George Kenneth (G.K.) Butterfield

Congressman G.K. Butterfield represented North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District from 2004 to 2023 (108th-117th Congresses). Congressman Butterfield served on the Committee on Energy and Commerce where he sat on Technology, Energy, and Health subcommittees. He also served as ranking member of the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee and as a member on both the Committee on House Administration and the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library. Additional committee service included assignments to the Small Business, Agriculture, Armed Services, Standards of Official Conduct, and House Administration committees. For the 117th Congress, Congressman Butterfield was elevated to replace the late-Congressman John Lewis as a senior chief deputy whip working with the Democratic leadership to help formulate policy and rally support for the Caucus’ legislative priorities on the House Floor. Butterfield was the first Democrat from North Carolina to serve in this role. Butterfield served on the committee that was a key architect of the Affordable Care Act and was an outspoken opponent of any attempts to repeal the law. Butterfield championed affordable health care, education, investments in rural communities, veterans, renewable energies, and federal programs that support low-income and middle-class Americans. Before his tenure in Congress, Butterfield was a civil rights attorney and Superior Court Judge in North Carolina. Butterfield, a U.S. Army veteran, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology from North Carolina Central University (NCCU) and received a Juris Doctor degree from the NCCU School of Law.