January 7, 2026 - There Is a New King of Higher Education in Alabama
As the last legislative session of the quadrennium begins, the budgets are the priority, as always. The education funding dollars will not be flowing as prolifically as they have the past three years.
There will be some wrestling within the education community for dollars. This jockeying will be confounded even further because of an exponential jump in health insurance costs.
There will be a tug-of-war within the higher education community. The clear winner of that battle will be the Alabama Community College System, and rightfully so.
Our Alabama Community College System educates and prepares ALABAMA students for ALABAMA jobs. The ACCS has quietly become the engine and mainstay for job creation and workforce development in our state.
Therefore, the new king of Alabama higher education politics is the Alabama Community College System. Their budget affects 25 communities all over the state, both large and small. Over the last decade under the leadership of Chancellor Jimmy Baker, the ACCS has become a political giant. They have taken a rightful place at the table.
This locally driven power has been enhanced by the fact that Alabama, and the nation, have realized that technical and job-related education is the real impetus for a state’s growth and prosperity.
Local legislators understand protecting and enhancing their local community college is their most important job for their district. Their community college is many times the largest employer in their district. Even when it is not the largest employer in a district, the community college is responsible for training the workforce for the district’s largest employers. Legislators also know that 96% of their hometown kids are going to go to work in their hometowns. Most legislators want to vote first for their own district’s needs and prosperities. All politics is local.
The Community College System is poised to dominate public university funding for at least the next five years for another unique reason. Never in history has there been the perfect storm where every major legislative leader’s paramount priority will be their community college.
Senator Arthur Orr of Decatur is the Czar of Education dollars in Alabama. He has been Chairman of the Senate Education Finance Committee for the last 10 years and will probably be for the next five years at least. His primary interest is Calhoun Community College, which sits on the Decatur/Huntsville border, at the center of the state’s most growth prominent area. It, therefore, garners the interest and loyalty of the sizeable Decatur/Huntsville legislative delegation, which includes Representative Rex Reynolds of Huntsville, Chairman of the House Budget Committee. The enrollment of Calhoun Community College is already over 10,000 and will probably be 20,000 over the next five years.
Jeff State’s enrollment is at 10,000, also. It is probably as important to Orr’s counterpart, Representative Danny Garrett of Trussville, as UAB.
The most powerful legislator in the state is Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter of Rainsville. His primary interest are the two colleges in his area. His alma mater, the Northeast Alabama Community College, and Snead State in Boaz. These two colleges are his UAB. Senate Majority Leader Steve Livingston of Scottsboro has the same interest as Ledbetter.
The President Pro Tem of the State Senate is Garlan Gudger of Cullman. His primary interest is protecting his college and major employer, Wallace Community College in Cullman County. Their School of Nursing is bolstering the growth and prosperity of the burgeoning Cullman Regional Medical Center.
Speaking of medical centers, Dothan has become the medical mecca for southeast Alabama, northwest Florida panhandle, and southwestern Georgia. Healthcare is the largest employer in Houston County. The entire Wiregrass delegation, all Republican, realize this and their one unifying factor is the growth and prosperity of Wallace Community College, which supplies most of the top-level nursing needs for that area of Alabama.
Bevill State in Walker County has been the focal point for job creation for that area for decades, and will be for generations to come. It is of utmost importance to the Walker County legislators.
Finally, Mobile is moving towards becoming a national leader in shipbuilding. The entire Mobile delegation recognizes that Bishop State will be the training ground for their workforce. It unites the Republicans and Democrats in the Mobile delegation. Neighboring Baldwin County is the fastest growing county in the state. It is a very prosperous county and has a 100% Republican delegation. This sizeable legislative delegation is very cognizant that their Coastal Community College is also the fastest growing college in the state. It is approaching 10,000 enrollment and most of these legislators’ constituents’ children are headed towards Coastal and will stay home after college.
Folks, when it comes to higher education funding, all politics is local, and the Community College System is poised to be the King of Goat Hill.
See you next week.
December 31, 2025 - We Lost Some Good Ones This Year
As is my custom for the past 21 years, my year end column illuminates Alabama political luminaries that passed away this year. We lost some good ones.
Former State Senator and Lt. Governor George McMillan passed away in Birmingham at 81. George was a vivacious, delightful gentleman, who never met a stranger. I never knew anyone who ever met George that did not like him. He began his meteoric political career at an early age. He was elected to the State Senate from Jefferson County in 1974 and was elected Lt. Governor in 1978. He lost a razor-thin election to George Wallace for Governor in 1982. Many predicted he would win that race and, if elected, would have given Alabama a “New South” Governor.
Former State Representative and ABC Administrator Mac Gipson passed away in July at 89. Mac represented Autauga and Elmore Counties for 16 years in the House of Representatives. He was appointed head of the Alabama Beverage Control Board by Governor Robert Bentley. He remained head of the ABC until his retirement at the end of 2022, having served under Governors Bentley and Kay Ivey. Gipson was the successful owner and founder of Gipson’s Tire stores in Prattville and Millbrook. Mac was a good man and a good legislative friend.
Another legislative friend, Ralph Burke, passed away in July. Ralph represented DeKalb County in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1983 to 1998. He was an educator by profession. Ralph was a graduate of Jacksonville State and was a lifetime advocate for his alma mater. He was only 65.
Another of my favorite legislative colleagues, William “Bill” Drinkard, passed away in July at 79 at his home in Springville. He served in both the House and Senate from Etowah and St. Clair Counties from 1978 to 1990. He had a diversified business career as a store owner, hospital administrator, and a real estate developer. Bill was a diligent and good legislator.
Julian McPhillips was a renowned lawyer, and loyal Democratic Party leader in Alabama for over four decades. He passed away in Montgomery in April at age 78. His family had a deep heritage in Alabama. His father was a legendary Episcopal priest. He was born in Birmingham in 1946, but raised in Cullman. He graduated from Princeton cum laude and was an all-Ivy League wrestler. He then graduated from Columbia Law School. Julian worked as a Wall Street lawyer from 1971 to 1975. He moved back to Alabama in 1975 and began working as Assistant to Attorney General Bill Baxley. He ran for Attorney General of Alabama in 1978, and ran second in a nine man field. He spent the rest of his life as a progressive lawyer and civic and civil rights leader in Montgomery.
Tom Walker was the Founder and President Emeritus of the American Village in Montevallo. Tom conceived the idea of the American Village in the 1980’s. His vision accomplished the establishment of one of Alabama’s treasures. American Village teaches American history and civics. He built an amazing 188-acre campus in Montevallo. The campus has served over three-quarters of a million students and draws thousands of public visitors each year. Tom was a good man. His quiet and humble demeanor will be missed. The American Village was his life and legacy. He passed away in September.
Former Jefferson County State Senator Bill Cabaniss passed away early in the year at 86 in Birmingham. He was a Republican before it was cool. He was born and raised in Mountain Brook and lived there all his life. He was a lifetime Republican and was considered one of the pioneers of the modern Republican Party in Alabama. After his tenure in the Alabama legislature, President George H.W. Bush, who was Cabaniss’ lifetime friend, made him ambassador to the Czech Republic.
Dr. Annette Shelby passed away in July in Tuscaloosa at the age of 86. Dr. Shelby was the wife of our iconic, retired U.S. Senator Richard Shelby. She was very accomplished in her own right. She was a renowned educator. She was a distinguished, tenured Professor of Business at Georgetown University, as well as the University of Alabama. She was an integral part of Senator Shelby’s career, and a good many of the magnificent buildingson most of Alabama’s university campuses bear both Richard and Annette Shelby’s names.
An Alabama political legend, Ann Bedsole, passed on December 1, at age 95 in Mobile. Bedsole was the first Republican female elected to the Alabama House of Representatives and later the first female elected to the Alabama State Senate. She was a fine lady and an outstanding legislator. Her word was as good as gold.
We lost some good ones in 2025.
See you next year.
December 24, 2025 - Kay Ivey is a Legacy Governor
Recently, I had several of Governor Kay Ivey’s closest friends and confidantes invite me to visit with them. Over lunch, they posed the question to me, “Do you think Governor Ivey has become a legacy governor?” My response was that she has been an outstanding governor, but I need to give some thought to the meaning of a “legacy” governor.
My perception over the years was that a legacy governor left an indelible, particular generational project that could be linked to their name for posterity. My memory of governors only goes back 60 years and there are only three or four who have left that specific mark.
Our larger-than-life political giant of a governor, James E. “Big Jim” Folsom, paved all the rural roads in the state, so that the small farmers who lived on dirt roads could get their produce they cultivated all year to the market. His creation of the Farm to Market Road Program gives him a legacy.
Big Jim’s son, Jim Folsom Jr., was governor for only three years, but he created a legacy as the Father of the Automotive Factory Boom in our state. His landing the Mercedes Plant forAlabama was the impetus for making us the second largest automobile manufacturing state in America. It is now one of the largest economic engines in our state.
Governor George Wallace has numerous legacies. He is the most profound political figure in Alabama history. He was elected governor four times and his wife, Lurleen, another. That record will never be matched. During those terms, he created a legacy in economic development and roads. Probably his greatest accomplishment was the creation of the Alabama Community College System, which has become the mainstay for job creation and workforce development in the last decade for our state.
Governor Fob James could be called a legacy governor. He was elected governor two times, and not consecutively. He has the unique distinction of being elected governor in 1978 as a Democrat and again in 1990 as a Republican. Fob has a legacy as governor of having the businessman’s insight to create a trust fund for the General Fund Budget. During his first term an abundance of oil reserves were discovered off Alabama’s Gulf Coast. The state sold the oil rights to these reserves for a good amount of money. Fob convinced the legislature to save and preserve the corpus of the oil money in a “rainy day” fund entitled the Heritage Trust Fund. It has been a salvation for the beleaguered General Fund for years.
After several weeks of contemplating the question of whether Kay Ivey is a legacy governor, my response is a resounding and enthusiastic yes. Kay Ivey, in my estimation, is the best governor I have seen in my years of following and writing about Alabama political history.
First, Governor Kay Ivey will have been governor for a decade when she leaves office in January 2027. She will have been governor longer than anyone in state history other than George Wallace. She is also the first female elected governor in her own right. In addition, she is the first female Republican governor in history.
Most legacy governors have created their places in historythrough roads, as is the case with Wallace and Big Jim. Therefore, Kay Ivey knew that roads were the economic engine that drives the growth of jobs and economic expansion. She took the bull by the horns early in her tenure and did a masterful job of corralling the votes in the legislature and stewarding the passage of a gasoline tax increase to maintain and sustain our state roads, bridges, and waterways in Alabama.
This legislation, entitled “Rebuild Alabama,” which passed in 2019, has generated over $1 billion in revenue, paving the way for 500 new road and bridge projects reaching all 67 counties. This long overdue generational improvement of our state’s aging roads, bridge system, and state docks is a legacy in itself.
This infrastructure program has led to another Kay Ivey legacy in economic development. Governor Ivey’s administration has spearheaded a record breaking $55 billion in new capital investment and the creation of over 93,000 jobs during her tenure as governor. Furthermore, Governor Ivey’s appointments have been sterling and judicious, especially her judicial appointments.
The most important thing that can be said about Kay Ivey’s decade as Governor is that she has been a steady “Captain” of the Ship of State. She has brought stability, honesty and integrity to Alabama government. She is solid as a rock. Maybe she should be referred to as “Captain Ivey,” rather than “Meemaw.”
Kay Ivey is a legacy governor.
See you next week.
December 17, 2025 - Do Endorsements Matter in Statewide Races
In bygone years in politics, at least in Alabama politics, when you were a young, aspiring, learning politician, the old veterans would instill traditional rules and truisms that you should understand and adhere to.
One was “all politics is local.” If you were elected to be a state or national legislator, you looked after homefolks and listened to and reacted to local needs and concerns.
The second was that you do not get involved with other races. You definitely do not openly support or endorse any other candidate. You “stick to your own knitting.” The reasoning behind this no endorse maxim was first, politics is such a two-faced arena that your endorsee would not appreciate it in the long term and would eventually stab you in the back and you have made the person you endorsed opponent’s family, friends, and supporters, enemies for life. Thus, the saying if you endorse someone you make one ingrate and a thousand other enemies.
Secondly, it is the height of arrogance to assume that you are so popular that you can transfer your so-called popularity to someone else. In past times, the Alabama electorate would say to an arrogant, currently popular politico who would get full of himself and endorse someone in another race, “you are getting pretty full of yourself. We elected you to your own office. You need to be thankful for what you got and stick to your own knitting. We will decide for ourselves who we will vote for in other races.”
This rule was steadfast and strictly upheld by voters, especially in Alabama. Folks would vote against the endorsed candidate just for spite and hold it against the endorsee. It would also come back to bite the endorsee in later races.
George Wallace, in the height of his popularity, would endorse another candidate and invariably they would lose. In fact, he was 0-10 and a lot of those tens were supposed to win. The Wallace endorsement was the “kiss of death.”
Today’s political world has changed. In Alabama, the endorsement of Donald J. Trump is the golden key to election in the Heart of Dixie, and all politics is no longer all local. It is all national, driven by national unrelenting partisan allegiance derived from and driven by national issues.
The question today is, do group or organizational endorsements matter? The answer is yes and no. Endorsements matter more in down ballot races, especially legislative races. Special Interest groups are more interested in the legislative races because the legislature has the power and makes the major decisions that most affect the powerful Special Interest agenda.
Since we are a conservative Republican state when it comes to statewide and legislative races, the conservative pro-business groups and their PACs are the most important endorsements.The most important by far is the Alabama Farmers Federation (ALFA). This endorsement is ardently sought by all statewide candidates. ALFA is the Blue Ribbon of conservatism. Their endorsed ballot goes out to over 300,000 Alabamians including nearly 100,000 farmers and farm-related participants, as well as their insurance policyholders. They also provide campaign and PAC support. The other important groups are the Alabama Forestry Association, the Business Council of Alabama, and Manufacture Alabama.
There are four races where all four of these groups have endorsed in and are supporting. Senator “Coach” Tommy Tuberville has garnered all four in his cakewalk to Governor.Young Boozer has received all four in his uncontested race for re-election as State Treasurer. Caroleene Dobson has won all four ALFA, BCA, Forestry and Manufacturing in her race for Secretary of State. Twenty-eight-year-old political newcomer, Derek Chen, has won all four ALFA, Forestry, Manufacture Alabama, and BCA in his bid for State Auditor. He won ALFA overwhelmingly and became the darling of the farmers throughout the state.
The three tightly contested, statewide races will be and have already been affected by the ALFA endorsement. In the Lt. Governor’s race, current Secretary of State Wes Allen won the ALFA endorsement and the endorsements of several other business groups.
In the Agriculture Commissioner race, Corey Hill’s receiving of the ALFA endorsement made him a serious contender in a close three-person race. Hill will be facing better financed Baldwin and Mobile candidates, Christina Woerner McInnis and Jack Williams. Senator Williams has received the Forestry endorsement, as well as Manufacture Alabama and Business Council of Alabama.
Katherine Robertson’s garnering of the ALFA endorsement in the Attorney General’s race has made her a viable candidate against front runner Jay Mitchell. Judge Mitchell has been endorsed by the BCA and most business groups in the state.
Do endorsements count? We will soon see.
See you next week.
December 10, 2025 - Our Open U.S. Senate Seat Contest Will Be Our Marque 2026 Race
Coach Tommy Tuberville’s decision to leave his safe U.S. Senate Seat to run for Governor in the upcoming 2026 election cycle has shifted all the excitement and attention away from the Governor’s race and turned the focus towards who will be his replacement for the open Senate Seat.
Our May 19, 2026, Republican Primary is tantamount to election. Therefore, the Senate race, which will be our marque 2026 event, is essentially right around the corner. The candidateswill officially qualify in January, and we will see a four-monthsprint to the finish line.
The two apparent front runners are two-term Attorney General Steve Marshall, and First District Congressman Barry Moore. They both are bona fide, right-wing Conservatives. They will both try to outright the other. That will be a difficult maneuver as both of them have impeccable, indisputable, ultra conservative credentials. Both of them have spent their entire time in office striving to convince voters that they are to the right of Atilla the Hun. They have neither made any pretense of trying to be an effective Prosecutor or Congressman, but instead made every effort to “bark at the moon.”
If elected, the first thing either Moore or Marshall will do at the beginning of the 2027 Congressional Session will be to find a FOX camera to get in front of and espouse right-wing views andstrive to mark themselves as the most right-wing extremist in the U.S. Senate. In short, it really does not matter which of thesetwo right-wing, ineffective idealogues, Moore or Marshall, wins the May Republican Primary. It will be Twiddledee or Twiddledum.
The deciding factor in this race, as it is in every open U.S. Senate race, is money. Whoever raises and spends the most money will win. Money equates into name identification and name identification equates into votes. Neither Marshall nor Moore have great initial name ID. Marshall has about 27% and Moore has about 12%. Neither have personal wealth, therefore, they both must rely on fundraising.
Marshall is showing a weakness in this area. His early efforts to raise money have been underwhelming. Moore has even taken an early lead in raising money. This trend will continue to an even greater extent. Barry Moore is the boy of the clandestine right-wing, “Daddy Warbucks,” dark money, “Club for Growth.” They will finance Moore to the tune of $10 million or more. Moore and “The Club” will probably outspend Marshall by two to one.
They both will have high priced, experienced D.C. consultants and media gurus, who insist on going negative. Moore and Marshall, through these hired guns, will attack each other with a vengeance. By the time these gurus get through attacking their perceived opposition, most Alabama voters will probably think that both Steve Marshall and Barry Moore shot their mamas in a bar fight. When this happens, voters tend to look for a third person to vote for.
Well folks, there is developing under the radar, three promising potential candidates who are vying for that third-place position that could potentially come in second. These three unknown candidates are Jared Hudson, Morgan Murphy, and Rodney Walker.
Jared Hudson got into the race early. He knows very little about politics or government. He has some name identification in Jefferson County. He is very conservative and very religious. He is a decorated Navy Seal. He has movie star good looks, as does his wife and family. If someone gave him $10 million, he would sell.
Morgan Murphy is a Jefferson County native, a bootstrap Navy Captain, veteran diplomat, and advisor to Senator Tommy Tuberville and President Donald Trump. He is currently working in the Trump Administration. He would know how to be a U.S. Senator on day one.
The sleeper in this race may be Clay County businessman Rodney Walker. Why? Because he has personal wealth. Money is the mother’s milk of politics. Money buys name identification, and name identification equates into votes. His wealth allows him to campaign full time, a luxury Murphy and Hudson do not have. Rodney Walker and his wife, Stacie, are crisscrossing the state with a determined positive campaign.
It will be a good race. The marque event of 2026.
See you next week.
December 3, 2025 - 2026 Governor’s Race and All state Races Right Around the Corner
We all knew that this 2026 election year was going to be a big year in Alabama politics.
There was no way it was going to be a “yawner” with openings in the Constitutional offices of Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Agriculture Commissioner, and State Auditor.
The 2026 election year began on May 19, when campaign fundraising could begin. Our elections will be May 19, 2026. Our Republican Primary that day, and subsequent runoffs four weeks later, will be our election for all statewide offices. Winning the Republican Primary for state office is tantamount to election in Alabama.
Qualifying for all offices will begin in just a few weeks on January 5, and end on January 23, then we will have whirlwind sprint to the May election.
In addition to the Constitutional offices, all 105 State House Seats and all 35 State Senate Seats are up for election. Our State Legislative Seats are becoming analogous to Congressional Seats when it comes to incumbency. Very few incumbents are ever defeated or even challenged. Over 80% of the legislature is running unopposed. Currently there are only two State Senate Seats open due to retirement. The makeup of the State Senate will remain 28 Republicans and seven Democrats.
We were all looking for a donnybrook brawl for Governor, like we used to have in bygone days in the governor’s race. In past times, the Governor could not succeed themselves, so we would have a wide-open governor’s race every four years. Governor Kay Ivey is term limited, and this time last year, it looked like we might have an old fashioned, full field governor’s race.
However, Coach Tommy Tuberville’s decision to leave his safe U.S. Senate Seat to run for Governor has taken all the oxygen, excitement, and uncertainty out of the governor’s race. Any of his potentially serious contenders for the Brass Ring of Alabama politics headed for the hills or scattered like quail at the beginning of hunting season. Instead of having an easy re-election jaunt to a second six-year term in the United States Senate, Tuberville is looking at a cakewalk into the Governor’s office. Tuberville has no viable opponent with the endorsement of every major business group, and over $7 million in the bank. If that’s not a recipe for election to Governor, I don’t know what is. The Democrats may make a futile effort to thwart Tuberville’s triumphant march with a Hail Mary residency challenge. However, if you want a safe bet, you should probably bet that Tuberville’s residency will be on Perry Street in Montgomery come January of 2027.
Our popular State Treasurer, Young Boozer, will be re-elected to his unprecedented fifth term as Treasurer. Young will probably be unopposed.
Former State Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell has stepped down from the High Court to run for Attorney General. Judge Mitchell will be favored to win this race. He is being challenged by veteran Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey, and also, Assistant Attorney General Katherine Green Robertson. Robertson could be a viable candidate due to an incredible $1.5million being funneled into her campaign by dark money, clandestine, out-of-state Right Wing entities.
Derek Chen will be heavily favored to win the open State Auditor’s post. He has been endorsed by every major business group, including ALFA, Business Council of Alabama, Manufacture Alabama, and Alabama Forestry, as well as almost every GOP group in the state. He has worked the state diligently for over a year and may very well receive the endorsement of President Trump. He has been one of Trump’s most ardent supporters during Trump’s entire tenure in politics.
The three best 2026 donnybrook races will be for Secretary of State, Lt. Governor, and State Agriculture Commissioner. The Secretary of State race will be between current State Auditor Andrew Sorrell and Alabama’s brightest rising political star, Caroleene Dobson. Caroleene has a commanding lead in fundraising and has received impressive endorsements, also.
The Agriculture Commissioner race should really be a good one. There are three well-qualified candidates. Mobile State Senator Jack Williams, Baldwin County prominent farm family heiress, Christina Woerner McInnis, and Marshall County farmer and grocer, Corey Hill, will be vying for this important post.
The best race of 2026 may well be for Lt. Governor. It is now a three man race between Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate,Secretary of State Wes Allen, and former Alabama football star AJ McCarron.
It will be a good political year.
See you next week.
November 26, 2025 - Monumental Decision by U.S. Supreme Court Expected
The 1960’s was a very tumultuous and consequential decade. One of the prolonged problems that came home to roost in that era was the Civil Rights issue.
Lyndon B. Johnson had become President after the assassinationof President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Johnson was a ruthless “win at all costs” former Senator from Texas. He had been a strong-armed Democratic Senate Majority Leader. He had been in the group of very powerful seniority laden southern bloc of senators who had blocked Civil Rights for at least a decade,even after the 1954 Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Educationdecision.
However, Lyndon Johnson was the ultimate political animal. He knew that as President, he could champion and pass Civil Rights legislation that would assure his election to his own term as President. He used all his political prowess and passed the 1964 Civil Rights Bill. He rode that crescendo to election to the Presidency in 1964.
Being a tough, East Texas bred politician, Johnson knew southern politics. When he signed the Civil Rights Bill, he looked over at his long time Senate mentor, the venerableRichard Russell of Georgia, who Johnson had just run over, andRussell was glaring at Johnson. Johnson looked up and said, “I have just signed the South over to the Republican Party.” Johnson’s words were prophetic. LBJ won the Presidency in 1964 in a landslide over Barry Goldwater. He carried 44 states. However, the five Deep South states voted Republican for Goldwater. Alabama was one of those five southern states. Alabama and all of our neighboring sister southern states have voted Republican for President since the 1964 Southern Goldwater Landslide.
LBJ came back in 1965 and passed the Voting Rights Act. Within that law, he took out his vengeance on the five Deep South states. He added a section to his Voting Rights Act that dictates these five states would be under the thumb of the U.S. Justice Department and formerly discriminated and prohibited from voting black southerners would be registered to vote. Furthermore, these newly enfranchised black voters should be given preferential treatment in voting and elections.
This Reconstruction Era style dictation has granted federal judges the power to create Congressional districts that are overtly gerrymandered to create Democratic districts in defiance of majority-ruled Republican Legislature’s constitutionally granted powers. These judges have hung their hats on the Voting Rights Act.
In a Louisiana case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in recent months, the omnipotent Supreme Court of the United States appears poised to hand down a decision that declares Section Two of the 1965 Voting Rights Act null and void. The decision by SCOTUS, if indeed it is forthcoming, should be rendered no later than June.
How will it affect Alabama? More than likely, Governor Ivey will call a special legislative session. Our super majority Republican Alabama Legislature will enact new congressional lines. They will definitely dismantle the recently, judicially gerrymandered new district. This district, which was decreed by federal judges to overtly discriminate against conservativeRepublican voters to create a majority, minority district, will be gone. That seat, now held by Democrat Shomari Figures, will be gone. It will be restored to a Republican district.
The Republican legislature will be tempted to take the Democratic Seat of our veteran Democratic CongresswomanTerri Sewell, also. However, in their partisan zeal, they should tread carefully before they throw Terri Sewell out. If you keep Sewell, our Congressional delegation will return to six Republicans and one lone Democrat. If you consider that both of our Senators are Republican, that gives us eight Republicans and one Democrat. Suppose a Democrat is elected President, or the Democrats become the majority in the House. Without Terri Sewell, we have no protection. She has become a leader within the Democratic Congressional Caucus. Terri Sewell is our lifeline to a Democratic White House or Democratic Congress.
Elections have consequences. Trump’s election as President and his ability to appoint conservative judges to the Supreme Courthas changed southern politics. If indeed the 1965 Voting Rights is stricken down, it will mean 10 to 12 new Republican districts in the Deep South.
We will soon see.
See you next week.
November 19, 2025 - The New First District Republican Congressional Seat Open in This Year’s Election
The marque race next year will be for our open U.S. Senate Seat left vacant when Coach Tommy Tuberville decided to run for Governor.
This Senate vacancy has attracted one of our U.S. Congressmen,which leaves an open congressional seat in the Heart of Dixie.
Congressional seats are drawn by state legislatures. Throughout the nation, they are crafted by partisan legislatures to favor the party that is in the majority in their state. This has been the case forever in American politics. Republican and Democratic leaders and partisan pundits today decry this gerrymandering. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently and correctly ruled throughout our history and set the precedent that there is nothing that they can or should do about partisan gerrymandering for political partisan purposes. The High Court has historically ruled that you cannot take the politics out of congressional or legislative redistricting. “To the victor goes the spoils” and “elections have consequences.”
However, this precedent was breached two years ago by Federal Judges in Alabama who decided that the 1965 Voting Rights Act overrides and supersedes the century old U.S. Supreme Court precedent of “to the victor goes the spoils.” This court ruling plowed new legal ground, and because Alabama is one of the five Southern states still under the auspices of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, this court drew an overtly gerrymandered district to grant a new district that was designed to take one of Alabama’s six Republican seats and create a majority minority Democraticdistrict in our state. This happened two years ago in the 2024 Presidential election. This changed the complexion of our congressional delegation to five white Republicans and two black Democrats.
Shomari Figures of Mobile won election in the newly created black Democratic Second Congressional District. The First and Second District white Republicans were corralled and concentrated into one new First Congressional District. This new district fits together economically and every other way like two left gloves. It placed the Wiregrass in with Mobile and Baldwin Counties. The Court may as well have configured a gerrymandered district that tied Huntsville in with Mobile or with the Wiregrass as far as their needs in Washington are concerned.
The race for the Republican Primary two years ago became a geographic battleground tug-of-war between the two distinctly different regions. The Court’s decision placed two incumbent Republican Congressmen in the same district, and they had to battle it out.
The “old First District” Republican Congressman, Jerry Carl of Mobile/Baldwin, was favored to beat the “old Second District” Republican Congressman Barry Moore. However, Moore upset Carl and has been in the new First District seat less than two years. Moore and his wife, Heather, are aspiring to take the Senate seat of Coach Tuberville, which leaves the new weirdly configured, Court drawn gerrymandered First District open again.
It is a Republican district and will be won by either a Republican from Mobile or a Republican from the Wiregrass. It appears that, again, it will be a battle between the two regions.
Jerry Carl will again wear the banner of the Mobile/Baldwinarea. Carl served two terms in Congress before losing to Moore two years ago. He is a mainstream conservative business Republican in the mold of the Port City Region rich tradition of Jack Edwards, Sonny Callahon, Jo Bonner, and Bradley Byrne.
The Wiregrass candidate will probably be popular Coffee County State Representative Rhett Marques. Rhett is very well liked by his legislative colleagues and has been a productive and competent legislator for Enterprise and Coffee County.
The Wiregrass has very distinct needs from Washington. Fort Rucker, and Agriculture are paramount to the Region. The Wiregrass southeast corner counties buoyed together in an old fashioned “friends and neighbors” home region vote for their candidate Barry Moore two years ago. It will be one of the best races to follow next year to see if the Wiregrass can keep the seat. Even though Marques is not as well-known as Moore, one ace in the hole may be that Rhett was born and raised in Baldwin County, which is the biggest county in the new First District. We will soon see.
The winner of this race may only be in this new gerrymandered district for one term. There is growing speculation that the U.S. Supreme Court is going to dismantle Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. If so, our Alabama legislature will restore the districts to their original configuration.
See you next week.
November 12, 2025 - A Tale of Two Cities
A book could be written about Alabama with the title being the same as the famous novel by Charles Dickens, “A Tale of Two Cities.”
The City of Huntsville and its burgeoning suburbs would be the shining beacon upon the hill of Alabama, whereas our capital City of Montgomery is a decaying, dangerous murder capital that mirrors a third world country. People have been fleeing there for years. It is an unsafe place to live, work, or visit.
When you look back at the annals of Alabama history around the time that our state constitution was enacted in 1901, the archives reveal the opposite. Montgomery was one of the gems of Alabama. It not only was the center of government, it was one of the most flourishing economic and socially prominent cities in the state.
In 1901, history books describe Huntsville as a sleepy cotton town of around 10,000 inhabitants. Upon the arrival of the Redstone Arsenal around 75 years ago, it has grown to be Alabama’s largest and most prominent region by far. Huntsville is now the state’s largest city, and when you combine all the spill over suburban growth of cities like Athens and Madison, and Marshall and Limestone Counties, it is now the greatest growth metro area of Alabama. Its sister city of Decatur has grown exponentially because of the Huntsville explosion and the population expansion has affected the Cullman, Marshall, Jackson County areas and entire Tennessee Valley.
The Huntsville growth is like nothing ever seen in Alabama history. The average Alabamian cannot grasp or comprehend our Huntsville miracle. It is like a portion of the Silicon Valley of California and the Research Triangle of North Carolina was plucked up and placed in the beautiful Tennessee Valley of North Alabama.
Not only is the Huntsville area the crown jewel of Alabama, it is destined to be one of the crown jewels of the south. It currently has one of the largest numbers of PHDs and rocket scientists per capita in the nation. It has already become the premier, high-tech defense research center in the south. If you think it has grown exponentially in the last three decades, you ain’t seen nothing yet. It is poised to be one of the most prosperous and dynamic cities/regions in the country. Demographers project its main rival in the south to be the Nashville metropolitan area.
Senator Richard Shelby was instrumental in the growth and prosperity of the Huntsville/Redstone Arsenal area. As Chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee and Chairman of Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, he shepherded billions of dollars into the defense oriented high-tech Redstone/Huntsville mecca. Shelby moved the FBI cyber security future to Huntsville with over 10,000 high paying federal jobs. He was the author of the Space Command project which should generate around 20,000 extremely high paying federal jobs.
Space Command was designed and placed in Huntsville by Shelby, originally. However, the Democratic Biden Administration moved it to the blue Democratic state of Colorado in a brazen political move. President Donald Trump deserves accolades for moving Space Command back to its home in Huntsville. Our current congressional delegation deserves credit for hounding Trump to move it back home to Alabama, especially the efforts of Senators Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, and Congressmen Robert Aderholt and Dale Strong.
Huntsville was once the capital of Alabama. I am sure that if our founding fathers were making that decision today, they would choose to make Huntsville the capital, again, instead of Montgomery. The City of Montgomery has become a war zone that resembles a third world country. Many people who live there are scared to come out of their homes for fear of being shot. It is probably too late to save the crime ridden, gang-controlled City of Montgomery. However, what makes it a serious problem for the state is the Capitol is there.
Most legislators and political figures are afraid to come to the Capitol. The last gunfight episode that happened in crowded downtown Montgomery in October, which killed two and wounded 14 more, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Ultimately, Governor Ivey, or her successor, will have to marshal troops to cordon off and protect and fortify the entire Capitol area as well as a good portion of Dexter Avenue and all around the Renaissance, and leave troopers and guardsmen on every corner in that area so that state government can function, and state officials and statewide organizations can safely come to the Capitol.
See you next week.
November 5, 2025 - Federal Government Shutdowns Need to End
All politics has become nationalized today. Therefore, whenever something happens on the national level, I hear about it. I can tell by the number of comments when something has struck a nerve. This latest government shutdown, due to a congressional standoff, struck a nerve.
It surprised me because these federal government shutdowns have become somewhat routine in recent years. However, this one appears to have broken the camel’s back. It also seemed more childish than others. Every time it happens, it’s like children on a playground that, when one of them doesn’t get their way, they take their ball and toys home. Someone needs to explain to them that running the United States government is not like play time in kindergarten.
Our Alabama Constitution is arguably antiquated; however, our 1901 framework has some fundamental conservative edicts that the current U.S. government could and should adopt. The cornerstone mandate is that the Alabama Legislature must adopt and write a new budget every year, and that budget must be balanced. This is the only task that the legislature mustaccomplish every year. It is the priority of the Alabama Legislature to pass a balanced budget at each and every legislative session.
The U.S. Congress should adopt this same approach. It has been 15 years since the federal congress has actually structured a singular federal budget. They pass stop gap measures calledcontinuing resolutions.
The U.S. House is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. They have allegiance to their party, rather than their constituents. They each vote lockstep with their party mantra and decisions. There are no nonpartisan legislative leaders who cross party paths to stand up for the American people. They are party pawns. We may as well have AImachines or androids pushing their voting machines.
Which brings me to the point that causes me consternation. When they reached a disagreement on the partisan stalemates with this latest historically lengthy impasse, they literally went home on a fall vacation. Congressmen were still getting paid, still getting all their exorbitant healthcare benefits, and unlimited perks. Their flight fares back home were paid while all government employees were going without pay checks.
My suggestion would be that whenever a continuing resolution to dictate the federal budget fails to pass and it shuts down the entire U.S. government and harms our national security, thenCongress must suffer and face the consequences of their adolescent behavior. The members of Congress, including all 435 House members and all 100 U.S. Senators, automatically lose their salaries, and I mean permanently. They quit getting a paycheck, and when the stalemate ends, they do not get back pay. It is gone forever. They lose their health insurance while on strike. Furthermore, they cannot be reimbursed for travel to their district.
It is abhorrent that this time they arrogantly shut down the government and adjourned and flew home to their district. They should be required to stay in Washington and stay on the floor of Congress the entire time until a budget is resolved. As soon as the continuing resolution to keep the government operating fails to pass and the government closes, all congressional paychecks, health insurance, free travel and staff ends, and all 535 members of Congress are summoned to the Capitol and must stay there until a budget is passed and the government is back to order.
They also would be prohibited from talking to the media or making any public statements to their respective entertainment news channels. Republicans could not spout their rhetoric to Fox and Democrats could not espouse their liberal diatribe to CNN or MSNBC. Fox will blame the Democrats without any help, and Democratic channels CNN, CBS, and MSNBC will blame the Republicans regardless.
Most Americans in the middle blame both parties equally. They say, “a pox on both your houses.” This is not a childish “take your toys home” playground spat. This is called running a country.
George Washington, the wise father of our nation, warned against America adopting political parties. He knew that, like in Britain, the House of Commons would owe their allegiance to their Party rather than to the people they are elected to represent.
See you next week.