arab Emirates, not just NO — but HELL NO!".^[3]

Myrick is on the advisory board of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, an organization which creates and endorses Bible-based curricula for public schools.

Some American Muslims have expressed anger against Myrick for describing the Islamic Society of North America as a group of "radical jihadists" in an open letter objecting to the United States Justice Department sending envoys to the Islamic Society's annual convention.^{[4] [5]}

In April, 2008, Myrick called on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to revoke former President Jimmy Carter's passport for defying U.S. policy and meeting with the leaders of the militant group Hamas, including the exiled Khaled Mashaal, on his visit to Syria.^[6]

[edit] Committee assignments

• Energy and Commerce Committee
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
  • Subcommittee on Health
• Deputy Whip
• Founder of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus
• Co-chair of the House Cancer Caucus

[edit] Seat history

The Charlotte-based district represented by Myrick has been continuously represented since 1943, when North Carolina gained a district as a result of the 1940 United States Census. It was formed as the 10th District in 1943, renumbered as the 8th District in 1963 and has been numbered as the 9th District since 1969. The district was one of North Carolina's first Republican areas, though it is not considered to be as heavily Republican as the neighboring 10th District, or even the 5th District. Republicans have represented the district since 1963.

The district has always included all or most of Charlotte. It currently includes more than half of Mecklenburg County, two-thirds of Union County and almost all of Gaston County. 52.5 % of the District's residents voted for John Kerry in 2004.

* Joseph Ervin died in office and was succeeded by his brother Sam in a special election.

Source: Political Graveyard database of North Carolina congressmen

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Representative Sue Myrick official U.S. House site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
• BlueNC's coverage of Sue Myrick - NC politics website