Artur Davis

Artur Davis

Artur Genestre Davis (born October 9, 1967) is an American attorney and former politician. Davis served in the United States House of Representatives representing Alabama's 7th congressional district from 2003 to 2011. He was also a candidate for governor of Alabama in the 2010 Democratic Gubernatorial Primary. He changed his party affiliation from the Democratic to the Republican Party in 2012.

Davis was an early supporter of Barack Obama's 2008 bid for the presidency, and one of the national co-chairs for Obama's 2008 campaign. Known for his oratorical skills, Davis made one of the nominating speeches for Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. While serving on the House Ways and Means Committee, Davis was the first African American member of Congress to advocate that Committee Chairman Charles Rangel surrender his gavel in the wake of ethics charges. In 2009 and 2010 Davis voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus to do so.

Beginning in 2009, Davis sought to become Alabama's first African American governor. In attempting to appeal to a broader electorate, he lost the support of black voters by opposing national health care reform and failing to meet with certain black political groups. He ran in the 2010 Democratic Gubernatorial Primary, but lost by a large margin to Ron Sparks, a more liberal Democrat. Shortly after, Davis announced he would be not be seeking another term in Congress, but would instead be returning to the practice of law. In May 2012, he confirmed that he was considering running for Congress as a Republican. A 1990s honors graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School, in 2012 Davis became a visiting fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics. He also began writing a column for the conservative National Review. Now a resident of Virginia, Davis spoke at the 2012 Republican National Convention in support of the Republican nominee for President, Mitt Romney.