The Alabama Senate Republican Caucus held its first official meeting since the conclusion of the 2026 election cycle in Birmingham on Thursday and elected leadership to usher the GOP supermajority into a new quadrennium under a new governor.
Alabama State Senate President Pro Tempore Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) was re-elected by caucus vote to preside over the chamber once again as Pro Tem.
According to sources close to the vote, the real contest was at majority leader.
State Sen. Steve Livingston (R-Scottsboro), who has served as Majority Leader since October 2023, was not re-elected to the post. Rather, the 24-member caucus elected State Sen. April Weaver (R-Brierfield) to serve as Majority Leader during the 2026-2030 quadrennium, making her the first woman in state history to hold the position.
Only members of the Senate majority party select the Majority Leader, so Weaver immediately assumed the role. Notably, State Sen. Andrew Jones (R-Centre) did not caucus today as his election hangs in the balance with a recount stemming from an 84-vote spread.
Weaver said she will use the post to promote unity and cooperation among caucus members while pushing Republican-sponsored bills and measures to final passage in the chamber.
“As Senate majority leader, I will work every day to keep our caucus unified and promote the good work that each and every Republican senator is doing for their district and constituents,” Weaver said. “If our Senate Republican Caucus stands tall together and remains dedicated to our shared conservative beliefs and principles, we can create an even better Alabama for the citizens we swore an oath to serve.”
A registered nurse, Weaver served in the Alabama House from 2010 to 2020, representing District 49 in portions of Shelby, Bibb and Chilton counties, before President Donald Trump appointed her Region IV Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during his first term. She won Senate District 14 in a 2021 special election.
In the Senate, Weaver passed the Child Predator Death Penalty Act, which makes the most heinous sex crimes against children eligible for capital punishment; the What Is A Woman Act, which states in law that a man can never become a woman nor can a woman become a man; and the Deputy Brad Johnson Act, which blocks the prison system from liberally awarding early-release “good time” credits to violent felons.
In 2024, Gudger won a contested caucus vote over Livingston following the departure of Secretary Greg Reed as Pro Tem to lead Governor Ivey’s workforce transformation efforts, which is now the Alabama Department of Workforce. When lawmakers convened for the 2025 legislative session, Gudger was unanimously elected by a full vote of the Alabama Senate to preside over the chamber.
RELATED: Did Alabama Republicans maintain their supermajorities in the Legislature?
Republicans maintained their supermajority in the Alabama Senate on Tuesday.
“Our Senate Republican Caucus members are a talented and dedicated group who remain committed to providing commonsense conservative government and protecting our homegrown Alabama values, and I appreciate their ongoing confidence,” Gudger said. “If elected to serve again as Senate pro tem at the upcoming organizational session, I will continue working to ensure that every member’s voice has an opportunity to be heard in the committee rooms and chamber of the Alabama Senate.”
A former member of the Cullman City Council, Gudger first joined the Alabama Senate in 2018 and chaired the Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee prior to leading the chamber.
Laws he has personally sponsored and passed include a measure banning men from competing in women’s sports and requiring public school students to use restrooms based on their biological sex at birth; a bill mandating that businesses and churches be allowed to stay open during declared emergencies, such as pandemics; and legislation combating voter fraud by creating the crime of ballot harvesting.
He and his wife, Heather, own Southern Accents, which has been recognized as one of the top five architectural salvage companies in the nation and was named Alabama Magazine’s “Best Antique Store in Alabama” for three consecutive years.
Gudger credited the caucus’s hold on the supermajority to a choice Alabama voters made on Tuesday between “homegrown Alabama values” and “liberal extremism.”
Unofficial results from the November 3 balloting indicate Republicans will hold 24 of 35 seats in the Alabama Senate during the 2026-2030 quadrennium.
Democrats flipped Senate Districts 2 and 7, and Senate District 10, where State Sen. Andrew Jones (R-Centre) trails independent Jesse Battles by 84 votes, heads to a provisional ballot count next week and an automatic recount.
“From the beginning of this election cycle, our goal was simple – preserving a Republican State Senate supermajority in spite of political headwinds so we can continue providing commonsense conservative government while defending our homegrown Alabama values against the liberal extremism embraced by Democrats up and down the ballot,” Gudger said Tuesday.
“Thanks to the wisdom of voters across Alabama, our mission was accomplished, so now it is time to turn attention toward abolishing the grocery tax once and for all, making everyday costs more affordable, and providing an even better quality of life for every man, woman, and child in our state.”
Gudger’s leadership political action committee, FORGE PAC, raised and spent roughly $1.8 million and supported every Republican Senate candidate on the Alabama ballot through financial contributions, polling, direct mail and other campaign services. It is believed to be the most money raised by any committee of its kind in the history of the Alabama Senate.
Gudger also credited the supermajority effort to the hard work and quality of the candidates, both incumbents and newly elected office seekers, chosen by Republican primary voters earlier this year.
Elected to his third term in the Alabama Senate without Democrat opposition on Tuesday, Gudger has served as the body’s President Pro Tem since January 2025.
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
