Meet Sen. Katie Britt: The 42-year-old Alabama Republican giving the GOP response to Biden's State of the Union
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- Sen. Katie Britt will deliver the GOP's official response to the 2023 State of the Union.
- Britt is expected to lean into the generational contrast she has with Joe Biden.
- At just 42, Britt is viewed as a rising star in Republican politics.
Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, the youngest Republican woman to ever be elected to the US Senate, will give the GOP's official response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union on Thursday night.
Britt, who turned 42 a little over a month ago, is just barely into her first term in the chamber. Her appearance will only further her status as a rising star in the party. She is expected to lean into the generational contrast she has with the president, a theme she also used successfully during 2022 Senate campaign.
While delivering the State of the Union response is considered a thankless task, then-Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Marco Rubio, and Sen. Rand Paul all delivered their respective responses before later running for the Republican presidential nomination. Then-Rep. Paul Ryan delivered the GOP's 2011 response and less than two years later was tapped to be then-former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's running mate. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was Trump's second White House press secretary, delivered the 2023 response and is now receiving some speculation that she might join Trump on the ticket this November.
There are potential pitfalls with the assignment. Unlike the president, most responses are not delivered in front of live crowds that can interrupt a speech for rousing applause. Responses are also far shorter than the lengthy State of the Union addresses.
Rubio and then-Rep. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III found out the hard way that a speaker can go viral for just about anything other than what they actually say.
Here's a look at Britt's rapid rise and what she may touch on Thursday night.
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Britt's parents owned a series of small businesses, including a hardware store and a dance studio, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
In 1999, the future-senator, then Katie Boyd, competed in Girls State and was elected governor. Nationwide the contest is known as a proving ground for future leaders, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is also an alum of the program. Boyd went on to attend the University of Alabama, where she was president of the student government association.
While in Tuscaloosa, Britt met her future husband, Wesley Britt, who played offensive line for the Crimson Tide. Katie Britt told AL.com in 2021 that the pair were "best friends" for seven years before dating a few years after they both graduated. Britt, who won multiple accolades for his play, including being named an All-American, was drafted in 2005 by the San Diego Chargers in the fifth round. He briefly played for New England Patriots.
They were married in 2008 and now share two children.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Right out of college, Britt set the foundation for her future career by joining then-Sen. Richard Shelby's office.
A long-time fixture on the Hill, Shelby was first elected to the Senate in 1986 as a Democrat before switching parties, a common occurrence for many southern Republicans who came of age when the GOP was just starting to amass power in the region. Shelby built a reputation as a conservative dealmaker, rising to lead the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.
Britt began as his deputy press secretary. She left the Hill to pursue her law degree and to work for firms in the state before returning to his staff in 2016. At that time, she had risen to become Shelby's chief of staff.
Her relationship with Shelby proved vital to helping her win the difficult Republican primary to replace him.
Britt left Shelby's office for a final time in 2018 when she was elected as head of the Business Council of Alabama. She was the first woman to lead the group, according to AL.com. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Britt led a campaign to keep the state's small businesses open and to resist any additional shutdowns as a result of health concerns. In June 2021, Britt resigned from the group and announced her Senate campaign.
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Her campaign was anything but easy. Then-Rep. Mo Brooks, a loyal Trump ally, was considered the favorite. Trump had already endorsed him before Britt even announced. Despite her extensive political experience, Britt had never run for office before. Trump derisively called her Shelby's "assistant." But Brook's candidacy worried more-establishment-minded Republicans who didn't want a repeat of Roy Moore's disastrous candidacy that led to Doug Jones, a Democrat, pulling off a monumental upset in a 2017 special election.
Britt turned things around quickly. Within a few months of announcing, she was outraising Brooks. Brooks also began to grate on some in Trump's orbit, including when he was booed at an August 2021 rally for suggesting that Trump fans should put concerns about the 2020 election behind them. During her candidacy, Britt leaned into the generational contrast, arguing that the state was eager for "new blood." She portrayed herself as a "Mama on a mission."
In contrast, Brooks' candidacy continued to languish. In March 2022, Trump dealt him a devastating blow by withdrawing his support, a virtually unprecedented action for the former president. Shelby also pledged to spend as much as $6 million from his campaign account to help Britt.
Brooks and Britt were later forced into a June 2022 runoff. Britt emerged victorious. She later made easy work of her general election opponent.
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Britt was one of five new GOP freshmen senators to join the chamber in 2023. Their class was expected to carry the Republican Party back to the majority, but Democrats managed to expand their razor-thin margins in the 2022 midterms.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wasted little time in helping Britt gain a foothold. He quickly tapped her to join his leadership team as an informal advisor, according to the Hill. Britt stood out from some of her fellow Republican newcomers, including Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, in expressing support for McConnell's leadership.
Like her former boss, Britt has built relationships with some Democrats, including Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. She has maintained a staunchly conservative voting record, even voting against a homeland security spending bill she helped write, per the Associated Press.
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