Political career
From 1967 to 1970 Stewart was a United States magistrate judge in the Northern District of Alabama. [3] [4] In 1970,he was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives and served in that position until 1974,when he was elected to the Alabama State Senate from the 20th district,where he served until 1978. [2] [3] In the state legislature he developed a reputation for being knowledgeable and aggressive. Among the initiatives he pursued was an effort to reform the Alabama Public Service Commission. [2]
1978 campaign
Stewart was elected as a Democrat to fill the unexpired U.S. Senate term of James B. Allen,who died in office,and whose seat was held in the interim by Allen's widow,Maryon Pittman Allen. After he defeated Mrs. Allen in the primary,Stewart faced the Republican nominee,former Congressman James D. Martin,who like James Allen was a native of Gadsden. Mrs. Allen had called Stewart "a flaming liberal",and her brother,James Pittman,thereafter formed the group "Conservative Democrats for Martin." Stewart specifically challenged Martin's record when he had served a term in the House from 1965 to 1967. Martin challenged Stewart's commitment to the right-to-work provision of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. In his campaign against Stewart,Martin made negative allusions to Stewart's disclosure that in 1958,when he was eighteen,he had undergone treatment for a nervous breakdown. [5] Stewart defeated Martin in the election,401,852 (55%) to 316,170 (43%). [6]
U.S. Senate
Stewart took office on November 8,1978. [3] In his first year as a U.S. senator,he compiled a near-perfect attendance record,introduced twelve bills and was co-sponsor of eighty others. Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd appointed him to a deputy whip position,making him the only freshman Senator to serve in party leadership in the 96th Congress. [2]
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