Editor’s note: Endorsements for the June 1 primaries continue through this week.

Artur Davis’ bid for the governor’s office leaves some big shoes to fill in Congress. Davis has been kind to the Black Belt. He has worked hard with leadership here on many issues.

On June 1 the voters of Congressional District 7 have the opportunity to elect someone from the Black Belt to represent their interests in Washington. That person is Terri Sewell.

Most people who have grown up in Selma, Dallas County and the surrounding area know Sewell. She made her mark here as a student in high school, earning honor after honor in academics.

Her early achievements are no surprise. Sewell’s parents, Andrew and Nancy, are stalwarts of the community.

Terri Sewell graduated with honors from Princeton University, forging the bonds needed now to represent her home region. A lifelong Democrat, Sewell worked in the summer for the 7th District congressmen then-Democrat Richard Shelby, who now is a Republican U.S. senator from Alabama.

From Princeton, Sewell went to Harvard Law School, where she distinguished herself as editor of the Civil Rights Civil Liberties Law Review.

In all this time she did not forget where she was from. She continued to forge friendships and network with other future leaders of the nation, including first lady Michelle Obama.

Sewell began her career as a judicial law clerk to then-Chief U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon. Then she worked for the prestigious New York Law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell. But home beckoned her.

Her ties to this region and her ability to walk in the world of those groomed for national leadership make Terri Sewell a solid choice to represent the 7th Congressional District in Washington.

She knows the needs of the region and she has the intellectual capacity to deal rationally with the Washington elite.

She is one of us. The Selma Times-Journal endorses Terri Sewell as its candidate on the June 1 primary ballot.