Rep. Terri Sewell, an influential House Democrat and Congressional Black Caucus member, is one of the less-mentioned candidates to become Joe Biden's vice-presidential nominee for the fall general election.

The House member from Alabama, 55, has represented the civil rights springs of Birmingham and Montgomery, among other areas, since 2011. But while she may not be No. 1 among bookmakers taking bets on Biden's No. 2 prospects, Alabama's first African American congresswoman does appeal to Democrats yearning for the Obama administration years amid a trying time for the Trump White House.

Sewell was a key Obama administration ally. Former first lady Michelle Obama was her "big sister" mentor when she was a Princeton University undergraduate in the 1980s. Sewell then befriended future President Barack Obama when they were both Harvard University Law School students in the early 1990s. She credits the commander in chief from 2009-2017 for inspiring her to seek elected office in Alabama, where she practiced public finance law after working as a securities lawyer in New York City.

And Sewell's Obama White House connections don't stop there. Sewell also attended Oxford University on a Marshall/Commonwealth Scholarship at the same time as future national security adviser and U.N. ambassador Susan Rice, then a Rhodes Scholar.

Although Sewell's Obama ties may not excite the Democratic Party's more liberal base, her centrist credentials are in simpatico with that of Biden, a consideration he's openly acknowledged as he weighs his options for the understudy role. An added benefit of having the New Democrat Coalition vice chairwoman on the ticket is she'd galvanize Biden's popularity with black and southern Democrats, a signal he doesn't take their support for granted.

Sewell, a Selma native, is the CBC's Voting Rights Task Force co-chairwoman as ballot access issues loom over November's elections due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Her work turning out the vote, particularly in her state's black community, has been lauded by Democrats. In fact, it boosted incumbent Sen. Doug Jones for a surprise special election win over Republican Roy Moore for then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions's old seat in 2017.

Sewell also endorsed Biden before it was cool in Democratic politics, chiming in before the New Hampshire primary when the former vice president's chances for the nomination looked bleak.

"Donald Trump is the biggest threat to Dr. King’s legacy! I believe that Joe Biden is the best Democratic candidate to beat Trump and, therefore, protect the causes central to the life’s work of Dr. King. That is why Joe Biden is my choice for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States," Sewell wrote when she endorsed Biden just before Martin Luther King Jr. Day earlier this year.

Biden, now the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, has promised to pick a woman as his running mate, significantly winnowing the field of likely contenders. This week, however, rumblings for his No. 2 to be a woman of color, specifically a black woman, grew louder.

More than 200 black women signed an open letter urging Biden to consider an attached list of possibilities with "the experience, qualifications and principled core values of a true leader that would make for the right partner to help catapult the Democrats to victory in November."

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, whose backing resuscitated Biden's struggling third presidential bid, and civil rights icon Georgia Rep. John Lewis have implored the two-term vice president and 36-year Delaware senator to choose a black woman as well.

Stacey Abrams, a prominent contender for the position thanks to her public campaign for the role, broached the topic this week during an interview on ABC's The View before reiterating her stance Sunday on both CNN and NBC.

"Having a woman of color on the ticket will help promote not only diversity but trust," Abrams, the failed 2018 Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate and former Georgia House of Representatives minority leader, told NBC's Meet the Press.

While California Sen. Kamala Harris, a vanquished 2020 White House hopeful, has been floated as a potential vice-presidential nominee, another Georgia woman has been mentioned in the mix too: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

"When I first joined Joe Biden's team last year, that's part of what drew me to him: Joe Biden has always fought for those millions of people ready to serve something bigger than themselves," Bottoms said during a virtual rally Saturday, marking one year since he announced his candidacy and celebrating the country's COVID-19 virus first responders.

She added, "Joe Biden has been through tough times in life and knows how to persevere and find purpose. That's what he'll do as president: Call forth our goodness and honor those millions of selfless acts of courage with the kind of steady, truthful leadership that this nation and these heroes so deserve."