Alabama House Republicans will open the next quadrennium with 74 of the chamber’s 105 seats following a midterm election cycle in which Republican majorities were wiped away in 12 legislative chambers across other states – including the Texas and the Georgia Houses of Representatives.
The caucus led by Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) entered last Tuesday’s election with 76 seats and lost two.
Democrat Nell Brown defeated State Rep. Leigh Hulsey (R-Helena) by 526 votes in House District 15. Democrat Allison Montgomery defeated State Rep. Phillip Rigsby (R-Huntsville) in House District 25.
Ledbetter said House Republicans won 20 of 22 contested races involving incumbents and kept all five open seats previously held by Republicans.
RELATED: Did Alabama Republicans maintain their supermajorities in the Legislature?
The National Conference of State Legislatures identifies 12 chambers that changed hands, all of falling under Democrat control.
Democrats took both chambers in Arizona, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, the House in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina and Texas, and the Senate in Pennsylvania. The party is on track to control 51 of the country’s 98 partisan legislative chambers, up from 39.
Democrats also flipped governor’s offices in Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas and will hold at least 28 next year. Races in Alaska and Kansas have not been called.
How Alabama compares
| State | Result |
|---|---|
| Texas | Democrats are projected to gain 21 House seats and take the chamber 83 to 67. Republicans keep the Senate. |
| Georgia | Democrats won the House with at least 91 of 180 seats and gained seats in the Senate. |
| Arizona | Democrats took both chambers and kept the governor’s office. |
| Wisconsin | Democrats took both chambers and kept the governor’s office. |
| New Hampshire | Democrats took both chambers. Governor Kelly Ayotte, a Republican, won reelection. |
| Alabama | House Republicans keep 74 of 105 seats. Senate Republicans keep at least 24 of 35. |
Three Alabama House Republicans won by fewer than 700 votes. State Rep. Mike Shaw (R-Hoover) won by 376, State Rep. Rex Reynolds (R-Huntsville) by 676 and State Rep. Mack Butler (R-Rainbow City) by 285.
Madison County produced three of the five legislative seats Republicans lost statewide. The county cast a record 152,159 ballots. Reynolds and State Rep. James Lomax (R-Huntsville) held their House seats there.
Republicans won every statewide office on the ballot, led by U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) in the race for governor.
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
