Alabama Senators consider next leader as Reed succession vote looms

A meeting of the Alabama Senate Republican Caucus on Tuesday left the leadership race for Senate President Pro Tempore unresolved after members chose to hold the vote after the Thanksgiving holiday on December 3.

State Sens. Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) and Majority Leader Steve Livingston (R-Scottsboro) are locked in a tight race for the powerful role.

Tuesday’s meeting in Birmingham was speculated to include a vote to name outgoing Pro Tem Greg Reed’s (R-Jasper) successor. But after initial discussion among members, the caucus voted instead to hold the decision to next month, widely citing a lack of intentional conversation with the contenders about their vision, and the absence of one senator.

Based on public and private conversation among caucus members, prolonging the vote was, for some, a missed opportunity to finalize a new leader, and for others, a necessary pause to allow senators to consider the options before them fully.

“I will tell you that I was not expecting a vote [Tuesday], and I was told there would not be a vote yesterday. I talked to other senators who didn’t have a vote [Tuesday]. I am the one who made the motion [to set the date], and that had nothing to do with who had the votes. I don’t know who has the votes. I don’t think anybody knows who has the votes,” State Sen. Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville) said on Wednesday.

“I will tell you, there were people that voted against the motion that were on both sides of the thing. So, because there’s just a lot of people that want to have the vote – and I will tell you, in hindsight – I regret doing that. I wish we had just gotten it over with. A lot of senators did not feel like they had had the discussion that they wanted to have with the two candidates, and we had one senator that was not there that was told we weren’t going to have a vote,” Givhan said.

State Sen. Arthur Orr said both Gudger and Livingston likely believed they had enough votes going into the meeting. “I think it was unknown,” Orr (R-Decatur) said Friday morning.

“I think both candidates believe they have the votes, and in that mix, the greater number of the membership thought, ‘why are we trying to jam it right now and rush it through?’ We’ve got time, and let’s take time to reflect and talk to the candidates. I wanted to talk to one of the candidates and follow up on a conversation – so it seemed like it behooved us just to chill out, wait a bit, no rush, and take that time to do any due diligence that needed to be done, and then have the vote on said day,” Orr said.

Other members viewed the delay as a tactical maneuver. According to State Sen. Chris Elliott, Livingston’s backers would have pushed for a vote if they had them. He expressed disappointment that the caucus postponed its vote, given that Reed’s transition out of the role was “the worst-kept secret in Montgomery.”

He expected that senators had already made commitments and were prepared to move forward with a decision to elect Gudger by majority. Elliott recently endorsed Gudger publicly for pro tem.

“And so I certainly thought that the phone calls had already started, the commitments had already been made, and you know, at least the initial vote counts had already been taken, and it was time to time to vote – time to pick our next leader and get on with it,” Elliot (R-Josephine) said on Friday.

“But that is not where the majority of the caucus was – just barely – and so we punted. We’ll come back together on December 3 and hopefully make a final decision at that time.”

The delay sets up two weeks of intense lobbying as senators weigh their options and candidates work to shore up support. Both Gudger and Livingston are making their cases directly to colleagues in the lead-up to the December 3 vote.

According to a detailed survey of senators published this week by Alabama Daily News, members voiced perspectives ranging from praise for the pause as an opportunity for further reflection, to an acknowledgement of the division at hand.

“It appears that we are split,” State Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Atmore) told ADN. “It appears that if one of our fine gentlemen has a majority, it will be an extremely slim majority.”

Despite varying takes on the situation, there is a broad consensus on the strength of both Gudger and Livingston – and ultimately – being prepared to lend their full force to who will eventually control the Alabama Senate.

“Of course, everybody wants to win and feelings will be a little bit hurt regardless of who wins, but you move on and get over it,” State Sen. David Sessions (R-Grand Bay) told ADN. “The state Senate is not a job for you if you’re too delicate and sensitive.”

Grayson Everett is the state and political editor for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270