David Scott (Georgia politician)


David Albert Scott is the U.S. Representative for, serving since 2003. The district includes the southern fourth of Atlanta, as well as several of its suburbs to the south and west. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life and education

Scott was born in Aynor, South Carolina and attended high school in Daytona Beach, Florida. He received a bachelor's degree in finance from Florida A&M University, and a master's degree in business from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Scott is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Georgia Legislature

Scott served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1974 to 1982 and in the Georgia State Senate from 1982 to 2002.

U.S. House of Representatives

When Georgia picked up an additional district as a result of the 2000 census, Scott entered a five-way Democratic primary for the seat, winning with 53.8 percent of the vote. He then defeated Republican Clay Cox in the general election with 59 percent of the vote. He has never faced another contest even that close, and has been reelected eight times, even running unopposed in 2004, 2014 and 2016.
During his first two terms, Scott represented a district that twisted and wound its way through parts of nine counties and was barely contiguous in some areas. In a mid-decade redistricting held after the 2004 elections, the district was redrawn to be somewhat more compact, with its population centered in Clayton, Douglas and Fulton counties. Redistricting after the 2010 census gave the district all of Douglas County and pushed it further into Clayton.

Committee assignments

Scott is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, the New Democrat Coalition, the Congressional Black Caucus and the U.S.-Japan Caucus.
Scott was the lead sponsor on the following legislation:
Scott was ranked as the 18th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy that ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship.

Online gambling

Scott is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act and voted for H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. In 2008, he opposed H.R. 5767, the Payment Systems Protection Act.

Affordable Care Act

Scott voted for the Affordable Care Act. On August 6, 2009, Scott was confronted by a constituent who was also a local doctor. The doctor, who later appeared in subsequent debates with his opposition candidate, asked Scott why he was going to vote for a health care plan similar to the plan implemented in Massachusetts and if he supported a government-provided health care insurance option. Scott questioned whether or not the doctor was a resident of Scott's district, although the local TV station WXIA-TV's news department confirmed that the doctor did live and work in Scott's district. Scott also noted that Hill had not called Scott's office for setting up a meeting concerning health care but this has not been verified.

Fiscal policy

Although Scott voted against the first version of the 2008 bailout, he backed the final version "after being assured the legislation would aid homeowners facing foreclosures. Scott crafted an added provision dedicating $14 billion to aid those homeowners."

Same-sex marriage

Scott supported two failed pieces of legislation in 2004 and 2006 that aimed to establish a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
However, in May 2013 thinkprogress.org reported receiving an email from a spokesman of Scott saying, "Congressman Scott fully supports marriage equality." The Human Rights Campaign's profile of Scott also contains this sentence as his statement under "position on marriage equality".

Iran deal

Scott has announced his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran, saying that “It’s a good deal for Iran, for Russia, China and probably Hezbollah, but is it not, definitely not a good deal for Israel or for the United States or our allies – especially Jordan and Saudi Arabia..."

Yemeni civil war

Scott was one of five house Democrats who voted for the US to continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia and to support the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen. This vote was cast the day after the Senate, on December 13th, 2018, for the first time in the 45 years after the passage of the War Powers Resolution in 1973, came together and used congressional authority given by federal law to end military action.

Personal life

Scott's brother-in-law is Baseball Hall of Fame member Hank Aaron.
In 1978, Scott founded Dayn-Mark Advertising, which places billboards and other forms of advertising in the Atlanta area. Scott's wife, Alfredia, now heads the business. In May 2007, it was reported that the business owes more than $150,000 in back taxes and penalties.
Scott's campaigns have paid the company more than $500,000 over the eight years totalling from 2002 until current date - for office rent, printing, T-shirts, and other services. He has also paid his wife, two daughters, and son-in-law tens of thousands of dollars for campaign work such as fund raising and canvassing. In 2007, Scott was named one of the 25 most corrupt members of Congress by the political watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Scott allegedly received death threats over his support of the Affordable Care Act. A swastika was found spray painted on a sign outside of his congressional office in his congressional district.