Before entering politics, she worked at the law firm of Copeland, Franco.[8]
Montgomery City Council
Elections
Roby was elected to the Montgomery City Council in 2003, defeating a total of five opponents, and winning 54.88% of the votes cast in her district.[9][10]
Tenure
In her first term on the council, Roby joined three other council members and then mayor Bobby Bright in opposing the building of a shopping mall in East Montgomery.[11] She also opposed privatizing the disposal of household garbage,[12] supported a 10 cent cigarette tax increase,[13] and argued for a state sales tax holiday.[14]
Roby challenged incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman and former Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright in Alabama's 2nd congressional district. In the four-candidate Republican primary, Roby ranked first with 49% of the vote, narrowly missing the 50% threshold needed to win the nomination and avoid a run-off. Rick Barber ranked second with 29% of the vote.[15] In the run-off election, Roby defeated him 60–40%.[16]
Martha Roby speaking at a GOP press conference in 2011
The 2010 race was one of the most expensive races in the district's history.[17] Roby spent a total of $1,240,275.64 on her 2010 election. Most of her funds came from large individual contributions. Her top contributor was Jim Wilson and Associates, a Montgomery real estate developer, who contributed $25,300.[18] Leadership PACs contributed a total of $106,010.[17]
Roby defeated Bright by 51–49%, a difference of 4,780 votes. Roby won 7 of the district's 16 counties: Autauga, Elmore, Covington, Coffee, Geneva, Dale, and Houston Counties. Bright won Montgomery County with 59% of the vote.[19]
In her run for re-election to her seat, she received the endorsements of 36 mayors in Alabama,[20] the Alabama Farmers Federation,[21] and Susan B. Anthony List.[22]
The 2nd district had long been a conservative district, and Roby won a second term, defeating Democrat Therese Ford 64–36%. She won 11 of the district's 15 counties. She lost her home county of Montgomery by a margin of 53–47%.[23][24]
On March 1, 2016, Roby won the Republican primary with 64% of the vote.[26] She won the general election with 48.8% of the vote. Democrat Nathan Mathis received 40.5% of the vote and write-in candidates received 10.7% of the vote.[27]
Roby defeated Bobby Bright, the incumbent she first defeated in 2010 and who had since switched to the Republican Party, in the Republican primary and subsequent run-off. She received 68% of the vote in the run-off. In the general election, she defeated Democratic nominee Tabitha Isner with 61.4% of the vote.
Martha Roby presenting the Weekly Republican Address in 2013.
In December 2011, Roby voted in support of H.R. 10, the "Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act," which would have required congressional approval for any "major regulations" issued by the executive branch but, unlike the 1996 Congressional Review Act, would not require the president's signature or override of a probable presidential veto.[28]
Roby voted in September 2013 to cut $39 billion from the food stamp program. In 2011, approximately 41,000 households in Roby's congressional district received food stamps.[29]
In February 2017, she voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request 10 years of Trump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee in a closed session.[30] In 2017, Roby also co-sponsored a bipartisan bill to require sexual harassment and anti-discrimination training for all House members, employees, staff and unpaid personnel. The bill passed the House. She does not support the ability for lawmakers to use tax dollars to settle sexual harassment claims.[31]
In July 2019, Roby said she would retire from Congress at the end of her term.[5] In December 2019, Roby voted to oppose the first impeachment of Donald Trump in her position on the House Judiciary Committee. During the vote, Roby's son, George, sat on her lap. Regarding impeachment, Roby said that Americans "should feel cheated" and that the Democrats conducted "an incomplete and inadequate pursuit of the truth."[33]
Political positions
As of January 2019, Roby has voted with her party in 92.4% of votes so far in the 116th United States Congress and voted in line with President Trump's position in 93.8% of the votes.[34][35] She has a 58% rating, regarding her conservative votes, from Heritage Action.[36]
Vote Smart, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States, "researched presidential and congressional candidates' public records to determine candidates' likely responses on certain key issues." According to Vote Smart's 2016 analysis, Roby generally supports abortion restrictions, opposes an income tax increase, opposes federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth, supports lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth, opposes requiring states to adopt federal education standards, supports building the Keystone Pipeline, supports government funding for the development of renewable energy, opposes the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, opposes gun-control legislation, supports repealing the Affordable Care Act, supports requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship, opposes same-sex marriage,[37] supports increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support, and opposes allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts.[38]
Abortion
Martha Roby speaking at the 2011 March for Life Rally in Washington, D.C.
During the 2010 election, Roby promised to reduce government spending and that she would support a Balanced Budget Agreement, support a line-item veto, support ending the current earmark process, oppose government bailouts and takeovers of private companies, and support the requirement of budgets to be submitted for Social Security and Medicare.[43]
When the Obama administration issued guidance in 2016 that transgender students in public schools be allowed to choose which bathrooms to use, Roby said the administration had "lost their minds."[48] The Human Rights Campaign gives Roby a rating of zero for her lack of support for pro-LGBTQ rights policies.[49]
During her time in the Alabama legislature, Roby suggested the possibility of impeachment for then federal judge Mark Fuller, who was charged and pleaded guilty for spousal abuse. Roby voted to oppose the Violence Against Women Act because she says portions of the law are unconstitutional. These portions include the ability for non-Native Americans to prosecute Native Americans in tribal court for domestic violence charges. She says "It takes away potential due process for people who are not a member of the tribe."[50]
Defense
Roby pledged to maintain defense spending at least 4% of Gross Domestic Product and that she would support missile defense programs in 2010.[43]
When asked if there was one federal department or agency that she could eliminate, she said she would abolish the Department of Education but keep federal grants to states intact.[43] Roby supports voluntary prayer in all schools.[54]
As of 2019, Roby has a rating of 9 out of 100 by the Humane Society of the United States's Legislative Fund for her voting record on animal protection issues.[57]
Governance
During the 2010 election, Roby said she would vote to require that all legislation be posted online for 72 hours before debate and require that every piece of legislation begin with an explanation of its constitutionality.[43]
She also opposes federal funding being used to fund research using human embryos.[59]
During Roby's 2010 campaign, she promised to support ending pre-existing conditions as exclusion from receiving health insurance benefits and to vote to defund health care reform.[43] In 2010, Roby expressed support for Paul Ryan's "Roadmap for America's Future", which would privatize portions of Medicare. She has stated publicly that she opposes privatization of Medicare and Social Security.[60]
Roby opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants.[43] She supports Trump's efforts to build a border wall.[65]
Social security
In 2013, Roby received a score of 0% from the Alliance for Retired Americans for supporting privatization and market-based reforms.[66] She opposes efforts to raise the retirement age for social security, to reduce in Social Security benefits and to increase in payroll taxes for Social Security benefits.[43]
"I'm horrified and heartbroken by the terrorist attack in Orlando. I'm praying for the victims and their families, and I ask others to send prayers of comfort and healing for everyone affected. This is the worst terrorist attack on American soil since September 11, 2001. Though reports on the killer's ties to specific groups still coming in, we must fully dispel the notion that our struggle against radical Islamic terrorism is solely an overseas fight. That fight is here in the Homeland, and all American leaders must come to grips with it."[72]
Donald Trump
In October 2016, Roby withdrew her presidential endorsement of Donald Trump, saying, "Donald Trump's behavior makes him unacceptable as a candidate for president, and I won't vote for him".[73][74] Following Trump's election, Roby became more supportive of him and attempted to make amends, subsequently gaining his endorsement for her reelection campaign.[75][76] She earned Trump's endorsement in the primary reportedly after House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy encouraged Trump to endorse her.[77]
In October 2019, Roby voted for a resolution condemning Trump for removing U.S. military forces from Syria, which had protected greatly endangered Kurdish civilians, as well as fighters and their military resistance to the Islamic State in Syria (ISIS), enabling attacks upon them by Turkish forces and the Assad government in Syria.[78] She voted in opposition of the impeachment of Trump, saying "the bar to impeach a sitting president of the United States has not been met."[33]
^Isenstadt, Alex (June 22, 2018). "Trump endorses Roby despite past disloyalty". Politico. Following a March 2017 Oval Office meeting with Trump, Roby posted an online video in which she recalled: 'I sat in the Oval Office and looked the President in the eye and told him I was with him.'
