Katie Britt
Katie Boyd Britt is an American attorney and former political staffer running for the U.S. Senate from Alabama in 2022. She was the twice-national Cheerleader of the Year and student body president at the University of Alabama. Britt served as the president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama and chief of staff for Alabama U.S. Senator Richard Shelby.
She is married to Wesley Britt, a former lineman for the New England Patriots. Former President Trump endorsed her Senate primary opponent and lashed out at Britt, to which she replied that his statement “doesn’t scare me.” Britt leads her opponents in fundraising and leads the polls of likely Republican primary voters.
Early life and education
Katie Britt was born and raised in Enterprise, Alabama. She was the oldest of four girls. Her parents were business owners. Her father owned a hardwood store. Her mother owned a dance studio.[1]
She attended Hillcrest Elementary School and then Enterprise High School.[2]
During high school, she danced and was on the cheerleading squad, where she won the national Cheerleader of the Year from the World Cheerleading Association two years in a row.[2] She also won Alabama’s Junior Miss competition and was awarded the runner-up at the national level.[1]
Britt earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama. She double majored in economics and political science and earned a minor in the Blount Undergraduate Initiative.[3] She was elected student body president, serving from 2003-2004.[4] She also served as the student representative to the university’s Board of Trustees.[5][3]
In her senior year of high school, she was selected to attend Girls State, where she was elected Alabama Girls State Governor by her peers.[3]
In college, she won Coffee County Junior Miss in 2000. In 2001, she was the first runner-up to America’s Junior Miss.[3]
She was active across campus, serving as president of her sorority, Chi Omega. She was a member of Anderson Society, the XXXI Women’s Honorary, Blackburn Institute, Mortar Board, Blue Key, Omicron Delta Kappa, the Other Club, Capstone Men and Women (2001-03) Human Relations Council, and the Forty Year Planning Committee.[4]
During college, Britt met and fell in love with Wesley Britt, an offensive lineman at Alabama. Wesley was a first team All-SEC and third-team AP All American while playing at Alabama.[5]
When she graduated, she was replaced in the student government association by Miss UA 2004, a young woman also named Katie Boyd.[4]
Career
Katie Britt is most known for her position as the president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama following her tenure as chief of staff for Alabama U.S. Senator Richard Shelby.[2][6]
After she graduated from Alabama, Shelby hired her as his deputy press secretary. By 2005, she was his press secretary, and became the youngest press secretary for a U.S. Senator in Congress.[3][2]
After working for Shelby, she moved back to Alabama to work as special assistant to the President of the University of Alabama, who was Robert Witt at the time.[5]
In 2008, her husband Wesley Britt was drafted by the NFL, and Katie and Wesley moved to the east coast where he played for the New England Patriots.[2]
After living in New England, the Britts moved back to Alabama, and Katie went on to attend the University of Alabama School of Law.[5][2]
Tragedy struck Brit and her family on April 27, 2011. Britt was studying for law school finals when a tornado struck Alabama, killing 238 people. Britt’s family home was completely destroyed. “And she started studying for her law school finals the next day, though all her notes were blown away,” a family friend said.[1]
After graduation, she practiced law at the firm Johnston Barton Proctor & Rose LLP in Birmingham, then later at Butler Snow LLP in both Birmingham and Montgomery. She specialized in general corporate law and mergers and acquisitions. She also opened the firm’s first government affairs practice.[7]
In 2015, she left the firm to work on Shelby’s re-election campaign, serving as his deputy campaign manager and communications director. When Shelby was re-elected to another term in 2016, he hired her as his chief of staff.[5][2]
In December 2018, the Business Council of Alabama (BCA), a non-partisan U.S. Chamber of Commerce state affiliate association representing Alabama’s business community, announced that it hired Britt to be their next president and CEO.[8] BCA was founded in 1985 when the Alabama Chamber of Commerce and the Associated Industries of Alabama merged.[7]
Britt was hired in the wake of frustration by the Alabama business community in the current BCA president, Bill Canary. Major companies including Alabama Power, Regions Bank, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama had left the BCA but returned under Britt’s leadership.[8]
When Britt took over at BCA, it had just posted a loss of over $567,000 in 2018. In 2019, Britt turned it around from a projected deficit of $635,000 to a surplus of $447,000. She was awarded a 2019 Woman of Impact by Yellowhammer News.[9] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Britt helped businesses with the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).[1]
In fall 2020, Britt joined the board of trustees at Stillman College, a historically black college and university (HBCU) in Tuscaloosa.[10]
2022 U.S. Senate race
In her race for Alabama U.S. Senator, Britt has the backing and endorsement of outgoing Senator Richard Shelby. Less than a month after declaring her candidacy, she raised $2.2 million. Her main opponent in the Republican primary, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, had raised $824,000 by comparison.[1][11]
Former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Brooks in the race, lashed out at Britt. He called her “Shelby’s assistant” and said, “She is not in any way qualified and is certainly not what our country needs or not what Alabama wants.” In reply, Britt posted a video to Twitter saying that Trump’s statement “doesn’t scare me” and “fighting for Christian conservative values and putting Alabama first, that’s what people want.”[1]
As a candidate, she supports restricting abortion, the 2nd Amendment, and enforcing immigration laws. She also wants to improve mental health treatment and expand access to broadband internet in Alabama. She also spoke out and urged the state’s legislature to reject President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates on businesses.[1][12]
Her campaign has been endorsed by the Alabama Retail Association, Home Builders Association of Alabama, and the Alabama Farmers Federation FarmPAC.[13]
By October 2021, Britt had raised a total of $3.76 million and held a campaign balance of $3.3 million.[14]
Britt and Brooks were tied in a November 2021 Republican primary, with Britt at 31% of likely Republican primary voters and Brooks at 30%.[15] Neither received a majority of the votes in the Republican primary itself, especially after Trump withdrew his endorsement of Brooks, leading to a runoff election.[16]
The Club for Growth, a Washington super PAC, released negative ads against Britt in favor of Brooks in the fall of 2021.[17]
Personal life
Katie Britt resides in Montgomery, Alabama,[18] with her husband and their two children.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Lyman, Brian. "Katie Boyd Britt wants to solve the state's problems, but is that what Alabama wants?". The Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Blowers, Justin. "Current senator chief of staff is former EHS Wildcat". The Southeast Sun. Retrieved 2021-11-18. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Morrison, Lindsay. "Enterprise native successful in U.S. capital". The Southeast Sun. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Katie Boyd — At UA There's Just Something About that Name – University of Alabama News | The University of Alabama". Retrieved 2021-11-18.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 "Meet Katie Britt". Katie Britt for Senate. Archived from the original on 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2021-11-18. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Britt, Bill. "Britt Puts Another Crack in the Glass Ceiling as Chief of Staff". Alabama Political Reporter. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Shelby Chief of Staff Departs to Lead Business Council of Alabama". United States Senator Richard Shelby. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Katie Britt chosen as first woman to lead BCA". Alabama.com. 2018-12-07. Retrieved 2021-11-18. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Hollis, Erin Brown. "Katie Boyd Britt is a 2019 Woman of Impact". Yellowhammer News. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- ↑ "Terry Saban, Katie Boyd Britt named trustees of Stillman College". Yellowhammer News. 2020-10-09. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
- ↑ "Mo Brooks, as he promised, has fallen behind Katie Britt in fundraising in Alabama Senate race". Alabama.com. 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2021-11-18. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Katie Britt urges state lawmakers take action against Biden vaccine mandates". Yellowhammer News. 2021-11-04. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
- ↑ Staff (2021-11-17). "Alabama Retail Association endorses Katie Britt for U.S. Senate". Alabama Political Reporter. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
- ↑ Press, The Associated (2021-10-18). "Katie Britt takes commanding fundraising lead over Mo Brooks in Alabama Senate race". Alabama.com. Retrieved 2021-11-18. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Katie Britt tied with Trump-endorsed Mo Brooks in Alabama Senate primary: Poll". Washington Examiner. 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
- ↑ Merican, Dan (May 25, 2022). "Katie Britt and Mo Brooks will advance to Republican Senate runoff in Alabama, CNN projects". CNN. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
- ↑ Britt, Bill (2021-11-26). "Pro-Brooks super PAC goes negative". Alabama Political Reporter. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
- ↑ "Katie Boyd Britt". U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
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