On social issues, Sutton is pro-abortion rights and opposes a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. She has voted for legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Ethics reform

In 1993, while an Ohio House member, Sutton walked out of a conference on women's issues when she discovered that the conference was sponsored by a pharmaceutical company promoting its new drug. As a state lawmaker, Sutton told Cleveland's The Plain Dealer that she would not accept gifts from lobbyists. Over the following years, she supported legislation that established stricter campaign finance rules and curtailed the influence of lobbyists.

Sutton made government corruption a central theme of her 2006 congressional campaign. She questioned her Republican opponent's ethics and she framed her support for cracking down on offshore bank accounts and for eliminating no-bid contracts in terms of the need to fight "the culture of corruption."

Labor and Trade

Sutton has long positioned herself as an ally of organized labor. As a state representative, she fiercely opposed legislation cutting compensation benefits for workers and she helped organize a referendum to repeal the legislation. In 1995, Sutton sponsored a bill requiring new state facilities to be built in low-income areas in order to revitalize struggling neighborhoods. She also endeared herself to unions by working as a labor lawyer after leaving state government in 2000.

During her first congressional race in 2006, Sutton made job creation a central part of her platform. She enjoyed the support of organized labor, whom she thanked in her victory speech. "You're not only a part of this campaign, but a part of who I am," she said.

Just weeks after joining Congress, Sutton wrote a letter to then-House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) urging him to oppose President George W. Bush's "misguided trade agenda."

She collected the signatures of 39 out of 42 House Democratic freshmen and got Rangel to schedule a meeting with the group.Later in 2007, Sutton joined a narrow majority of her party in voting against the Peru free-trade agreement.

The Economy

In fall 2008, Sutton argued that the economic crisis was due to the Bush administration's failure to "provide reasonable oversight of our financial markets."

Concerned that the financial rescue plan did not do enough to help taxpayers and to "provide assistance directly to working families," she voted against the bailout's first version, along with a majority of the House.

A week later, however, Sutton switched her vote and supported the bailout's second version. In explaining this change, she cited then-Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) commitment to "make recouping taxpayer money a top priority" if he made it to the White House.

She also pointed to middle-class tax relief measures added by the Senate.

The Environment and Energy

Sutton defines energy policy as one of her legislative priorities. Concerned with reducing gas prices and increasing oil supplies, she supports legislation that would require oil companies to drill on land they have leased but aren't using for production. Sutton also supports tax incentives to encourage investments in renewable energy and construction of green-education facilities.

In spring 2009, Sutton introduced legislation to implement a "cash-for-clunker" program meant to decrease fuel consumption while boosting the industrial sector. Sutton's bill competed with legislation sponsored by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.). Both versions offered vouchers to people who exchange older and comparatively high-polluting vehicle to purchase a more fuel-efficient car or to ride public transit.

Sutton's version concentrated on helping struggling automakers. She placed less stringent rules on which cars qualify as clunkers, which led environmental groups to worry that she didn't do enough to improve efficiency.

Sutton's bill also required that the new car be assembled in North America, a provision endorsed by unions and automakers but denounced as a violation of trade agreements by others. "I want to take the bill as far as we can environmentally, but we have an interest in making sure that people have jobs," Sutton said.

National Security

In 2006, Sutton won her first congressional race as an Iraq war critic. She accused President George W. Bush of having "misled the country into this tragic war" and she advocated a more aggressive timetable to transfer responsibilities to the Iraqis. However, she stopped short of endorsing an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. In 2007, Sutton voted in favor of a resolution calling for a troop withdrawal within 90 days.

In June 2008, Sutton sided with just over half of House Democrats in opposing legislation expanding the government's surveillance powers while granting immunity to telecommunication companies that cooperated with the Bush administration's warrantless wiretaps.

Also in 2008, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) introduced legislation that would give an extra $1,500 a month to soldiers whose military service is extended by stop-loss orders.

Sutton became the measure's chief sponsor in the House and she lobbied then-Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) to include the measure (albeit one with a smaller pay raise) in the year's defense spending bill.

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