Republican Party Of Alabama
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Alabama Republican Party is the state affiliate of the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
in Alabama. It is the dominant political party in Alabama. The state party is governed by the Alabama Republican Executive Committee. The committee usually meets twice a year. As of the February 23, 2019 meeting in Birmingham, the committee is composed of 463 members. Most of the committee's members are elected in district elections across Alabama. The district members are elected in the Republican Primary once every four years, with the most recent election for the committee having been on June 5, 2018. The new committee takes office following the general election in November 2018. In addition, all 67 county GOP chairmen have automatic seats as voting members. The state chairman can appoint 10 members. Each county committee can appoint bonus members (maximum of 5 per county) based on a formula that theoretically could add 312 seats, although that formula currently calls for only about 50 seats. The Alabama Republican Executive Committee has several important functions. Every two years the committee elects the state chairman, vice chairmen, the secretary and the treasurer as well as other members of a steering committee. Together, they have responsibility for administering the day-to-day operations of the party. The committee also sets election rules for the statewide Republican primary and has oversight responsibilities for the 67 county parties. The committee also elects The national committeeman (currently Paul Reynolds, since 2008) and national committeewoman (currently Vicki A. Drummond, since 2012) to serve on the Republican National Committee from Alabama. In addition, Vicki Drummond serves as the secretary of the Republican National Committee. Once every four years the committee selects the GOP slate for U.S. presidential electors and chooses alternate delegates to the GOP National Convention.


Party chairman and officers

The chairman of the Alabama Republican Party is John Wahl of Limestone County. He was elected without opposition on February 27, 2021, at the Winter Meeting of the Party in Montgomery, Alabama. He had served the prior two years as Senior Vice Chairman. He was succeeded as Senior Vice Chairman by John Skipper of Mobile County who was elected immediately following Wahl's election. The secretary of the Alabama Republican Party also elected on February 27, 2021, is Carol Jahns of Prattville
Autauga County Autauga County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the population was 58,805. Its county seat is Prattville. Autauga County is part of the Montgomery metropolitan area. History Auta ...
. She succeeded Josh Dodd of Lauderdale County who served a single two-year term in the post. The party treasurer is Sallie Bryant of Jefferson County who has held the post since mid-2017 and was re-elected in both 2019 and 2021. The longest-serving chairman in state party history was Claude O. Vardaman of Birmingham, who held the post for twenty years from 1942 to 1962. The first chairman of the Alabama GOP was John C. Keffer (1867) of Montgomery, who was an agent for the Freedmen's Bureau.


Current elected officials


Members of Congress


U.S. Senate

Republicans have controlled Alabama's Class III seat in the U.S. Senate since 1994 when incumbent Senator Richard Shelby switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. Shelby was subsequently re-elected to a third term in
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
: File:Richard Shelby, official portrait, 112th Congress crop.jpg, Senior U.S. Senator File:Tommy Tuberville 117th Congress Portrait.jpg, Junior U.S. Senator


U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 7 seats Alabama is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, 6 are held by Republicans: * AL-01: Jerry Carl * AL-02: Barry Moore * AL-03:
Mike D. Rogers Michael Dennis Rogers (born July 16, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party of Alabama. Since 2021, he has served as the Ranking Member of the House Ar ...
* AL-04: Robert Aderholt * AL-05: Mo Brooks * AL-06: Gary Palmer


Statewide Constitutional Offices

Republicans control all seven of the elected statewide offices: * Governor: Kay Ivey *
Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
: Will Ainsworth *
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
: Steve Marshall * Secretary of State: John Merrill *
State Auditor State auditors (also known as state comptrollers, state controllers, state examiners, or inspectors general) are fiscal officers lodged in the executive or legislative branches of U.S. state governments who serve as external auditors, financial ...
:
Jim Zeigler Jim Zeigler (born May 23, 1948) is an American lawyer and politician who served as state auditor of Alabama from 2015 to 2023. Before becoming state auditor, he served on the Alabama Public Service Commission from 1974 to 1978. Early life and ...
*
State Treasurer In the state governments of the United States, 48 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the position in 1926; duties were transferred to New York State Comptroller. Texas abolished the position of Texas ...
:
Young Boozer Young Jacob Boozer III (born November 23, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 39th State Treasurer of Alabama from 2011 to 2019. He was elected to his first four-year term on November 2, 2010, and was unopposed and reelected for a ...
* Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries:
Rick Pate Rick Pate (born April 6, 1955) is an American politician serving as the 30th Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries in Alabama. He previously served as mayor of Lowndesboro, Alabama from 2004 until his election as Commissioner of Agricultur ...


Statewide Statutory Offices

*
Alabama Public Service Commission The Alabama Public Service Commission, commonly called the PSC, was established by an act of the Alabama Legislature in 1915 to primarily replace the State Railroad Commission. The PSC's responsibility was expanded in 1920 to include regulating ...
* President - Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh * Associate Commissioner - Place 1 - Jeremy H. Oden * Associate Commissioner - Place 2 - Chris "Chip" Beeker, Jr.


Supreme Court of Alabama

* Chief Justice: Tom Parker * Associate Justice:
Brady E. Mendheim Jr. Brady Eutaw Mendheim Jr. (born July 26, 1968) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama. Biography Mendheim earned his Bachelor of Arts from Auburn University and his Juris Doctor from Cumberland ...
* Associate Justice: Tommy Bryan * Associate Justice: William Sellers * Associate Justice: Jay Mitchell * Associate Justice:
Sarah Hicks Stewart Sarah Hicks Stewart (born April 26, 1963) is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama. Education Stewart received both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in communications from the University of Arkansas. She went on to receiv ...
* Associate Justice: Greg Shaw * Associate Justice: Kelli Wise * Associate Justice: Michael F. Bolin


Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

* William C. Thompson, Presiding Judge *Christy O. Edwards *
Matt Fridy Matt Fridy (born January 17, 1976) is an American politician and lawyer. He serves as a judge on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals and served in the Alabama House of Representatives from the 73rd district from 2014 to 2020. Fridy graduated fro ...
*Chad Arthur Hanson *
Terry A. Moore Terry A. Moore (born June 30, 1965) is a Judge of the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. Education Moore was born June 30, 1965 in Mobile, Alabama. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Alabama in 1990, and his Juris Doct ...


Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

*Mary Becker Windom, Presiding Judge *Richard J. Minor *J. Elizabeth Kellum *J. Chris McCool *James William "Bill" Cole


State Legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

* President Pro Tempore of the Senate:
Greg Reed Greg Reed (born June 5, 1965) is an American politician. He serves as a Republican member of the Alabama Senate, representing the 5th District since 2010. He defeated Democrat Brett Wadsworth in the 2010 midterm elections to replace Charles Bish ...
** Senate Majority Leader:
Clay Scofield Clay Scofield is an American farmer and politician. A Republican, he has served as a member of the Alabama State Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabam ...
*
Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...
: Mac McCutcheon ** Speaker Pro Tempore: Victor Gaston ** House Majority Leader: Nathaniel Ledbetter


The founding of the Alabama GOP (1854–1867)

When the Republican Party was first organized in 1854, as an anti-slavery party, it did not compete in southern states such as Alabama. In its first three presidential elections (including
1864 Events January–March * January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song " ...
, in which Alabama did not participate due to the Civil War), the party did not even distribute ballots in Alabama for its presidential candidate. (At the time, ballots were not printed by the government, but were distributed by parties for their supporters to drop into ballot boxes). After the Civil War and following Alabama's readmission to the union in 1868, Alabama was a Republican dominated state for much of the Reconstruction period due to a combination of factors including its support from north Alabama unionists, poor white farmers who had never owned slaves, and the newly enfranchised black voters. Republican Ulysses S. Grant carried the state in both the 1868 and 1872 presidential elections. One of the organizations that became the initial Alabama GOP, the Union League, first came into north Alabama in 1863 as counties fell back under Union control during The Civil War. In early 1867, local Republicans gathered in several different meetings around the state. The first was in Moulton, on January 8 and 9 in Lawrence County, then March meetings in both Huntsville and Decatur, a gathering on March 25 in Montgomery, and then May 1 in Mobile, all for the purpose of organizing an early summer state convention to create a state Republican Party. In a simultaneous meeting with the Union League, the Republican Party of Alabama was initially organized on June 4–5, 1867. That first state convention was held in the capital city of Montgomery in the chambers of the Alabama House of Representatives. That convention was called the Union Republican Convention and consisted of 150 delegates, of whom 100 were black. Alabama Governor
Robert M. Patton Robert Miller Patton (July 10, 1809 – February 28, 1885) was an American politician who served as the 20th governor of the Alabama from 1865 to 1868. He was born July 10, 1809, in Russell County, Virginia. His father, William Patton, had b ...
spoke to the convention. Francis W. Sykes of Lawrence County was elected as chairman pro tempore, and Judge William Hugh Smith of Randolph County was named permanent chairman of the convention. The convention's delegates were mostly from two groups, the
Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...
(which included and/or represented most of Alabama's black citizens) and the Union League which represented about the 1/3 of north Alabama's white citizens who had remained as loyalists in the Civil War or had otherwise opposed secession in 1861. The convention adopted what was considered a liberal platform for the time including "equal rights for all men without distinction of color." The convention also endorsed the platform of the National Republican Party and supported free public education for all Alabamians. The convention established the first State Republican Executive Committee of 24 members. It included 12 prominent native Alabamians whom had mostly been unionists. The other members included three carpetbaggers, five African-Americans, and four otherwise unaffiliated and unidentified individuals.


Early history of Alabama GOP (1868–1890)

In 1868, William Hugh Smith was elected to a single two-year term as the state's first Republican governor. That same year saw Republican
Andrew Applegate Andrew J. Applegate (October 14, 1833 – August 21, 1870) was a lawyer, officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and served as the first Lieutenant Governor of Alabama during Reconstruction. A Republican, Applegate served with ...
elected as the first-ever lieutenant governor of Alabama under the state's newly adopted constitution of 1867. That first post Civil War legislature under the new constitution was elected in February, 1868, with a 100-member House of Representatives (two-year terms) composed of 97 Republicans and 3 Democrats. The State Senate (four-year terms) was even more lopsided, with a single Democrat to its 32 Republicans. The 1868 legislature also included 27 Black Republicans, the first minority members in Alabama history. All but one were members of the House of Representatives. That same year
Benjamin F. Royal Benjamin F. Royal was a state senator in Alabama during the Reconstruction era. He was elected to the state senate in 1868, and was the first African American to serve in the chamber. He represented Bullock County and served for nine years. He s ...
(1868–1875) of Bullock County became the first black State Senator in Alabama history. That Republican-controlled legislature passed a resolution on November 24, 1869, approving the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing black men the right to vote in Alabama. Governor Smith was defeated for re-election in 1870, garnering 49.5% of the vote and losing by a margin of just 1,439 votes. Although the Senate was not up for re-election that year, Democrats retook the House with 57 seats to the Republicans 38 seats, of which 19 were African-American Republicans. After Republicans spent a single term out of the governor's office,
David P. Lewis David P. Lewis (born David Peter Lewis; May 18, 1820 – July 3, 1884) was a lawyer and politician who served as the List of governors of Alabama, 23rd governor of Alabama from 1872 to 1874 during the Reconstruction era. He was also a Deput ...
was elected as the state's second GOP governor, winning 89,020 to 78,524 over his Democratic opponent. He served from 1872 to 1874. His GOP lieutenant governor was
Alexander McKinstry Alexander McKinstry (March 7, 1822 – October 9, 1879) was the third Lieutenant Governor of Alabama. A Republican, McKinstry served under Governor David P. Lewis of the same political party from 1872 to 1874. He was the last Republican to s ...
. During Governor Lewis' term, disputed election results produced two competing legislatures, one with a Democratic majority and the other a Republican majority. After this dispute was ultimately settled, Republicans had a 2-seat majority in the House and Democrats a 1-seat majority in the Senate. Again, this 1872 legislature included 24 African-American Republican members with 5 being in the Senate. The 1874 legislature would see only 13 Republican Senators and House membership at 40. However, this legislature would hit a high-water mark for minority representation with 33 African-American Republicans. The 1876 election would result in 18 members (7 of which were African-American) being elected to the House and only 4 Republicans to the Senate. Republicans would be reduced to just 8 members in the House in the 1878 election. Following the 1880 election Republicans held only a single seat in the Alabama House with the election of Benjamin M. Long from Walker County. In fact, Walker County had a strong Republican Party for much of the remainder of the 19th century. Republican representation in the legislature and other public offices had declined rapidly after the 1875 Constitution was adopted. That document began the process of restricting black voter participation and expanding all forms of Jim Crow laws. Further orchestrated efforts at voter intimidation, lynchings, vote fraud, and the inability of differing Republican factions to work together all doomed the party to long-term failure. After the 1878 election no black, and few Republicans, would be elected to the legislature again until the 1970s. During this same Reconstruction period three African-American Republicans were elected to the United States Congress from Alabama. They were Benjamin Turner (42nd Congress),
James T. Rapier James Thomas Rapier (November 13, 1837 – May 31, 1883) was a politician from Alabama during the Reconstruction Era. He served as a United States representative from Alabama, for one term from 1873 until 1875. Born free in Alabama, he went to sc ...
(43rd Congress) and
Jeremiah Haralson Jeremiah Haralson (April 1, 1846 – 1916?), was a politician from Alabama who served as a state legislator and was among the first ten African-American United States Congressmen. Born into slavery in Columbus, Georgia, Haralson became self-educ ...
(44th Congress). However, the first Republican Congressmen from Alabama were elected in 1868. They were
Charles W. Buckley Charles Waldron Buckley (February 18, 1835 – December 4, 1906) was a U.S. Representative from Alabama. Born in Unadilla, New York, Buckley attended the public schools in Unadilla and Freeport, Illinois, where his parents moved in 1846. He ...
(40th and 41st Congress'),
Francis W. Kellogg Francis William Kellogg (May 30, 1810 – January 13, 1879) was a U.S. Representative from the states of Michigan, during the Civil War, and Alabama, during Reconstruction. Biography Kellogg was born in Worthington, Massachusetts and ...
,
Benjamin W. Norris Benjamin White Norris (January 22, 1819 – January 26, 1873) was a U.S. Representative from Alabama. Early life and education Born in Monmouth, Maine, Norris prepared for college at Monmouth Academy, and was graduated from Waterville ...
,
Charles W. Pierce Charles Wilson Pierce (October 7, 1823 – February 18, 1907) was a U.S. Representative from Alabama. Biography Born in Benton, New York, Pierce completed preparatory studies. He moved with his father to Sandusky, Ohio, in 1829, and from th ...
,
John B. Callis John Benton Callis (January 3, 1828September 24, 1898) was an American businessman, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served as a Union Army officer during the American Civil War and was then elected as a reconstruction-era U.S. congress ...
, and
Thomas Haughey Thomas Haughey (1826 – August 5, 1869) was a U.S. Representative from Alabama. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Haughey received a limited education. He immigrated with his father to the United States, where they settled in New York City. In 1841, h ...
who would be assassinated in Alabama while giving a speech. The first Republican Senators from Alabama were
Willard Warner Willard Warner (September 4, 1826 – November 23, 1906) was a brevet brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was a U.S. senator from the state of Alabama after the war. Early life and career Warner was born in Gra ...
(1868–1871) and George E. Spencer (1868–1879) who were both elected by the legislature before adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.


Alabama Republicans and the Populists (1890–1916)

By the late 1890s, a coalition between the Populist Party and the Republican Party often produced "fusion tickets", that combined forces in several subsequent elections to win control of several of Alabama hill counties in this era. They were most dominant in Marshall, St. Clair, Shelby, and Chilton Counties. Between 1892 and 1932 Shelby County was usually closely contested under the leadership of A. P. Longshore. Marshall County elected Republican Thomas Kennamer in 1896 to the Alabama House of Representatives. DeKalb County voted in 1896 for GOP Presidential candidate William McKinley. Chilton County was decidedly Republican between 1900 and 1912, including electing Lewis W. Reynolds as a Republican Probate Judge in 1904 and again in 1916. S. J. Petree was elected as a Republican Probate Judge in Franklin County in 1910; C. C. Scheuing was elected Cullman County Sheriff in 1910; J. B. Sloan was elected as a Republican to the State Senate from a district made up of Blount, Cullman, and Winston Counties. In 1910, J. J. Curtis of Winston County became the first Republican Circuit Judge (for Winston & Walker Counties) in Alabama since Reconstruction. In this time period, in the 54th United States Congress, two brothers, Truman H. Aldrich (1896–1897) and William F. Aldrich (1896–1897), both served as Republicans. William Aldrich also served in the 55th Congress (1898–99) and the 56th Congress (1900–01) with the unusual distinction of having been seated all three times in disputed elections ultimately decided by Congress itself. After William Aldrich left Congress in 1901, no Republican would be elected again until 1964.


Post Office Republicans (1916–1962)

Following the end of the populist era, Republicans effectively competed in just a few isolated hill counties, mostly in north Alabama. While the Reconstruction period saw their strongest voting base in the
Black Belt Black Belt may refer to: Martial arts * Black belt (martial arts), an indication of attainment of expertise in martial arts * ''Black Belt'' (magazine), a magazine covering martial arts news, technique, and notable individuals Places * Black B ...
counties, Republicans during this period relied on the north Alabama counties that had never been strong proponents of the institution of slavery. The GOP garnered its support from a coalition of small farmers, blacks, labor, prohibitionists, etc. Again, these were often voters primarily from counties across the northern width of the state like Lawrence, Blount, Cullman, Walker, Winston, and DeKalb counties. Many of these counties regularly elected some Republicans to local office or occasionally to the state legislature well into the 1920s. However, only
Winston County Winston County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Winston County, Alabama Winston County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,540. Its county seat is Double Springs. Known as H ...
reliably elected Republicans to almost all offices as the county had attempted to secede from Alabama during the Civil War and has always been considered ancestrally Republican. During this prolonged period the Alabama GOP atrophied as a political party and became heavily dependent on federal patronage for its existence. The federal appointments during Republican administrations in Washington for such offices as local postmasters, U.S. Attorneys, and federal judgeships became the only real presence of a Republican Party to most of the state. The state party usually returned thanks for this patronage by pledging its National Convention delegates to the supporting administration, thus making control of the party only about seats at the National Conventions and the issue of patronage. This situation caused its members to be derisively called "Post Office Republicans" both inside and outside of the party. Since most of the party's effort and energy was to securing those federal offices rather than trying to win actual election at the ballot box the party almost died completely by the late 1950s. The most important and prominent of these Republican appointees would occur when President Eisenhower appointed Winston County's Frank M. Johnson to a Federal District Judgeship. Ironically, Johnson's frequent pro civil rights rulings from the bench would make him a hero to liberal Democrats and widely disliked in his own party. Johnson's owe father had briefly served in the state legislature as a Republican from 1942 to 1944.


The Goldwater Landslide and the modern GOP (1962–1972)

The modern Republican Party in Alabama traces its roots back to the election of John Grenier as State Party Chairman in 1962. That year Grenier with the support of the Alabama Young Republicans forced long-time Chairman Claude O. Vardaman into retirement without a contest. Grenier, along with a new generation of political activists played leading roles in re-organizing the party and moving beyond the "Post Office Republican" era. Determined to change the focus back to winning elections they recruited serious candidates for Congress in 1962. That year they nearly toppled U.S. Senator Lister Hill with the candidacy of
James D. Martin James Douglas Martin (September 1, 1918 – October 30, 2017) was an American politician. Martin was born in Tarrant, Alabama. He served as a member for the 7th district of Alabama of the United States House of Representatives The U ...
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress in a controversial race that Republicans have always maintained was "stolen" in the dead of the night. Two years later most of those same candidates for Congress would run again in 1964, resulting in a Republican sweep of five of Alabama's eight congressional seats with victories by Jack Edwards, Glenn Andrews,
James D. Martin James Douglas Martin (September 1, 1918 – October 30, 2017) was an American politician. Martin was born in Tarrant, Alabama. He served as a member for the 7th district of Alabama of the United States House of Representatives The U ...
, John Buchanan and Bill Dickinson. Martin would give up his congressional seat two years later in an unsuccessful run for Governor against Lurleen Wallace, but the GOP would hold three of the congressional seats for decades to come. That election, commonly referred to in Alabama as "The Goldwater Landslide" would see the GOP win several dozen local offices. It also included the election of Probate Judges in Cullman County named Guy Hunt and
Perry O. Hooper, Sr. Perry Oliver Hooper Sr. (April 8, 1925 – April 24, 2016) was an American jurist who served as the twenty-seventh Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court from 1995 to 2001. He was the first Republican Party (United States), Republican sin ...
, in Montgomery County. Both would later go on to greater electoral successes. The 1964 election is credited as partially laying the foundations for Alabama's modern Republican Party. Among the party's other prominent officeholders in the period was
George G. Siebels, Jr. George G. Seibels, Jr. (July 16, 1913 – March 28, 2000), was the first Republican to serve as the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama. Seibels was born in 1913 in Coronado, California. He was the son of Rear Admiral George Seibels, Sr., of Mont ...
who served two terms as Mayor of Birmingham from 1967 to 1975. In 1968, the party went through a nasty internal struggle for Alabama's seat on the Republican National Committee. John Grenier would lose that contest to Jim Martin. It would take many years to heal the rift the bitter race had caused between two old friends and their respective supporters in the party.


A statewide primary and the 1986 election (1972–2010)

In 1972, the state party made a historic change from a state convention nominating system for all candidates to having a statewide party primary. This allowed voters to directly choose all nominees for public and party offices with its main goal being to broaden public support for the party. It would only slowly have that desired effect. In 1978, the party would begin its long steady build-up to competing for seats in the legislature by winning a few seats in suburban Birmingham, Mobile, and Montgomery. In 1980, Jeremiah Denton became the first popularly elected Republican U. S. Senator in Alabama history after first winning that new statewide primary. In 1982,
Emory Folmar Emory McCord Folmar (June 3, 1930 – November 11, 2011) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, from 1977 to 1999. Although the mayor's office is nonpartisan, Folmar was known to be a Republican. Backgr ...
who would serve as Mayor of Montgomery (1977–1999) would make the party's first serious run for Governor since Martin in 1966. However, four years later in 1986, the wisdom of the change to a primary finally paid huge dividends for the GOP. Guy Hunt in a very unusual election would defeat the Democrat with 57% of the vote in the Governor's race. Hunt had been chosen in a statewide primary and the Democrat's disqualified their nominee claiming he had "unfairly" won their primary. Voters rewarded the GOP by electing Guy Hunt. Hunt's election is widely viewed as effectively making Alabama a two-party state even though Republicans only made very modest legislative gains that year. The victory in the Governor's race in
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...
was the first Republican win in a statewide constitutional office since Reconstruction, ending 114 years of Democratic control. Almost immediately the party became focused on winning the other statewide races (Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Auditor, Commissioner of Agriculture and the Public Service Commission). In 1994,
Perry O. Hooper, Sr. Perry Oliver Hooper Sr. (April 8, 1925 – April 24, 2016) was an American jurist who served as the twenty-seventh Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court from 1995 to 2001. He was the first Republican Party (United States), Republican sin ...
would defeat the incumbent Democratic Chief Justice of Alabama in another controversial race. That same year Republicans increased their total in the Alabama House of Representatives from 24 to 31 seats. Legislative membership continued to modestly climb each cycle and Republicans began winning other statewide offices. Republicans also won the State Auditor's Race and the Secretary of State's office.


Republican strength (2010–present)

The move to GOP hegemony in the statewide offices occurred fairly quickly. In the November 2010 general election 136 years of Democratic control of the
Alabama state legislature The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the House of Representatives and Senate. It is one of the few state legislatures in which members of both chambers se ...
finally came to an end. That day, the GOP won large majorities in both chambers gaining 17 seats in the House and 11 in the State Senate. Within another two weeks four additional House seats moved to the GOP column as four self-styled conservatives bolted from the Democrats to the GOP just after they had been re-elected. Over the four-year term that followed another Democratic incumbent in the Senate would switch to being Republican as well as two more Democratic House members joining the GOP. Also, in the 2010 general election Republicans swept all statewide races electing Robert J. Bentley as Governor and Kay Ivey defeating the Democratic incumbent in the Lieutenant Governor's race. Republicans have won seven of the last eight governors races dating back to 1986. In 2012 Democrats lost the last statewide office still in their possession. On April 10, 2017, Lt. Governor Kay Ivey became Alabama's 54th Governor upon the resignation of
Robert J. Bentley Robert Julian Bentley (born February 3, 1943) is an American former politician and physician who served as the 53rd governor of Alabama from 2011 until 2017 upon his resignation after a sex scandal involving a political aide and subsequent a ...
. She became the second woman in Alabama history to hold the governorship. As of 2021, Republicans hold both of Alabama's U.S. Senate seats and six of its seven seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Until December 2017, no Democrat had been elected to the U. S. Senate from the state since 1992 when
Richard Shelby Richard Craig Shelby (born May 6, 1934) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Alabama. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat who later switched to the Republican Party in 1994, h ...
was elected to a second term. Shelby switched parties in 1994 and has since been re-elected easily. On December 12, 2017, Democrat Doug Jones defeated Republican Nominee Roy Moore in a special election, and took office on January 3, 2018. He was defeated by Tommy Tuberville on November 3, 2020. The GOP has won six consecutive races for Attorney General dating back to 1994. Six of the eight seats on the State Board of Education have elected Republicans. The
Alabama Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is house ...
, State Appeals Courts, and the rest of the state judiciary are moving decisively to Republican dominance. All nine Supreme Court justices and the ten judges who sit on the two statewide appellate courts are all Republicans. The partisan line-up of Circuit Judges following the 2016 general election consists of 82 Republicans and 66 Democrats. However, the Democrats judgeships are increasing limited to urban area as 34 of their 66 judgeships are in just Jefferson and Montgomery counties, while the GOP judgeships are spread among 38 different counties. As of October 2017, the GOP has a majority on the district courts with 62 seats to the Democrats 42. It is all the more dramatic when one considers that there were less than one half dozen GOP judges in Alabama prior to 1986. As of March 1, 2016, of the 351 county commissioners in Alabama's 67 counties, the partisan breakdown is 183 Republicans and 168 Democrats. 37 Courthouses had Republican majority County Commissions, 28 had Democratic majorities, and 2 were evenly split.Alabama Association of County Commissions Of Alabama's 67 elected county school boards, the breakdown of seats heading into the 2016 General Election is 201 Republicans and 172 Democrats. However, the GOP has a majority on 33 of those boards and the Democrats also have a majority on 33 with one remaining board being evenly split in Pike County.


Recent election cycles


2014

Republicans held onto every seat in their legislative majority in 2014. In fact, increasing their numbers again in both chambers by defeating incumbent Democrats and winning open seats. They added three State Senate seats to hold 26 to just 8 Democrats and 1 Independent. In the House they added five more seats taking their majority to 72 seats for the GOP and just 33 for the Democrats. Yet as recently as 1977, there were no Republicans in either chamber of the Alabama Legislature until a lone seat in Mobile County was won that year in a special election. In 2014, Governor Bentley received almost 64% of the vote, leading a sweep of all statewide offices that also included the re-election of Lieutenant Governor Kay Ivey, the state's first female Republican Lieutenant Governor. GOP U.S. Senator, Jeff Sessions was unopposed for a fourth term, the first time in state history that Democrats failed to produce a nominee.


2016

The GOP Presidential nominee, Donald Trump, handily carried the state in 2016 taking 62.1% of the vote over Hillary Clinton. This was the 10th straight GOP Presidential nominee to carry the state; the last Democrats to carry Alabama were Jimmy Carter in 1976 and John F. Kennedy in 1960. However, Carter only received a plurality of the vote and Kennedy only received 5 of the 11 Electoral Votes of the state with the other six going to Virginia U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd. Senator
Richard Shelby Richard Craig Shelby (born May 6, 1934) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Alabama. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat who later switched to the Republican Party in 1994, h ...
was re-elected that year as well as the state's six Republican congressman.


2018

In the November 6, 2018, general election, Republicans swept to an easy victory in every statewide contest with Governor Kay Ivey winning a full term with over 59% of the vote. Will Ainsworth received over 60% in the Lieutenant Governor's race and Tom Parker defeated Democrat Bob Vance, Jr. by more than 15 points in the race for Chief Justice. Democrats also lost another five seats in the Alabama House of Representatives making the new lineup to be 77 Republicans and 28 Democrats. Republicans held all their seats in both legislative chambers and also added one additional seat in the State Senate making the upper chambers partisan alignment to be 27 Republicans and 8 Democrats.Alabama Secretary of State website


2020

In the November 3, 2020, general election, Alabama had a 62.19% turnout. President Trump carried Alabama with 62.15% of the vote, making it the 11th straight Republican presidential victory in the state. In the U.S. Senate race, Tommy Tuberville defeated U.S. Senator Doug Jones with 60.21%. Jones 39.62% was the weakest percentage for an incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator in Alabama since the direct election of U.S. Senators began in 1914. Republicans easily won all six U.S. Representative races in which they fielded candidates. This included 64.88% in the open 1st District with the election of Jerry Carl and the open 2nd District where GOP nominee, Barry Moore received 65.30%. Republicans won all the statewide races. This included both seats on the
Alabama Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is house ...
, two seats on the Court of Civil Appeals, and two seats on the Court of Criminal Appeals, in which the Democrats had failed to field candidates. Only in the statewide race for the Presidency of the Public Service Commission did the Democrats run a candidate. That individual lost to the incumbent Republican, Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, who won a third term with 62.09% of the vote.Dixie Bibb Graves (1937-38). The Yellowhammer State can accurately be described as one of the more staunchly Republican states in the nation. According to the Gallup polling organization, Alabama is the eighth most Republican state in the nation.


Past Chairs of the Alabama Republican Party


Republican Governors of Alabama

* William Hugh Smith (1868–1870) *
David P. Lewis David P. Lewis (born David Peter Lewis; May 18, 1820 – July 3, 1884) was a lawyer and politician who served as the List of governors of Alabama, 23rd governor of Alabama from 1872 to 1874 during the Reconstruction era. He was also a Deput ...
(1872–1874) * Guy Hunt (1987–1993) * Fob James (1995–1999) * Bob Riley (2003–2011) *
Robert J. Bentley Robert Julian Bentley (born February 3, 1943) is an American former politician and physician who served as the 53rd governor of Alabama from 2011 until 2017 upon his resignation after a sex scandal involving a political aide and subsequent a ...
(2011–2017) * Kay Ivey (2017–present) Alabama Department of Archives and History


Republican Lieutenant Governors of Alabama

*
Andrew Applegate Andrew J. Applegate (October 14, 1833 – August 21, 1870) was a lawyer, officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and served as the first Lieutenant Governor of Alabama during Reconstruction. A Republican, Applegate served with ...
(1868–1870) *
Alexander McKinstry Alexander McKinstry (March 7, 1822 – October 9, 1879) was the third Lieutenant Governor of Alabama. A Republican, McKinstry served under Governor David P. Lewis of the same political party from 1872 to 1874. He was the last Republican to s ...
(1872–1874) *
Steve Windom Stephen Ralph Windom (born November 6, 1949) is an American attorney and politician who served as member of the Alabama State Senate from 1989 to 1998 and as the 27th lieutenant governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003. Windom's political career ...
(1999–2003) * Kay Ivey (2011–2017) * Will Ainsworth (2019–present)


Republican Attorney's General of Alabama

* Joshua Morse (1868–1869) * Benjamin Gardner (1872–1873) * Jeff Sessions (1995–1997) *
William H. Pryor, Jr. William Holcombe Pryor Jr. (born April 26, 1962) is an American lawyer serving as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is a former commissioner of the United States Sentencing Commission. Previously, ...
(1997–2004) *
Troy King Troy Robin King (born August 22, 1968) is the former attorney general of the state of Alabama. He previously served as an assistant attorney general and a legal adviser to both Republican governors Bob Riley and Fob James. King was appointed by ...
(2004–2011) * Luther Strange (2011–2017) * Steve Marshall (2017–present)


Prominent Alabama Republicans

*
Winton M. Blount Winton Malcolm Blount Jr., known as Red Blount (February 1, 1921 – October 24, 2002), was an American philanthropist and politician who served as the United States Postmaster General from January 22, 1969, to January 1, 1972. He founded and ser ...
, Postmaster General of the United States (1969–1972) *
William J. Cabaniss William Jelks Cabaniss Jr. (born July 11, 1938) Retrieved January 27, 2009. is an American politician and diplomat who served as a member of both chambers of the Alabama Legislature and U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic in the George W. Bus ...
, United States Ambassador to Czech Republic (2004–2006) * William Hooper Councill, black educator and first President of Alabama A&M University * Jeremiah Denton, U.S. Senator (1981–1987) and war hero * William Brevard Hand, U.S. District Judge (1971–1989) * Frank Minis Johnson, United States District Judge (1955–1979); U.S. Court of Appeals Judge (1979–1999) *
F. David Mathews Forrest David Mathews (born December 6, 1935) served as the 11th United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1975 to 1977, during the administration of President Gerald R. Ford. He also served two nonconsecutive terms as the pr ...
, U. S. Secretary of Health, Education & Welfare (1975–1977) *
William H. Pryor, Jr. William Holcombe Pryor Jr. (born April 26, 1962) is an American lawyer serving as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is a former commissioner of the United States Sentencing Commission. Previously, ...
, Chief Judge, 11th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals *
Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Uni ...
, U. S. Secretary of State (2005–2009) *
Edwina Rogers Edwina Clifton Rogers (born May 27, 1964) has served in public policy positions in the US Senate, White House, private, and international sectors for over twenty years. She has worked for two presidents and four senators, and founded or directed l ...
, General Counsel to the Republican National Committee (1994) and prominent Washington lobbyist * Jeff Sessions, Attorney General of the United States (2017–2018) *
Margaret D. Tutwiler Margaret DeBardeleben Tutwiler (born December 28, 1950) is an American politician who has served multiple different positions within the United States Department of State. Early life and career Tutwiler was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the daugh ...
, United States Ambassador to Morocco (2001–2003) * Booker T. Washington, educator, civil rights leader, and first President of Tuskegee University *
Heather Whitestone Heather Leigh Whitestone McCallum (born February 24, 1973) is a former beauty queen and conservative activist who was the first deaf Miss America title holder, having lost most of her hearing at 18 months. Early life Whitestone was born in Doth ...
, Miss America (1995)


See also

* Political party strength in Alabama * List of state parties of the Republican Party (United States)


References


External links


Alabama Republican Party website

Campaign 2010 website

Alabama Federation of Republican Women

Young Republican Federation of Alabama

College Republican Federation of Alabama

Alabama Minority GOP
{{Authority control Politics of Alabama Alabama Political parties in Alabama