While lawmakers won’t gavel in for the 2027 legislative session for another 134 days, the field for one leadership race has already shaped up, and will play out inside the House Republican Caucus in the weeks following the November 3 general election.

Alabama House Majority Leader Paul Lee (R-Dothan) is seeking a full four-year term in the post, seven months after members elected him to fill the vacancy left by his predecessor.

State Rep. Kerry “Bubba” Underwood (R-Tuscumbia) has entered the race against him. The 76 members will make the call for the next quadrennium.

Neither man has an opponent in November. Lee’s District 86 in Houston County and Underwood’s District 3 in the Shoals drew no challenger in the Republican primary or the general election, so the only ballot either faces this fall is the one his colleagues cast.

In 2022, the caucus met two days after the general election to choose its leaders.

The Alabama Legislature’s organizational session in January is set to double as the official opening of the new State House – and Montgomery, too, will not look much like it did a year prior.

Governor Kay Ivey, Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth, Attorney General Steve Marshall, Secretary of State Wes Allen, and Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate will each hand off their tenures in January.

The House Republican supermajority, 76 of 105 seats, is one of the few fixtures that will look the same in January.

Lee, 65, came to Montgomery in 2010 with the class that handed Republicans their first legislative majority in 136 years, after five years on the Dothan City Commission.

He runs the Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center and chaired the House Health Committee until the Majority Leader post opened in February.

State Rep. Scott Stadthagen (R-Hartselle), who had held the post since 2022, resigned from the post to run for Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party – a seat itself that was vacated by John Wahl in his run for Lieutenant Governor in 2026.

Stadthagen resigned one day after a leaked 57-second clip of a closed-door caucus debate over whether he could hold both jobs went wide. The 76-member caucus elected Lee to finish the term within hours.

“My decision to step into this role was the result of a great deal of encouragement from our members,” Lee told Yellowhammer News. “Prior to last session, I had never seriously considered running for Majority Leader, but that changed when the position was vacated and the caucus needed someone to step up and serve. I had a lot of our members approach me and ask if I’d be willing, which I still consider to be one of the greatest honors of my life.”

Underwood, a CPA with a practice in downtown Tuscumbia, served two terms as the city’s mayor before winning the House seat Andrew Sorrell left to run for state auditor in 2022.

Stadthagen tapped him to co-chair the committee that wrote the caucus’s 2025 “Alabama Values” agenda, and last November the caucus elected him treasurer unanimously at its retreat in Tuscaloosa. He is entering his second term in office.

“I decided to run for Majority Leader because I believe I can help bring our members together and strengthen the relationships within our caucus,” Underwood told Yellowhammer News. “We have a talented group of members who represent very different parts of Alabama, and I believe one of my strengths is listening to people, building relationships and helping people work together toward a common goal.”

“I also want to be very clear that I’m not running against Paul Lee personally. Paul is a friend, a good man and a respected colleague who has served our caucus and our state well,” Underwood said. “I told Paul personally when I decided to run that I intend to conduct myself respectfully during this race and afterward, regardless of the outcome. We are teammates today, and we’ll be teammates when this election is over.”

Both men built their pitch around the next governor.

“Our state is about to experience a significant change in its elected leadership, and I think we have some very strong, capable leaders coming into key positions,” Lee said. “For them to be successful, we have to continue to have an effective, committed House of Representatives. Our members are eager to roll up our sleeves and go to work along side Coach Tuberville in the State Legislature. We’re going to hit the ground running and continue delivering results for Alabamians.”

Underwood wants the caucus in step with the executive branch, with room to disagree.

“As we enter a new quadrennium with a new governor, there will be tremendous opportunities for Alabama,” Underwood said. “I want our House Republican Caucus to be unified and prepared to work as a team with the executive branch while making sure the individual voices and districts represented by our members are heard. We won’t always agree on every issue, nor should we, but we can disagree respectfully and still work together to advance conservative policies that make Alabama a better place to live, work, raise a family and build a business.”

Lee described the job as a support operation for the rest of the caucus, communications shop included.

“My vision for the caucus is centered on unity. I want our members to understand that we’re stronger when we stick together and have each other’s backs, which in turn makes the state stronger as a whole,” Lee said.

“A Majority Leader’s success isn’t measured by what he accomplishes for himself, but by what he helps his members accomplish for the people they represent,” he said. “My job is to make sure our members have the support, resources, and opportunities they need to be successful. We do that by ensuring good legislation makes it through the process and bad bills don’t, while giving our members a strong voice in the legislative process. Just as importantly, we have to tell our story, so having a robust communications operation and using it to promote their successes is a big priority.”

“At the end of the day, if our members are successful, our caucus is successful,” Lee said. “And if our caucus is successful, the people of Alabama are better off.”

Underwood described a job that runs in two directions, from the Speaker’s office to the rank and file and back.

“I believe the Majority Leader has a responsibility in both directions. The Leader should be a strong and trusted partner to the Speaker and the rest of the leadership team while listening to the members of the caucus and making sure their concerns and perspectives are heard within leadership,” Underwood said. “A good Majority Leader should know where his members are, communicate well, build consensus and help turn the caucus’s priorities into results.”

Lee is running on the caucus’s record, which he itemized in a column earlier this month: $1.5 billion in tax cuts over four years, teacher pay raises in seven of the last eight years and $70 billion in economic development investment over eight years, by his count.

“My message to our members is that serving as their Majority Leader is one of the greatest honors of my life, and it’s a privilege I’ll never take for granted,” Lee said.

“I’m committed to working every day to put them and the communities they represent in the best possible position to succeed. Whether it be education, economic development, or cutting taxes, we’ve accomplished so much as a team these last four years. But I’m not satisfied with where we are. We have a lot more work to do, and I’m ready to lead our caucus as we continue building on our successes and delivering results for the people of Alabama.”

Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.