Terry was born the daughter of Nathaniel Chatham Terry and Nannie Ruth Terry in Martinsville, Virginia. She was an active and enthusiastic Democrat as a child.[3]
Terry was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates (1978–1986) and assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in Patrick County, Virginia 1973–1977. She successfully argued eight cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. She successfully negotiated a nationwide recall of 13,000 defective Fordambulances and led a successful investigation and prosecution of individuals and corporations associated with Lyndon LaRouche. From 1990 to 1991 Terry was president of the National Association of Attorneys General and in 1992 she received the Wyman Award, which is the association's highest honor. The Commonwealth of Virginia's courts did not allow prisoners to bring new exculpatory evidence more than three weeks after sentencing. Attorney General Terry once said that "Evidence of innocence is irrelevant."[4]
Attorney general
She was elected attorney general in 1985 and reelected in 1989, becoming the first woman elected to statewide office in Virginia, the second woman to serve as attorney general of any U.S. state, and the first non-federal elected official in Virginia to garner more than one million votes in a single election.[5] In 1989, she considered running for governor, but deferred to her fellow Democrat, then-Lieutenant Governor of VirginiaL. Douglas Wilder, who became the first elected African-AmericanGovernor of any U.S. state.[6]
Following her defeat, Terry was a visiting professor at the University of Richmond's Jepson School of Leadership Studies.[10] She served on the Board of Trustees at the University of Richmond from 1983 to 1991.
In 2008, with activist Susan Platt and others, Terry formed "The Farm Team", a PAC to "help Democratic women seek elected office." In the last quarter of 2008 they raised $6696 and contributed $4000, including $1000 to Sharon Bulova's 2009 election campaign for Chairman of the Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County, Virginia. Terry was featured speaker at a breakfast fundraiser planned in Richmond 7 February 2009, in connection with Jefferson-Jackson Day. That event was connected to a reception at the Governor's mansion, later canceled because Virginia law prohibits political fundraising by state officials while the Virginia General Assembly is in session. Democratic party officials argued the event did not violate that ban, because money had been collected before the session.[12][13][14][15]
^ abc"Mary Sue Terry." Marquis Who's Who TM. Marquis Who's Who, 2008. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC Fee. Retrieved 15 December 2008. Document Number: K2013007444.
^ abBaker, Donald P. (1993-10-17). "From Early Years, Powerful Lessons; Personal Experience Fostered Terry's Hard-Driving Image". Washington Post. p. A01. 7219521172195211ProQuest307681615.
^Glod, Maria; Kumar, Anita (7 December 2011). "Haynesworth is exonerated". Washington Post. Retrieved 2011-12-07. Historically, prisoners were barred from introducing new evidence more than three weeks after sentencing, and in the 1990s, then-Attorney General Mary Sue Terry (D) famously said, "Evidence of innocence is irrelevant." But when DNA testing resulted in hundreds of exonerations nationwide, it prompted Virginia lawmakers to open the door for courts to reconsider guilt based first on genetic evidence and later on other evidence, such as recanted testimony, fingerprints or ballistics.
^
Barrett, Laurence I.; Gavin Scott (April 17, 1989). "Battling An Old Bugaboo". Time magazine. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved 2008-12-15. This year Wilder again headed off opposition for the nomination from Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, 41. Like any other Virginia Democrat, she would need very strong black support to win in the fall. Wilder denies that he threatened to play the racial card. Instead, he stressed that a contest with Terry would have been divisive. "Mary Sue is an attractive, bright candidate with a brilliant future," says Wilder. Translation: Terry can wait until 1993 for the governorship. She is doing just that.
^Clift, Eleanor (October 25, 1993). "Not The Year Of The Women - Governors: In New Jersey And Virginia, Two Female Candidates Fumble Away Big Leads". Newsweek. Retrieved 2008-12-15. As a campaigner, Terry's biggest liability is not her lack of a family but her lack of warmth. "For a woman, warmth is necessary to bridge that chasm of trust that you have to cross," says New York Rep. Susan Molinari. "Otherwise voters wonder why in the world would a woman want...to be in this dirty game." In contrast, Terry's opponent, Allen, has come from 29 points behind largely on his carefully packaged looks and personality. A television ad shows him with his young son, mistily promising that, if elected, he will ask himself only one question: what will be good for Virginia? Sugary spots like these prompt campaign consultant James Carville to quip, "It's not the negative ads, it's the positive ads you have to worry about."
^"JJ Women's Caucus Breakfast « The Farm Team". FarmTeam.org. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009. The Third Annual Women's Caucus Breakfast, one of the events associated with the JJ Dinner, will be held on Saturday, February 7 [2009] at 8:15am. The featured speaker will be Farm Team Founder and former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry. Tickets start at $50 and may be purchased here. Full details are below the fold.
