Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl believes the culture wars will be front and center during the next election cycle, and wants the Yellowhammer State to take the lead on those issues.

After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke in Birmingham last week, Wahl said elected leaders should learn from his electoral success in the Sunshine State.

During an appearance Thursday on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program,” Wahl discussed how Republicans can succeed in 2024 and beyond.

“I think that was a mistake Republicans made across the country in 2022, assuming the economy would be the driver and would be what would win back the House and the Senate for Republicans,” Wahl said. “I think nationally they need to look at the recipe that was created by both Ron DeSantis, but also Glenn Younkin, and it is talking about these social issues.”

The party leader admitted that while the economy is still important, there are other issues that families in America are still very passionate about right now.

“These are the things that are affecting people’s lives,” he said. “Our parents see it everyday. They see the material brought home by their children. Grandparents care about their grandchildren, and they want to see them educated and not indoctrinated. So I think this is an incredibly important thing because it’s important to the people of America. It’s important to that everyday family and we can’t ignore that. These social issues are very much what hits the home first.”

Wahl pointed to school choice as a great example of an issue that affects ordinary families in the state.

“We know there are so many parents out there who want a viable choice,” he said. “And by the way, that viable choice will force our public school system to be better as well. Competition will always provide a better product.”

He also said Alabama needs to take more of a lead when it comes to some of these social issues.

“That’s exactly what I want to see Alabama do, lead,” he said. “And not just lead and not just the Republican party helping Alabama become more visible, but I want to lead on these conservative issues … I want to see Alabama in front of Florida. I don’t want to just see Ron DeSantis coming here to speak, I want to be sending our guys to Florida to speak because of how far Alabama has been advancing and how we’re at the cutting edge on these conservative policies.”

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 Twitter @Yaffee