Myrick, Sue, 1941-

Sue Wilkins Myrick (born August 1, 1941) is a retired American politician. A member of the Republican Party, she served as the U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 9th congressional district from 1995 to 2013. She is a member of the Republican Party. She was the first Republican woman to represent North Carolina in Congress.

Born Suellen Wilkins in Tiffin, Ohio, she graduated from Port Clinton High School in Port Clinton, Ohio before attending Heidelberg College for two years. Myrick married broadcaster Jim Forest, raised two sons, Daniel and Gregory, and was later divorced. Employed in a variety of jobs, she was an executive secretary for the Alliance, Ohio, mayor’s office, worked for the Ohio court of juvenile and domestic relations, and became a television personality in Harrisonburg, Virginia. In the early 1970s, she and her family relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, where she switched careers, eventually running her own advertising companies. In 1977 she married William Edward (Ed) Myrick, who brought three of his own children to the marriage.

Myrick entered politics after she and her husband had a dispute with the Charlotte city council over a proposed property purchase. The experience convinced Myrick that government played a more immediate part in her life than she had previously believed. In 1983 she won a seat on the city council as an at-large member, serving until 1985 when she made an unsuccessful bid to become Charlotte’s mayor. Two years later, however, she defeated the incumbent—Charlotte’s first African-American mayor, Harvey Gantt—to become the city’s first female mayor. After losing the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate in 1992, Myrick was elected to the U.S. House two years later.

Myrick’s fight to lower taxes and reduce spending defined her congressional career. From her seat on the Budget Committee and then the Rules Committee, Myrick helped implement the House GOP’s ambitious agenda called “Contract with America,” personally focusing on welfare reform, and shaping the 1997 balanced budget—the first balanced budget in nearly 30 years. Myrick later referenced that moment as a high point of her career. A personal battle with breast cancer inspired Myrick to champion bipartisan efforts to fight the disease. During her House career, Myrick chaired the Republican Study Committee, a group of several dozen of the chamber’s most conservative Members.

In February 2012, Myrick announced she would not seek a tenth term.