Джордж Кеннет Баттерфилд: Американ саяхатшысы және құқық қорғаушысы

American politician (born 1947)

George Kenneth Butterfield Jr. (born April 27, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U. S. representative for North Carolina's 1st congressional district from 2004 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected in a special election after the resignation of Frank Ballance. His district was in the state's northeastern corner, which included all or parts of 19 counties. A longtime advocate of civil rights, Butterfield was appointed an associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court by Governor Mike Easley in 2001, retaining the position until 2003. He was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and served as its chair from 2015 to 2017. In November 2021, Butterfield announced that he would not run for re election in 2022. On December 30, 2022, Butterfield resigned from his position to take up a lobbying position.

G. K. Butterfield was born and raised in the then segregated city of Wilson, North Carolina. Butterfield came from a prominent black family with a long history in North Carolina. Both of Butterfield's parents were mixed race Americans. His maternal grandfather, Rev Fred Davis, was a child of a former slave (Judah Davis) and a white man (Joe Davis). His mother, Addie, taught elementary school for 48 years in some of North Carolina's poorest communities. She was keenly focused on ensuring that her students learned to read. Butterfield's father, G. K. Butterfield Sr., was an immigrant from Bermuda. As a graduate of Meharry Medical College, he practiced dentistry for 50 years in the poor, segregated community of East Wilson. In the late 1940s, he helped found the Wilson Branch of the NAACP in order to register black voters in the county. In 1953, he became the first African American elected to the city council in Wilson and the first black elected official in eastern North Carolina since Reconstruction. and was honorably discharged, and he returned to NCCU to complete his undergraduate degree. He grew up in racially segregated North Carolina, living in "East Wilson", where he attended black schools. He spent his childhood as a firsthand witness to the disenfranchisement of his black community originating as part of a targeted campaign to remove his father from the Board of Aldermen.

After completing law school, Butterfield began a 14 year legal career as a civil rights attorney, practicing across eastern North Carolina. During this time, he developed his reputation, winning several voting rights cases. to fill the seat of Frank Ballance, who had resigned after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering. He assumed office on July 21, 2004.

Butterfield was elected to Congress in a special election on July 20, 2004, to fill the unexpired term of Representative Frank Ballance, who had resigned for health reasons. He defeated Republican nominee Greg Dority and Libertarian Party nominee Tom Eisenmenger. Butterfield was sworn into office on July 21, 2004. On July 20, 2004, Butterfield won the Democratic primary, entitling him to run in the November general election. Running against Dority again, he won his first full term with 64% of the popular vote.

Butterfield was unopposed for reelection in 2006.

Butterfield defeated Dean Stephens with 70.28% of the vote.

Butterfield defeated Republican nominee Ashley Woolard with 59.31% of the vote.

Butterfield defeated Republican Pete DiLauro with 75.32% of the vote.

Butterfield defeated Republican Arthur Rich with 73.38% of the vote.

Butterfield defeated Republican H. Powell Dew Jr. with 68.62% of the vote.

Butterfield defeated Republican Roger W. Allison with 69.85% of the vote.

Butterfield defeated Republican Sandy Smith with 54.18% of the vote.

Butterfield is married to Dr. Sylvia Chester Butterfield. He and his former wife, Jean Farmer Butterfield (1971–1991), are the parents of Valeisha Butterfield Jones and Jenetta Lenai Butterfield. He is also the father of Tunya Butterfield Smith. His four grandsons are Dahntay Jones Jr., Dillon Jones, Chase Smith, and Gavin Smith. Butterfield is a lifelong member of Jackson Chapel First Missionary Baptist Church in Wilson, North Carolina, where he has served as Trustee and Chairman of the Finance Ministry. He also serves on the Board of Visitors for the North Carolina Central University School of Law and as a Trustee of Gallaudet University. In 2017, the City of Greenville named its new transit center, the G. K. Butterfield Transportation Center, in his honor.