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.
October 29, 2025 - Nonpartisan Municipal Elections Have Become Partisan
Political pundits and observers and political players have espoused the long-held belief in the mantra “all politics is local.”I have changed my tune on this well-known adage and belief.My observation is that today it is the opposite, “all politics is national.”
Folks either vote straight Republican or straight Democratic. Most, about 90%, of all white Alabamians vote straight Republican, they may not pull the straight Republican lever, but they only mark Republican names. They would come as close to voting for a Communist as they would voting for a Democratand most of them are of the belief that Democrats are Communists.
Most folks who vote Democratic in this state are African Americans. They vote 96% straight Democratic, and they do generally pull the straight Democratic lever. By the way, all states do not allow for pulling one lever and voting straight down the line for all Republican or all Democratic candidates.
In Alabama, this straight party voting has always existed, but it had a tinge of localism in it until the last few decades. It galvanized about the time that Barack Obama became President. Alabamians have been voting Republican for President and Congress since 1964, but they would still split their ticket and vote for their local legislator or sheriff who was still running as a Democrat.
The national political landscape had become extremely different around that time. The national Republican Party became, and still is, extremely conservative, and the national Democratic Party has become extremely liberal. That scenario has not changed. A local sheriff is painted with the same brush in voters’ minds as the President. Folks do not pick and choose. Their vote from top to bottom is, “I am a conservative Republican, and I vote for all Republicans from President to Sheriff,” or “I am a liberal Democrat, and I vote straight down the line for all Democrats.”
This nationalization of partisan voting is driven primarily by social issues, and believe you me, there is definitely a marked contrast between the conservative Republican Party’s philosophy and the liberal Democratic Party’s philosophy. George Wallace would run for President as a third partycandidate and proclaim, “there’s not a dimes worth of difference between the Republican and Democratic Parties.” He certainly could not shout that demagogic diatribe with a straight face today.
This national party label trend not only crept but leapt into Alabama’s traditionally nonpartisan municipal elections this year. By law, mayoral and city council elections are nonpartisan. That now is in title only. The “all politics is local” rule has been tossed aside in even local mayoral races.
The prime example was in Mobile, the state’s second largest city. Mayor Sandy Stimpson chose to not run for a fourth term after 12 years of leading the Port City. He not only endorsed, but openly campaigned and raised money for his chosen successor,Spiro Cheriogotis, who is a former Republican elected District Judge. Cheriogotis won, very narrowly, over Democratic State Representative Barbara Drummond in a runoff. Drummond led in the first primary. Both parties made it a party battle,trumpeting national party themes.
The national and state Democratic Party leaders and donors overtly championed longtime Democratic RepresentativeBarbara Drummond’s campaign as a Democrat versusRepublican battle. She was openly endorsed by former Vice President, Kamala Harris, and Senator Raphael Warnock.
The Alabama Republican Party countered with openly partisan efforts for Cheriogotis. Alabama GOP Chair John Wahl said,“Voters deserve to know the facts about candidates and where they stand on the issues. We are not shy about fighting for strong conservative principles whether it’s in Washington, Montgomery, or at City Hall.” The Republican Party even launched a comprehensive campaign program for the Mobile runoff election that provided their chosen candidate with targeted resources, including direct mail, grassroots mobilization, and even voter contact by text message and digital advertising. Wahl continued, “Historically, the Republican Party has not been engaged in municipal elections, but that changed this election cycle. When there is a race with a clear Republican and a clear Democrat, the Alabama GOP will always stand with our Republican candidate.”
With Cheriogotis, only winning with 50.4% of the vote, it is obvious that the party label made the difference.
See you next week.
October 22, 2025 - Mayor’s Races Settled This Year
When it comes to governing and how it affects your daily life, the most important vote you cast is for mayor of your city.
Most of our elections for mayor and city council were held in August. As is usually the case, the incumbents were reelected to most mayorships and city council. There were some significant upsets. However, for the most part, the city fathers will be back for four more years. City governing is where the rubber meets the road in Alabama and throughout the nation.
We have several mayors retiring this year, who will go into the annals of their city history as probably the greatest mayor their beloved hometown has ever had. Sandy Stimpson is retiring as Mayor of Mobile after 12 years. He has been one of the best mayors in Port City history, probably only rivaled by Arthur Outlaw. Gary Fuller probably has been the greatest mayor in the history of the legendary city of Opelika. His decades reign has been marked with progress beyond compare. He has left his Lee County bailiwick in remarkably sound financial condition. Joe Lee is retiring after 22 years as Mayor of Moody. He has overseen the transformation of his St. Clair County town from a population of 1500 to 15,000. He has left an indelible mark.
Two of our state’s most popular and accomplished mayors, Tommy Battle of Huntsville and Walt Maddox of Tuscaloosa, were elected without any opposition within the past year.
Pike Road founding father, Mayor Gordon Stone, was elected to yet another term. Dothan’s popular Mayor, Mark Saliba, was overwhelmingly reelected by a six to one margin to an unprecedented third term in August. Troy Mayor Jason Reeves was first elected to the City Council in 1996 at 24 years old. Sixteen years later, he was elected mayor at age 40. He wasunopposed for reelection to a third term as mayor this year. If he completes this term, he will be the longest consecutive serving city official in Troy’s history. He will probably make it. He is only 53.
Phenix City’s popular longtime Mayor Eddie Lowe won a fourth term unopposed. Chuck Ables was reelected to his fourth term as Mayor of Geraldine.
Opelika elected veteran City Council President, Eddie Smith, a retired banker and Opelika native to succeed the legendary Gary Fuller as Mayor. Smith has been Mayor Fuller’s longtime ally. They have worked lockstep together over the years to keep Opelika very sound financially. Eddie Smith will be a good mayor.
Spiro Cheriogotis won a razor thin runoff over Barbara Drummond to become the Mayor of Mobile, succeeding Sandy Stimpson.
The most impressive victory of the year was turned in by Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin. He won a whopping 75% of the vote on the way to reelection to his third term. He beateight opponents without a runoff, including a veteran County Commissioner and a vocal longtime State Representative.
Vestavia Mayor Ashley Curry trounced a token opponent on the way to reelection to a third term. He got 87% of the vote.Mountain Brook voters, for the first time, elected a female to serve as mayor. City Council leader Graham Smith ran unopposed. Trussville elected City Council member Ben Short as mayor. Short won an impressive victory, beating two very viable opponents without a runoff. Homewood elected popular City Council member and cross-country runner Jennifer Andress as the first female mayor in their city history.
In one of Alabama’s fastest growing and most prosperous cities, Athens, voters reelected their popular and accomplished Mayor Ronnie Marks to a fifth, four-year term. In another booming Huntsville area suburban city, Madson, voters elected a femaleMayor Ranae Bartlet. She beat two opponents without a runoff.
Albertville’s outstanding Mayor Tracy Honea won reelection to an unprecedented fourth, four-year term, impressively. Kent Lawrence was elected to lead the major City of Decatur. Their longtime Mayor, Tad Bowling, retired. Dale Phillips eclipsed four opponents to win the mayor’s post of the growing City of Northport. In Guntersville, incumbent mayor Leigh Dollar won a fourth four-year term. Mark Jones was elected Mayor of Jacksonville and will do a good job.
The two biggest and impressive upsets of the year occurred in Hoover and Ozark, where two current Police Chiefs beat the incumbent mayors. In Hoover, veteran Police Chief Nick Derzis beat two-term Mayor Frank Brocato by a 56%t to 44% margin to become mayor of the state’s fifth largest city. The most impressive victory was in the Wiregrass City of Ozark. Veteran Police Chief and Law Enforcement officer, Charles Ward, trounced incumbent Mayor Mark Blankenship 72% to 28%. Ward is beloved in Ozark. He will be a proud mayor for his hometown.
The mayor’s office is where the rubber meets the road.
See you next week.
October 15, 2025 - Remembering Shorty Price
We are in the beginning of the Governor’s Race year. It wouldnot be a gubernatorial year without harkening back and remembering ole Shorty Price.
Alabama, in bygone days, would have a slew of what I called “run for the fun of it” candidates. They would run knowing full well they did not have a snowball’s chance to win but they made it a fun show.
By far, the most colorful of these perennial, “also-ran” candidates was William Ralph “Shorty” Price. Shorty was born and raised in Barbour County just like the successful Alabama politician, George C. Wallace. They were not only from the same county, but from the same town of Clio. They even, briefly, roomed together at the University of Alabama.
Shorty had tremendous enmity towards George Wallace, probably because Wallace was as successful as Shorty was unsuccessful. Shorty truly hated Wallace and would run every time Wallace did, and cuss Wallace viciously.
Shorty would run for Governor every four years. He was appropriately nicknamed since he was barely five feet tall. Shorty not only ran for Governor, perennially, but he ran for numerous other offices. He often used recycled campaign signs to save money, but he rarely garnered 2% of the votes.
Shorty would wander around the state in non-election years, panhandling for “contributions” which he quickly converted into cans of Budweiser beer. I never saw Shorty draw a sober breath. He was always exuberantly inebriated. Shorty was just as proudas he could be that he stayed drunk all the time. His campaign slogan was “Smoke Tampa Nugget Cigars, drink Budweiser beer, and vote for Shorty Price for Governor.”
In one of his campaigns for governor, his campaign speech highlighted this line, “If elected governor, I will reduce the governor’s tenure from four to two years. If you can’t steal enough to last you the rest of your life in two years, you ain’t got enough sense to have the office in the first place.” Shorty expressed disdain for Governor Albert Brewer, and stated the reason being that Brewer had enacted a levy of two cents on every beer. Shorty said, “I’m a Budweiser man.”
In the 1958 governor’s race, there were several “also-ran” or“run-for-the-fun-of-it” candidates. Shorty ran behind all of them. He took his last-place finish not as a slight, but as an honor. When a newspaper reporter wrote, some years later, that Price ran next to last in 1958, Shorty replied in mock anger, “That’s a blasphemous lie! There were 14 of us in that race, and I finished last.” Shorty was quite a colorful character.
Shorty loved Alabama football. Following the Crimson Tide was Shorty’s prime passion in life. Many of you remember him from Alabama football games. You could spot Shorty at every Crimson Tide football game, always sporting his Alabama tie and flag and quite drunk. I don’t know if Shorty actually had a seat because he would parade around Denny Stadium or Legion Field posing as Alabama’s head cheerleader. In fact, he would consistently intersperse himself among the real Alabama cheerleaders and help them with their cheers. There was never any question that Shorty was totally inebriated. Shorty worshipped Paul “Bear” Bryant, and like Bryant, Shorty hated Tennessee. Bryant and Shorty had rather beat Tennessee than anybody. This traditional rivalry goes back more than 100 years and was highlighted during the Wallace Wade and General Neyland era rivalry.
In fact, those of you who are Alabama fans are aware that the annual classic Alabama vs. Tennessee game will be played this Saturday in Tuscaloosa. It is because the Tennessee game is this week is the reason I chose to remind Alabamians of Shorty Price. If Shorty was still here, there is no doubt he would be at Bryant Denny stadium in rare form.
Shorty died in a car crash between Troy and Montgomery about 35 years ago. He was more than likely sipping on a Budweiser when he had his accident. I miss ole Shorty.
See you next week.
October 8, 2025 - An Interesting Political Conversation
I was first elected to the Alabama Legislature in 1982. George Wallace had been elected to his last term as governor that year. Therefore, my first term as a legislator was Wallace’s final and fifth term as governor.
I had met Wallace during his first term as Governor in 1963. I was a 12-year-old Legislative Page and he was an energeticyoung governor. He never forgot that day and always reminded me of it in most of our visits.
In 1983, Wallace would have good days and bad. He was in constant pain from six bullet wounds from a crazed would-beassassin who shot him in a Maryland parking lot while he was running for President in 1972. His memory and demeanor were quite diminished from his earlier years. He was also almost completely deaf. A lot of men his age who had fought in World War II had diminished hearing due to excessive exposure to fighter planes and bombings. Wallace’s deafness had become so pronounced that I wondered on my visits down to his office if he ever heard a word that was said. It really did not matter much anyway, because he usually did most of the talking.
My best legislative friend and seatmate was the legendary Mr. Pete Turnham from Auburn. Mr. Pete came to the House in 1958 and served for 40 years from 1958 through 1998. He was the Dean of the House and had a prime seat on the House floor. Like Wallace, Pete remembered me from my youthful Page days and he adopted me as his protégé. Pete prevailed on the venerable House Clerk, John Pemberton, to give me a seat next to him,which was usually reserved for more veteran members. Mr. Pete and I sat together through 1998. I loved Mr. Pete like a father.
Pete Turnham loved and cared for Auburn and Auburn University more than any other legislator in history. Like Wallace, Pete was a veteran of World War II. Unlike Wallace, Pete had a very important and highly decorated world war experience. He was an officer, who had actually been one of Patton’s lieutenants in Europe. However, like Wallace the bombings had rendered Pete deaf in one ear. So, Pete was hard of hearing like Wallace.
Pete, like most men of his generation, loved agriculture and gardening. Mr. Pete graduated from Auburn and majored in Agricultural Science. Pete’s home was on a large tract of land on Moore’s Mill Road in Auburn. He had a tremendous, well-known garden next to his house. He had a green thumb that was unbelievable. He would feed almost half of Lee County out of his garden. Folks who were down on their luck in Auburn and Opelika would awaken to a week’s worth of fresh vegetables left on their doorstep, left anonymously by Pete. His garden was truly legendary.
One day Wallace had asked me and Pete down for a visit together. I am pretty sure Wallace did not know Pete and I were best friends and seatmates. I do not think Pete knew why Wallace wanted to talk with him. I sort of thought Wallace wanted to inform me and Pete of his plans for an educational initiative. Pete was an educational advocate and Wallace knew that.
Well, Pete and I arrived to visit with Wallace who was in his wheelchair with the ever-present cigar. You could tell by the gleam in his eyes that he adored and admired Mr. Pete. They immediately engaged in conversation, and I stood aside and witnessed one of the funniest conversations in my life. These two World War II legends began their conversation and ended their conversation with neither knowing what the other one was saying and totally agreeing with the other.
Wallace was extolling some education matter and Pete nodded in agreement. Pete was thinking Wallace was asking about his garden and he responded by telling Wallace how his peas and tomatoes were doing. They continued their diatribe for 15 minutes. Each time both nodded and smiled while Wallace was telling Pete about how much good his program was going to help the poor little school children and Pete smiling in agreement telling Wallace how his corn was doing.
See you next week.
October 1, 2025 - Alabama’s Adult Education Is One of Nation’s Best – A 60 Year Legacy
Over the past six decades, Alabama’s Adult Education Programs have been transformed by a
quiet revolution that has been extraordinarily successful.
It was my honor to be able to speak to the Annual Adult Education Conference at the downtown
Montgomery Renaissance Center in late June.
When I accepted their invitation to speak, I thought there would be 50 to 60 attendees. However,
when I walked in, I amazingly saw over 400 passionate, positive, energized educators and
administrators that filled the venue.
It quickly dawned on me that we have one of the most successful Adult Education Programs in
America. These folks in attendance are dedicated to their work. It is their passion and purpose. It
is nothing short of a movement that has changed generations and continues to redefine what
opportunity means in our state.
This was not just a professional development conference, it was a celebration of purpose,
perseverance, and the power of education to transform lives at any age.
Adult education is too often viewed narrowly, through the lens of GED attainment. While that
remains a foundational component, this year’s conference emphasized a much broader and more
dynamic vision – one that includes digital literacy, English language acquisition, employability
skills, workforce certifications, and the alignment of career pathways that lead to sustainable
employment.
A key highlight of the conference was the discussion of the newly enacted REACH Act
(Restoring Educational Advancement of Completing High School), Alabama’s High School
diploma option program. This important Act was sponsored by then Representative, now State
Senator Matt Woods of Jasper.
Participants also explored a variety of employability and technical training programs offered
through the Alabama Community College Innovation Center. These skills for success courses are
designed to equip adult learners with real-world, in-demand skills that directly support
Alabama’s economic growth.
This 60th anniversary event also served as a tribute to the legends and heroes of adult education
in Alabama. First on the list of legends was the late Representative Pete Turnham of Auburn.
Pete is considered the Father of Adult Education in Alabama.
The reason I was asked to speak was not as a political columnist, author, or Alabama political
historian, but to share my experiences and personal knowledge of Mr. Pete Turnham as his friend
and legislative colleague.
Mr. Pete and I sat next to each other for almost two decades in the Alabama House of
Representatives. He was not only my mentor and friend, but he was like a father. My two
daughters thought of him like a grandfather. He was truly a good man. He cared about Alabama.
He especially cared about Auburn. He was dedicated to education in our state.
Pete Turnham was a child of the Great Depression. He achieved success in business along with
being the “Dean of the House of Representatives.” When he retired from the legislature in 1998,
he had served longer than anyone in state history. Mr. Pete never talked about it much, but he
was a World War II hero. He fought with General Patton in Europe. Mr. Pete epitomized “The
Greatest Generation.”
During his many years in the legislature, Pete served on the House Ways and Means Committee,
which appropriates money. Through his Seat, he garnered a $1 million appropriation singularly
for adult education. This was a large amount of money at that time and the first for adult
education in Alabama.
Pete Turnham was a towering figure in Alabama’s legislative history and an unrelenting
champion for nontraditional learners. Mr. Pete’s advocacy was deeply personal, grounded in the
belief that education was not a privilege, but a right – no matter your age or station in life. A
scholarship bears Pete Turnham’s name, continuing his legacy by helping adult learners return to
the classroom.
The sheer turnout at this 60th anniversary event conference reinforced what many of us in
politics should understand, there is a hunger for education in our state. While budgets and ballot
boxes dominate headlines, investments in adult education quietly yield some of the greatest
returns.
See you next week.