Alabama Republican Party Chairman Scott Stadthagen is once again calling on the Legislature to close primary elections in the Yellowhammer State.

Earlier this month, Alabama Democrat Party vice chair Tabitha Isner openly called for Democrats to pick a Republican ballot in the upcoming special primary.

“Attorney General Steve Marshall has weighed in,” Isner said on Facebook. “Voters can choose either party’s primary for the August 11 special primary. In Congressional Districts 1, 2, and 7, there’s no Democratic ballot, so you just march right in and pick the Republican ballot.”

Stadthagen reacted to the comments during a recent appearance on “The Rightside” with Allison Sinclair and Amie Beth Shaver, presented by Yellowhammer News.

“They’re going to vote for the worst ones to make a difference and change from our starting lineup,” Stadthagen argued. “We have a starter in all these races that they’re scared of. So what they’re going to do is is they’re going to vote for the person who is not going to do well and they can be successful. I think that’s the most frustrating part about all this is we as a party in a primary election get to pick our best gladiator, best starter for the big game, and now they’re meddling it, and this is just you know and like it’s so frustrating.”

The chairman said there is one silver lining in Isner’s comments, which is it gives lawmakers more of a reason to pass a bill that will actually close the primaries.

“We talked to Coach Tuberville’s team about when we were trying to pass closed primaries,” he said. “They were very much in favor of it, agreed with it, and I think that’s going to be on the agenda next session,” he continued. “At the end of the day, we have to keep Democrats out of our business. They have no business being in our business at all. The more she says, the more I love, because I’m taking notes.”

He also explained that the primary elections would still be funded by the state.

“We had that during session, and people would say, ‘Well, y’all should pay for it.’ No, state government has always paid for primaries. Nothing has changed,” he said. “Your thought process has changed over the years. Society has changed over the years. Nothing has changed except for the way we think. Not me, particularly, but other people. It is our primary to pick our gladiator for the big general election.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee