Jeff Sessions

Jeff Sessions
United States Senator
from Alabama
Assumed office
January 3, 1997
Serving with Richard Shelby
Preceded by Howell Heflin
44th Attorney General of Alabama
In office
January 16, 1995 – January 3, 1997
Governor Fob James
Preceded by Jimmy Evans
Succeeded by Bill Pryor
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama
In office
1981–1993
Appointed by Ronald Reagan
Preceded by William Kimbrough, Jr.
Succeeded by Don Foster
Personal details
Born Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III
(1946-12-24) December 24, 1946
Selma, Alabama, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Mary Blackshear
Children 3
Alma mater Huntingdon College (BA)
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa (JD)
Website Senate website
Military service
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch  United States Army
Years of service 1973–1977
Rank Captain
Unit 1184th United States Army Transportation Terminal Unit
United States Army Reserve

Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is the junior United States Senator from Alabama. He is a member of the Republican Party.

From 1981 to 1993 he served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. Sessions was elected Attorney General of Alabama in 1994, and to the U.S. Senate in 1996, being re-elected in 2002, 2008, and 2014. Sessions was ranked by National Journal in 2007 as the fifth-most conservative U.S. Senator, siding strongly with the Republican Party on political issues. As a senator, he is noted for his opposition to illegal immigration and advocacy of reducing legal immigration. He supported the major legislative efforts of the George W. Bush administration, including the 2001 and 2003 tax cut packages, the Iraq War, and a proposed national amendment to ban same-sex marriage. He opposed the establishment of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the 2009 stimulus bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act. As the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he opposed all three of President Barack Obama's nominees for the Supreme Court.

An early supporter of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Sessions was considered as a possible vice presidential nominee, but Indiana governor Mike Pence was ultimately selected for the ticket. On November 18, 2016 it was announced that President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Sessions for Attorney General of the United States when he takes office.

Personal life and education

Sessions was born in Selma, Alabama, on December 24, 1946,[1] the son of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions Jr., and the former Abbie Powe.[2] His father owned a general store in Hybart, Alabama, and then a farm equipment dealership. Both of Sessions' parents were of primarily English ancestry, with some Scots-Irish.[3][4] In 1964, Sessions became an Eagle Scout and earned the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.[5]

After attending school in nearby Camden, Sessions studied at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969. He was active in the Young Republicans and was student body president.[6] Sessions attended the University of Alabama School of Law and graduated with his J.D. in 1973.[7]

Sessions entered private practice in Russellville and later in Mobile,[8] where he now lives.[9] He also served in the Army Reserve in the 1970s with the rank of captain.[8]

Sessions and his wife Mary have three children and six grandchildren.[10] Sessions is a Sunday school teacher at the Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile,[11] where he and his wife are members.[12]

Political career

U.S. Attorney

Sessions was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama beginning in 1975. In 1981, President Reagan nominated Sessions to be the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. The Senate confirmed him and he held that position for 12 years.[8]

Sessions' office filed civil rights charges in the 1981 killing of Michael Donald, a young African-American man who was murdered in Mobile, Alabama by a pair of Ku Klux Klan members.[13][14] Session's office did not prosecute the case, but both men were arrested and convicted.[15]

In 1985, Sessions prosecuted three African American community organizers in the Black belt of Alabama, including Martin Luther King Jr's former aide Albert Turner, for voter fraud. The prosecution stirred charges of selective prosecution of Black voter registration and was based on no more than 14 tampered ballots. The defendants, known as the Marion Three, were acquitted by a jury after three hours deliberation. Interviewed by the Washington Post, historian Wayne Flynt noted legitimate concerns about tactics employed by black officeholders and Turner in particular, but also noted Sessions had no history of advocating for black voter rights before 1984.[16][17] Interviewed in 2009, Sessions said he remained convinced that he did the right thing, but admitted he “failed to make the case.”[18]

Failed nomination to the district court

In 1986, Reagan nominated Sessions to be a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.[19] Sessions's judicial nomination was recommended and actively backed by Republican Alabama Senator Jeremiah Denton.[20] A substantial majority of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which rates nominees to the federal bench, rated Sessions "qualified," with a minority voting that Sessions was "not qualified".[21] His nomination was opposed by the NAACP, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and People for the American Way.[17]

At Sessions' confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, four Department of Justice lawyers who had worked with Sessions testified that he made racially offensive remarks. One of those lawyers, J. Gerald Hebert, testified that Sessions had referred to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as "un-American" and "Communist-inspired" (Sessions said he was referring to their support of the Sandinistas[22]) and that they did more harm than good by trying to force civil rights "down the throats of people."[23] Hebert, a civil rights lawyer,[24] said that he did not consider Sessions a racist, and that Sessions "has a tendency sometimes to just say something, and I believe these comments were along that vein."[25] Hebert also said that Sessions had called a white civil rights attorney "maybe" a "disgrace to his race." Sessions said he did not recall making that remark and he did not believe it.[22]

Thomas Figures, a black Assistant U.S. Attorney, testified that Sessions said he thought the Ku Klux Klan was "OK until I found out they smoked pot". Sessions later said that the comment was not serious, but did apologize for it, saying that he considered the Klan to be "a force for hatred and bigotry."[26] Barry Kowalski, a prosecutor in the civil rights division, also heard the remark and testified that he considered it a joke.[25][22][26] Figures also testified that on one occasion, when the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division sent the office instructions to investigate a case that Sessions had tried to close, Figures and Sessions "had a very spirited discussion regarding how the Hodge case should then be handled; in the course of that argument, Mr. Sessions threw the file on a table, and remarked, 'I wish I could decline on all of them,'" by which Figures said Sessions meant civil rights cases generally.

Figures also said that Sessions had called him "boy," which Sessions denied. Figures also testified that two assistant prosecutors had also heard Sessions, including current federal judge Ginny Granade. Granade denied this.[19][27] He also testified that "Mr. Sessions admonished me to 'be careful what you say to white folks.'"[28] In 1992, Figures was charged with attempting to bribe a witness by offering a $50,000 to a convicted drug dealer who was to testify against his client. Figures claimed the charge was retaliation for his role in blocking the Sessions nomination. Sessions denied this, saying that he recused himself from the case. Figures was ultimately acquitted.[29][30][31]

Hebert, Kowalski and Daniel Bell, deputy chief of the criminal section in the Civil Rights Division, testified that they considered Sessions to have been more welcoming to the work of the Civil Rights Division than many other Southern US Attorneys at the time.[25][22] Sessions has always defended his civil rights record, saying that "when I was [a U.S. Attorney], I signed 10 pleadings attacking segregation or the remnants of segregation, where we as part of the Department of Justice, we sought desegregation remedies".[32]

On June 5, 1986, the Committee voted 10–8 against recommending the nomination to the Senate floor, with Republican Senators Charles Mathias of Maryland and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania voting with the Democrats. It then split 9–9 on a vote to send Sessions' nomination to the Senate floor with no recommendation, this time with Specter in support. A majority was required for the nomination to proceed.[33] The pivotal votes against Sessions came from his home state's Democratic Senator Howell Heflin of Alabama. Although Heflin had previously backed Sessions, he began to oppose Sessions after hearing testimony, concluding that there were "reasonable doubts" over Sessions' ability to be "fair and impartial." The nomination was withdrawn on July 31, 1986.[21]

Sessions became only the second nominee to the federal judiciary in 48 years whose nomination was killed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.[26] He was quoted then as saying that the Senate on occasion had been insensitive to the rights and reputation of nominees.[34][35] A law clerk from the U.S. District Court in Mobile who had worked with Sessions later acknowledged the confirmation controversy, but stated that he observed Sessions as "a lawyer of the highest ethical and intellectual standards."[36]

After joining the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sessions remarked that his presence there, alongside several of the members who voted against him, was a "great irony."[34] When Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania left the GOP to join the Democratic Party on April 28, 2009, Sessions was selected to be the Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee. At that time, Specter said that his vote against Sessions' nomination was a mistake, because he had "since found that Sen. Sessions is egalitarian."[37]

Alabama Attorney General and U.S. Senate

Sessions speaking at a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on August 31, 2016.

Sessions was elected Attorney General of Alabama in November 1994, unseating incumbent Democrat Jimmy Evans with 57% of the vote. The harsh criticism he had received from Senator Edward Kennedy, who called him a "throw-back to a shameful era" and a "disgrace", was considered to have won him the support of Alabama conservatives. As Attorney-General, Sessions led the state's defense of a schools funding model ultimately found unconstitutional because of disparities between rich, mostly white, and poor, mostly black, schools.[38][39]

In 1996, Sessions won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, after a runoff, and then defeated Democrat Roger Bedford 53%–46% in the November general election.[6] He succeeded Howell Heflin, who had retired after 18 years in the Senate. In 2002, Sessions won reelection by defeating Democratic State Auditor Susan Parker. In 2008, Sessions defeated Democratic State Senator Vivian Davis Figures (sister-in-law of Thomas Figures, the Assistant U.S. Attorney who testified at Sessions' judicial confirmation hearing) to win a third term. Sessions received 63 percent of the vote to Figures' 37 percent. Sessions successfully sought a fourth term in 2014[40] and was uncontested in both the Republican primary and the general election.[41][42]

Sessions was only the second freshman Republican senator from Alabama since Reconstruction and gave Alabama two Republican senators, a first since Reconstruction. He was easily reelected in 2002, becoming the first Republican reelected to the Senate from Alabama since Reconstruction (given that his colleague Richard Shelby, who won reelection as a Republican in 1998, had previously run as a Democrat, switching parties in 1994).[41]

Sessions is the ranking Republican member on the Senate Budget Committee,[43] a former ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. He also serves on the Environment and Public Works Committee.

2016 presidential election

Sessions was an early supporter of the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, and was a major policy adviser to the Trump campaign, especially in regard to immigration and national security.[44] Sessions donned a "Make America Great Again" cap at a Trump rally in August 2015, and Stephen Miller, Sessions's longtime-communications director, joined the Trump campaign.[45] On February 28, 2016, Sessions officially endorsed Donald Trump for president. The Trump campaign considered Sessions for the position of running mate, and Sessions was widely seen as a potential Cabinet secretary in a Trump administration.[44]

Attorney General nominee

Trump, after winning the presidential election, announced on November 18, 2016, that he would nominate Sessions to be Attorney General, succeeding Loretta Lynch.[46]

Political positions

U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions addressing voters in 2011.

Sessions was ranked by National Journal as the fifth-most conservative U.S. Senator in their March 2007 Conservative/Liberal Rankings.[47]

Immigration

Sessions has been the leading congressional opponent of illegal immigration and proponent of reducing legal immigration. He led the fight in the Senate against the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 and Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013. He says that a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants undermines the rule of law, that the inflow of guest workers and immigrants depresses wages and raises unemployment for United States citizens, and that current immigration policy expands an underclass dependent on the welfare state. In a May 2006 floor speech, he said, “Fundamentally, almost no one coming from the Dominican Republic to the United States is coming because they have a skill that would benefit us and that would indicate their likely success in our society.”[48][49] He is a supporter of E-Verify, the federal database that allows businesses to electronically verify the immigration status of potential new hires,[50] and has advocated for expanded construction of a Southern border fence.[51] In 2013, Sessions claimed that an opt-out provision in immigration legislation before Congress would allow Sec. Janet Napolitano to skip building a border fence. PolitiFact called the claim "False," stating that the provision would allow Napolitano to determine where the fence was built, but not opt out of building it entirely.[52]

Foreign and military policy

Senator Sessions speaks during Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA) 2012 in Nashville, TN

In 2005, Sessions spoke at a rally in Washington, D.C. in favor of the War in Iraq organized in opposition to an anti-war protest held the day before. Sessions said of the anti-war protesters: "The group who spoke here the other day did not represent the American ideals of freedom, liberty and spreading that around the world. I frankly don't know what they represent, other than to blame America first."[53] The same year, he opposed legislation by Senator John McCain prohibiting the US military from engaging in torture; the amendment passed 90-9.[54]

In the 109th Congress, Sessions introduced legislation to increase the death gratuity benefit for families of servicemembers from $12,420 to $100,000.[55] The bill also increased the level of coverage under the Servicemen's Group Life Insurance from $250,000 to $400,000. Sessions' legislation was accepted in the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2005.[56]

Sessions was one of only three senators to vote against additional funding for the VA medical system. He opposed the bill due to cost concerns and indicated that Congress should instead focus on "reforms and solutions that improve the quality of service and the effectiveness that is delivered."[57]

Crime and security

Senator Sessions and Indiana Governor/then-VP candidate Mike Pence at an immigration policy speech in Phoenix, Arizona in August 2016

Sessions supported the reduction (but not the elimination) of the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powdered cocaine, ultimately passed into law with the Fair Sentencing Act 2010.[58][59][38]

On October 5, 2005, Sessions was one of nine Senators who voted against a Senate amendment to a House bill that prohibited cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment of individuals in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government.[60]

In November 2010, Sessions was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee when the committee voted unanimously in favor of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), and sent the bill to the full Senate for consideration.[61] The proposed law would allow the Attorney General to ask a court to issue a restraining order on Internet domain names that host copyright-infringing material.[61]

Sessions has been a strong supporter of civil forfeiture, the government practice of seizing property when it has allegedly been involved in a crime.[62] Sessions opposes "any reform" of civil forfeiture legislation.[63]

Economic issues

Sessions voted for the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, and said he would vote to make them permanent if given the chance.[64] He is a signer of Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge.[65]

In 2006, Sessions received the "Guardian of Small Business” award from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB),[66] an honor that the organization bestows upon legislators who vote in accord with its stance on small business issues at least 70% of the time.[67] He was recognized by the NFIB again in 2008[68] and 2010;[67] in 2014 the organization endorsed him in his run for a fourth term, noting that he had achieved a 100% NFIB voting record on key issues for small businesses in the 112th Congress.[69]

Sessions was one of 29 senators who voted for an amendment to the 2008 budget resolution, offered by Republican Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, that would have placed a one-year moratorium on the practice of earmarking.[70]

Sessions was one of 25 senators to vote against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (the bank bailout), arguing that it "undermines our heritage of law and order, and is an affront to the principle of separation of powers."[71]

Sessions opposed the $837 billion stimulus bill, calling it "the largest spending bill in the history of the republic."[72] In late 2011 he also expressed skepticism about the $447 billion jobs bill proposed by President Obama, and disputed the notion that the bill would be paid for without adding to the national debt.[73]

Higher education and research

In 2013, Sessions sent a letter to National Endowment for the Humanities enquiring why the foundation funded projects that he deemed frivolous.[74] He also criticized the foundation for distributing books related to Islam to hundreds of U.S. libraries, saying "Using taxpayer dollars to fund education program grant questions that are very indefinite or in an effort to seemingly use Federal funds on behalf of just one religion, does not on its face appear to be the appropriate means to establish confidence in the American people that NEH expenditures are wise."[75]

Social issues

As Attorney General of Alabama, Sessions worked to prohibit the recognition and funding of student Gay-Straight Alliances at The University of Alabama,[76] Auburn University and The University of South Alabama, stating "an organization that professes to be comprised of homosexuals and/or lesbians may not receive state funding or use state-supported facilities to foster or promote those illegal, sexually deviate activities defined in the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws." [77] And that "the State of Alabama will experience irreparable harm by funding a conference and activities in violation of state law."[76] The U.S. District court ruled against these actions as a violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution in Gay Lesbian Bisexual Alliance v. Sessions, 917 F. Supp. 1548 (1996)

Sessions has been an opponent of same-sex marriage and has earned a zero rating from the Human Rights Campaign, the United States' largest LGBTQ advocacy group.[78] He voted against the Matthew Shepard Act, which added acts of bias-motivated violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity to federal hate-crimes law,[79] commenting that it "has been said to cheapen the civil rights movement"[80] Sessions voted in favor of advancing the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and 2006, a U.S. constitutional amendment which would have permanently restricted federal recognition of marriages to those between a man and a woman.[79] Sessions voted against the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.[81]

Sessions has also said regarding the appointment of a gay Supreme Court justice, "I do not think that a person who acknowledges that they have gay tendencies is disqualified, per se, for the job"[82] but "that would be a big concern that the American people might feel—might feel uneasy about that."[83]

Sessions is against legalizing marijuana for either recreational or medicinal use. "I’m a big fan of the DEA", he said during a hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee.[84] Sessions was "heartbroken" and found "it beyond comprehension" when President Obama claimed that cannabis is not as dangerous as alcohol.[85] In April 2016, he said that it was important to foster "knowledge that this drug is dangerous, you cannot play with it, it is not funny, it's not something to laugh about... and to send that message with clarity that good people don't smoke marijuana."[86]

Jeff Sessions speaking at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C.

In terms of abortion policy, Sessions is pro-life and was one of 37 Senators to vote against funding for embryonic stem cell research.[87]

Health care reform

In 2006, Sessions coauthored legislation amending the Ryan White CARE Act to increase the share of HIV/AIDS funding going to rural states, including Alabama.[88]

Sessions opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009,[89] and he voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.[90]

Following Senator Ted Cruz's 21-hour speech opposing the Affordable Care Act in 2013, Sessions joined Cruz and 17 other Senators in a failed vote against cloture on a comprehensive government funding bill that would have continued funding healthcare reform.[91]

Energy and environment

Sessions is skeptical of the scientific consensus on climate change.[92] He has voted in favor of legislation that would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases.[93] He has voted to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. The League of Conservation Voters, a pro-environment advocacy group, gave him a lifetime score of 7%.[94] Sessions is a proponent of nuclear power.

Supreme Court nominations

Sessions was a supporter of the "nuclear option," a tactic considered by then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in the spring of 2005 to change longstanding Senate rules to stop Democratic filibusters (or, "talking a bill to death") of some of George W. Bush's nominees to the federal courts. When the "Gang of 14" group of moderate Senators reached an agreement to allow filibusters under "extraordinary circumstances," Sessions accepted the agreement but argued that "a return to the tradition of up-or-down votes on all judicial nominees would… strengthen the Senate."[95]

While serving as the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee in the 110th Congress, Sessions was the senior Republican who questioned Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's nominee to succeed retiring Justice David Souter. Sessions focused on Sotomayor's views on empathy as a quality for a judge, arguing that "empathy for one party is always prejudice against another."[96] Sessions also questioned the nominee about her views on the use of foreign law in deciding cases,[97] as well as her role in the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF). On July 28, 2009, Sessions joined five Republican colleagues in voting against Sotomayor's nomination in the Judiciary Committee. The committee approved Sotomayor by a vote of 13–6.[98] Sessions also voted against Sotomayor when her nomination came before the full Senate. He was one of 31 senators (all Republicans) to do so, while 68 voted to confirm the nominee.[99]

Sessions also served as the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee during the nomination process for Elena Kagan, President Obama’s nominee to succeed retired Justice John Paul Stevens. Sessions based his opposition on the nominee’s lack of experience, her background as a political operative (Kagan had said that she worked in the Clinton White House not as a lawyer but as a policy adviser[100]), and her record on guns, abortion, and gay rights. Sessions pointed out that Kagan “has a very thin record legally, never tried a case, never argued before a jury, only had her first appearance in the appellate courts a year ago."[101]

Sessions focused the majority of his criticism on Kagan's treatment of the military while she was dean of Harvard Law School. During her tenure, Kagan reinstated the practice of requiring military recruiters to coordinate their activities through a campus veterans organization, rather than the school's Office of Career Services. Kagan argued that she was trying to comply with a law known as the Solomon Amendment, which barred federal funds from any college or university that did not grant military recruiters equal access to campus facilities. Sessions asserted that Kagan's action was a violation of the Solomon Amendment and that it amounted to "demeaning and punishing the military."[102] He also argued that her action showed a willingness to place her politics above the law, and questioned “whether she had the intellectual honesty, the clarity of mind, that you would expect on the Supreme Court.”[102][103]

On July 20, 2010, Sessions and five Republican colleagues voted against Kagan's nomination. Despite this, the Judiciary Committee approved the nomination by a 13–6 vote. Sessions also voted against Kagan in the full Senate vote, joining 36 other senators (including one Democrat) in opposition. 63 senators voted to confirm Kagan. Following the vote, Sessions remarked on future nominations and elections, saying that Americans would "not forgive the Senate if we further expose our Constitution to revision and rewrite by judicial fiat to advance what President Obama says is a broader vision of what America should be."[104]

Following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016, Sessions refused to consider any nominee for the position. Sessions maintained his opposition after President Obama nominated D.C. Circuit judge Merrick Garland, joining other Republican Senators in delaying a Supreme Court hearing until the inauguration of a new president.[105]

Legislation

In 1999, Sessions cosponsored the bill to award Rosa Parks the Congressional Gold Medal.[14]

On December 11, 2013, Sessions cosponsored the Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2013 (S. 1799; 113th Congress), a bill that would reauthorize the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 and would authorize funding through 2018 to help child abuse victims.[106] Sessions argued that "there is no higher duty than protecting our nation's children, and this bill is an important step to ensure the most vulnerable children receive the care and support they deserve."[106]

Political contributors

During his career, Sessions' largest donors have come from the legal, health, real estate, and insurance industries.[107] From 2005 to 2010, the corporations employing donors who gave the most to his campaign were the Southern Company utility firm, Balch & Bingham law firm, Harbert Management investment firm, Drummond Company coal mining firm, and WPP Group, a UK-based communications services company.[108]

Committee assignments

Electoral history

2014
United States Senate election in Alabama, 2014[110]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Sessions (incumbent) 795,606 97.25
Write-ins Other 22,484 2.75
Total votes 818,090 100
Republican hold
2008
Alabama U.S. Senate Republican primary election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes % +%
Republican Jeff Sessions* 199,690 92.27
Republican Zach McCann 16,718 7.73
United States Senate election in Alabama, 2008
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Jeff Sessions* 1,305,383 63.36 + 4.78
Democratic Vivian Davis Figures 752,391 36.52
Write-ins 2,417 0.12
2002
United States Senate election in Alabama, 2002
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Jeff Sessions* 792,561 58.58 + 6.13
Democratic Susan Parker 538,878 39.83
Libertarian Jeff Allen 20,234 1.50
Write-ins 1,350 0.10
1996
Alabama U.S. Senate Republican primary election, 1996
Party Candidate Votes % +%
Republican Jeff Sessions 82,373 37.81
Republican Sid McDonald 47,320 21.72
Republican Charles Woods 24,409 11.20
Republican Frank McRight 21,964 10.08
Republican Walter D. Clark 18,745 8.60
Republican Jimmy Blake 15,385 7.06
Republican Albert Lipscomb 7,672 3.52
Alabama U.S. Senate Republican primary runoff election, 1996
Party Candidate Votes % +%
Republican Jeff Sessions 81,681 59.26
Republican Sid McDonald 56,156 40.74
United States Senate election in Alabama, 1996
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Jeff Sessions 786,436 52.45
Democratic Roger Bedford 681,651 45.46
Libertarian Mark Thornton 21,550 1.44
Natural Law Charles R. Hebner 9,123 0.61
Write-ins Write-ins 633 0.04

1994

Alabama Attorney General election, 1994
Party Candidate Votes % +%
Republican Jeff Sessions 667,010 56.87
Democrat Jimmy Evans* 505,137 43.07
Write-ins Write-ins 660 0.00

References

  1. ↑ "SESSIONS, Jefferson Beauregard III (Jeff) - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ Battle, Robert. "Ancestry of Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III". Rootsweb. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  3. ↑ Jeff Sessions, U.S. Senator Geni.com.
  4. ↑ York, Byron (May 31, 2009). "The Vindication of Jeff Sessions". Washington Examiner. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  5. ↑ Queenie, Wong (July 14, 2009). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Jeff Sessions". US News. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Sen. Jeff Sessions" (PDF). CQ's Politics in America: 107th Congress. CQ Press/Sage Publications. 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Key Player: Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. | Online NewsHour". PBS. May 26, 2009. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 "SESSIONS, Jefferson Beauregard III (Jeff)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  9. ↑ Ruble, Joe (November 1, 2016). "Alabama Senator Sessions stumps for Trump in Florida". News 96.5 WDBO.
  10. ↑ De La Cuetara, Ines (July 18, 2016). "Jeff Sessions: Everything You Need to Know". ABC News.
  11. ↑ Lucas, Fred (2016-11-21). "Who Is the New Attorney General Pick, Jeff Sessions?". Newsweek. Retrieved 2016-11-24. Sessions is a Sunday school teacher at the Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile and has been a delegate to the annual Alabama Methodist Conference.
  12. ↑ "U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions to Deliver Faulkner Law's 2015 Commencement Address". Faulkner University. March 2015. Retrieved 2016-11-24. Senator Sessions and his wife Mary Blackshear Sessions (also a native of Alabama) are members of the Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile. He serves as a lay leader and Sunday school teacher there.
  13. ↑ "Donald Trump offers Jeff Sessions attorney general post". CBS News. November 18, 2016.
  14. 1 2 News, A. B. C. (2016-11-18). "What Jeff Sessions Has Said About Race and Civil Rights". ABC News. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  15. ↑ "Alabama Judge Overrules Jury, Sentences a Klansman to Death". New York Times. February 3, 1984. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  16. ↑ Lee, Michelle Ye Hee (28 November 2016). "The facts about the voter fraud case that sank Jeff Sessions's bid for a judgeship". Washington Post. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  17. 1 2 Wildman, Sarah (2002-12-29). "Closed Sessions". New Republic. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  18. ↑ Hemingway, Mark (8 May 2009). "The Court Is in Sessions". National Review. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  19. 1 2 Wildman, Sarah (May 5, 2009). "Jeff Sessions's chequered past". The Guardian.
  20. ↑ Glen Elsasser (March 29, 1986). "Judicial Nomination `In Deep Trouble". Chicago Tribune.
  21. 1 2 Goldman, Sheldon (1999). Picking Federal Judges. Yale University Press. p. 309. ISBN 9780300080735.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Yotk, Byron (28 November 2016). "How Joe Biden twisted the case against Jeff Sessions". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  23. ↑ Mascaro, Lisa (November 18, 2016). "Trump picks Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  24. ↑ "The Arena: - Gerald Hebert Bio". Politico. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  25. 1 2 3 Glover, Scott (November 18, 2016). "Allegations of racism against Sessions: a closer look". CNN. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  26. 1 2 3 Rudin, Ken; National Public Radio (May 5, 2009). "Blog: Specter Helped Defeat Sessions In 1986 Judiciary Vote". Political Junkie. NPR. Retrieved August 4, 2009. (blog)
  27. ↑ Troyan, Mary; Lyman, Brian (November 18, 2016). "Black Belt voter fraud case in Alabama shaped Sen. Jeff Sessions' career". USA TODAY. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Sessions Subordinate: I Thought I'd Be Fired If I Objected To Being Called 'Boy'", Talking Points Memo, May 7, 2009.
  29. ↑ Swaine, Jon; Laughland, Oliver (22 November 2016). "Jeff Sessions accused of retaliation after claims of racism cost him a judgeship". The Guardian.
  30. ↑ Smothers, Ronald (November 8, 1992). "Retaliation Alleged in Black Lawyer's Indictment". New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  31. ↑ Lamothe, Dan (November 9, 2016). "Sen. Jeff Sessions is known for fighting immigration. Now he could lead Trump's Pentagon". Washington Post.
  32. ↑ "Q&A Jeff Sessions: Sessions Says He's Looking For Judicial Restraint". National Journal. Insider Interviews. May 7, 2009. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  33. ↑ Williams, Lena (June 6, 1986). "Senate Panel Hands Reagan First Defeat On Nominee for Judgeship". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  34. 1 2 Kathleen Hunter; Bart Jansen (May 1, 2009). "All Eyes on Grassley for Judiciary Republicans' Post-Specter Shuffle". CQ Politics. Free Republic. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  35. ↑ Kelley, Matt (May 29, 2009). Supreme Court pick Sotomayor under fire for comments, USA Today.
  36. ↑ Williams, Victor (March 1, 2010). ""New Gang of 14" : Applying "Lets Get This Done" to Appointments", Huffington Post.
  37. ↑ Raju, Manu (May 5, 2009). "Specter regrets 'no' vote on Sessions", Politico.
  38. 1 2 Sharp, John (27 November 2016). "From courtrooms to Capitol Hill: The evolution of Jeff Sessions". AL.com. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  39. ↑ Sugrue, Thomas J. (21 November 2016). "Jeff Sessions' Other Civil Rights Problem". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  40. ↑ Thomas Barrabi (November 4, 2014). "Jeff Sessions Wins Alabama Senate Race 2014: Republican Re-Elected In Uncontested Race". International Business Times. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  41. 1 2 Stinson, Jim (July 25, 2014). "Jeff Sessions makes history by being unopposed for U.S. Senate, and re-election campaign is in no hurry". Real-Time News. AL.com. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  42. ↑ Kane, Paul (November 26, 2014). "In chairman fight, Jeff Sessions is battling his perception on immigration debate". Washington Post. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  43. ↑ "Sessions: President's Budget Raises Taxes $1.76 Trillion". weeklystandard.com. March 4, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  44. 1 2 Stanley-Becker, Isaac (July 18, 2016). "In Trump's GOP, Sen. Jeff Sessions rockets from fringe to prime time". Washington Post. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  45. ↑ "Donald Trump Could Do Something Unprecedented In Modern Elections". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  46. ↑ "Donald Trump Selects Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General". The New York Times. November 18, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  47. ↑ "Political Arithmetik: National Journal 2006 Liberal/Conservative Scores". Political Arithmetik. March 5, 2007. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  48. ↑ Weisman, Jonathan (17 June 2013). "Senator Tries to Run Out the Clock on Immigration". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  49. ↑ Fabian, Jordan (4 June 2013). "Sessions Wants to Crush Imm. Reform". ABC News. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  50. ↑ Doyle, Steve (October 1, 2009). "Senate extends E-Verify through Oct. 31". Huntsville Times. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  51. ↑ Bunis, Dena (September 29, 2006). "Border fence bill may race the clock". Orange County Register. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  52. ↑ "Sen. Jeff Sessions says immigration bill has provision that lets Janet Napolitano skip fence". Tampa Bay Times. Politifact. June 27, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  53. ↑ Foley, Brian J. (October 1, 2005). "I Gave My Copy of the Constitution to a Pro-War Veteran", Antiwar.com.
  54. ↑ Ackerman, Spencer; Glenza, Jessica; Smith, David (2016-11-18). "Trump cabinet appointments will 'undo decades of progress', rights activists say". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  55. ↑ "S.77 – HEROES Act of 2005". Library of Congress. January 24, 2005. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  56. ↑ "Congressional Record, August 14, 2005". Sessions.senate.gov. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  57. ↑ "VFW attacks the three Republicans who voted against Senate VA bill". Washington Post. June 13, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  58. ↑ "Obama signs bill reducing cocaine sentencing gap - CNN.com". CNN. 3 August 2010.
  59. ↑ Phillips, Amber (18 November 2016). "10 things to know about Sen. Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump's pick for attorney general". Washington Post.
  60. ↑ "On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1977 to H.R. 2863 (Department of ... -- Senate Vote #249 -- Oct 5, 2005". GovTrack. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  61. 1 2 "S. Rept. 111-373 - Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act" (December 17, 2010). Senate committee report, 111th Congress. Congress.gov. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  62. ↑ "Civil Forfeiture Finds A Champion | Commentary". Roll Call. May 13, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  63. ↑ "Grassley clashes with police association over controversial asset seizures". Washington Post. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  64. ↑ "Jeff Sessions on Tax Reform". Issues2000. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  65. ↑ "The Taxpayer Protection Pledge Signers 112th Congressional List" (PDF). Americans for Tax Reform. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
  66. ↑ "Sessions Receives Four Awards from Tax Reform and Business Groups" (October 6, 2006) [press release]. Sessions.senate.gov. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  67. 1 2 "Members of Congress Honored as Guardians of Small Business by NFIB" (September 23, 2010). NFIB.com. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  68. ↑ "NFIB Guardian of Small Business Awards in Alabama - 110th Congress" (October 15, 2008). NFIB.com. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  69. ↑ "NFIB Endorses Jeff Sessions for U.S. Senate" (May 22, 2014). NFIB.com. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  70. ↑ "U. S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 2nd Session" (vote date March 13, 2008). U.S. Senate. www.senate.gov. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  71. ↑ Jerry Underwood, "Senator Shelby wants auto bailout put in neutral", Birmingham News, November 16, 2008.
  72. ↑ Orndorff, Mary (January 30, 2009). "Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions among GOP senators fighting stimulus package". Birmingham News. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  73. ↑ Dwyer, Devin (September 15, 2011). "Republicans Demand to See Fine Print of Obama's Jobs Plan". ABC News. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  74. ↑ "Senator Demands Explanations From Humanities Endowment". The Chronicle of Higher Education. October 24, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  75. ↑ Caplan-Bricker, Nora (October 24, 2013). "Senator Outraged that National Endowment for the Humanities Funds Study of Humanities". New Republic. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  76. 1 2 "Gay Lesbian, Bisexual Alliance v. Sessions".
  77. ↑ "Gay Lesbian Bisexual Alliance v. Sessions, 917 F. Supp. 1548 (M.D. Ala. 1996)". Justia US Law. January 29, 1996.
  78. ↑ "Congressional Scorecard" (PDF). Human Rights Campaign.
  79. 1 2 "Jeff Sessions – Civil Rights". Issues2000.
  80. ↑ "congress.gov".
  81. ↑ "Senate roll call vote on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010". Senate.gov. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  82. ↑ "Sessions open to a gay-tending justice". Politico.
  83. ↑ Linkins, Jason (May 8, 2009). "Sessions: Gay Supreme Court Nominee "Would Be A Big Concern"". Huffington Post.
  84. ↑ "Obama's DEA Nominee Pledges To Ignore Administration's Medical Marijuana Policy".
  85. ↑ "Jeff Sessions: Marijuana Can't Be Safer Than Alcohol Because 'Lady Gaga Says She's Addicted To It".
  86. ↑ "Senators held a hearing to remind you that 'good people don't smoke marijuana' (yes, really)". Washington Post. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  87. ↑ "NOW – Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) biography". National Organization for Women. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  88. ↑ Alexovich, Ariel (May 4, 2006). "Sessions urges money for AIDS prevention". Tuscaloosa News.
  89. ↑ "On Passage of the Bill (H.R. 3590 as Amended )". U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  90. ↑ "U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote". Senate.gov. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  91. ↑ "Twenty-five Republicans buck Cruz on shutdown". Politico. September 27, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  92. ↑ Phillips, Amber (November 18, 2016). "10 things to know about Sen. Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump's pick for attorney general". Washington Post. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  93. ↑ "Senate Votes on 11-SV054". www.ontheissues.org. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  94. ↑ "Check out Senator Jeff Sessions's Environmental Voting Record". League of Conservation Voters Scorecard. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  95. ↑ Sessions, Jeff (November 27, 2009). "Playing by Reid's rules on filibusters". Washington Post. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  96. ↑ Robert Barnes, Amy Goldstein,Paul Kane, "Nominee Sotomayor at center stage in Senate", San Francisco Chronicle, July 14, 2009
  97. ↑ Steve Padilla, "Sotomayor hearings: Judge is adamant, Sessions is unconvinced", Los Angeles Times, July 15, 2009.
  98. ↑ Hirschfeld Davis, Julie (July 28, 2009). "Judiciary Committee OKs Sotomayor for high court". Associated Press. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  99. ↑ Roll Call Vote on the Nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Senate, August 6, 2009.
  100. ↑ Elena Kagan (October 17, 2007). "Speech to West Point Cadets" (PDF). Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  101. ↑ Bruce Drake (June 27, 2010). "Republicans to Focus on Whether Elena Kagan Would be a Judicial Activist". Politics Daily. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  102. 1 2 Sessions, Jeff (July 20, 2010). "Opposing view on the Supreme Court: A big-government vision". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  103. ↑ Cheney, Catherine; Gerstein, Josh. "Sessions questions Kagan's 'honesty'". POLITICO. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  104. ↑ Hulse, Carl (August 5, 2010). "Senate Confirms Kagan in Partisan Vote". New York Times. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  105. ↑ Koplowitz, Howard (March 16, 2016). "Merrick Garland Alabama reaction: Shelby, Sessions opposed to hearings for Obama's SCOTUS pick". AL.com.
  106. 1 2 Cox, Ramsey (June 30, 2014). "Senate passes bill to protect children from abuse". The Hill. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  107. ↑ Center for Responsible Politics, accessed May 16, 2010, Jeff Sessions: Campaign Finance/Money – Summary – Senate Career
  108. ↑ Center for Responsible Politics, accessed May 16, 2010, Jeff Sessions: Campaign Finance/Money – Top Donors – Senator 2010
  109. 1 2 "Committee Assignments: Standing Committees" (PDF).
  110. ↑ "Certified General Election Results" (PDF). Alabama Secretary of State. Retrieved January 7, 2015.

Sources

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.

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Legal offices
Preceded by
Jimmy Evans		 Attorney General of Alabama
1995–1997 		Succeeded by
Bill Pryor
Party political offices
Preceded by
Bill Cabaniss		 Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Alabama
(Class 2)
1996, 2002, 2008, 2014 		Most recent
United States Senate
Preceded by
Howell Heflin		 U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Alabama
1997–present
Served alongside: Richard Shelby		 Incumbent
United States order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Jack Reed		 United States Senators by seniority
18th 		Succeeded by
Susan Collins
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