After a week where the Alabama House Republican Caucus was shoved into public infighting by a high-profile leak and change in senior leadership at the top of the 76-member body, Alabama Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter brought in the state’s heaviest-weight GOP official on Thursday to remind members in which direction the train is going.

“I appreciate my good friend, Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter, inviting me to speak to the Alabama GOP House Caucus today,” U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville posted on his campaign’s social media after his visit to the State House.

“CPAC ranks Alabama’s state legislature as the #1 most conservative in America…and I can’t wait to work with Speaker Ledbetter and all the men and women in that room,” Tuberville (R-Auburn) wrote.

In an interview with Yellowhammer News, Speaker Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) said the reason for the senator’s visit was to get caucus members face time with the governor-in-waiting who they will watch deliver the 2027 State of the State address in less than a year’s time.

“I think it’s a good opportunity to get to know him. Certainly get to talk to him and talk about his agenda and what he’s looking at coming into the next year being governor,” Ledbetter said. “He’s gonna do a great job. And we’ve been very strong on conservative bills and passing legislation that’s improved the state. I think he is excited to come in and continue to grow that.”

Ledbetter also said the invitation was only a matter of time, given the longstanding partnership between the two.

“It’s actually funny. I was telling him today, I remembered it was this same day seven years ago. It’s one of those things where we spent about an hour or longer and we just hit it off. I’d invited him to an event we were having in DeKalb County, and I didn’t think nothing about it.”

Ledbetter said at that time he offered Tuberville, then a first time political candidate, his pool house as a place to stay during that initial visit — and Coach took him up on it. A one-day stay turned into several on the campaign trail, which Ledbetter described as the beginning of a friendship that abides today.

“And they’d asked me during the campaign to co-chair his campaign — so we did. We worked with him a lot during that. Actually, it brought [Jordan Doufexis] on to help. It’s been good. Coach is a great guy. I’m excited to have him down here. And he’s certainly a good friend. He’s gonna do a great job.”

Tuberville’s visit to the State House this week came as House Republicans were still dealing with fallout from a leaked recording of a closed-door caucus meeting.

The publicly released 57-second clip was excerpted from a meeting that lasted more than an hour, and some lawmakers have argued it was released selectively and intended to put Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter in a negative light as the 2026 primary season intensifies.

As previously reported, that controversy centered on a debate over whether then-Majority Leader Scott Stadthagen (R-Hartselle) could simultaneously serve as caucus leader while running for Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party.  The leaked segment captured Ledbetter saying he “could give a shit about the Republican Party,” which the members present widely view as deprived of context, actually tied to protecting their incumbency and the GOP supermajority, rather than any degree of criticism against the party or its values.

On Wednesday, Stadthagen formally and permanently stepped down from the post, and a veteran of the 2010 red wave, State Rep. Paul Lee (R-Dothan), was elected as the new Majority Leader.

In terms of the message Sen. Tuberville imparted to House lawmakers on Thursday, Speaker Ledbetter described it as: “Get ready.”

“His message was, ‘My plan is to really grow Alabama’s economy and bring jobs. It’s going to improve Alabamians’ lives,’” Ledbetter said.

“‘We’re going to do some hard things. I’ll be probably calling y’all into special session some to make sure we get things done. So I just want to tell you — we’ll work together as a team to be ready to do the hard stuff to make sure that we can move this state forward.’”

After the intense week members of the caucus now have in their rearview mirror, Ledbetter said Tuberville’s visit Thursday was an opportunity for lawmakers to reground their focus in the work that awaits them as they bring the current term to a close — and begin the next one under a new administration.

“Anytime you go through change prior to the end of the quadrennium, it helps to have something like that,” Ledbetter told Yellowhammer News. “I think the message of working together and working as a team, which — who knows that better than him? — was perfect.”

“I look forward to him being there full time,” Ledbetter said.