Former North Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks said Friday morning that he was deviating from a final decision to not run for Alabama House in 2026 by announcing a primary challenge against first-term State Rep. James Lomax (R-Huntsville).
Today is the last day of candidate qualifying for the 2026 election cycle.
Brooks, 71, said he gave his word to campaign backers that if they put up $100,000 for his new political bid, he would challenge Lomax, 34, for an office Brooks held first in 1982.
On Friday morning, he officially qualified to run for the seat at ALGOP headquarters. Immediately following his new opponent’s announcement, Lomax came out swinging on Brooks’ four-decade political career.
“During the Christmas holiday season and thereafter, five elected officials, Stan McDonald, and others, have urged me to come out of retirement and fight for our state and its citizens again by running for the legislature in a House district voters preferred me over Katie Britt in and in which I have averaged roughly 70% of the vote in in 18 separate elections,” Brooks said in a statement to Yellowhammer News.
“As of December 31, my opponent had roughly $100,000 in the bank. So I required, as a precondition to my candidacy, that the folks urging me to get back on the political battlefield raise $100,000, none from Special Interest PACS, all from Alabama citizens, to ensure I had the minimally competitive resources needed to get our message out and win an election campaign.”
“I committed to them that, if they did that, I would run. Quite frankly, I enjoy the family time retirement gives me. That family time enjoyment also encouraged me to set a very high bar that I really did not think these folks could clear in a very short period of time,” Brooks said.
“But, yesterday, to my utter surprise, they informed me they did it. They raised $100,000, all from Alabama citizens who want me to return to public service, none of it coming from Special Interest PACs! Amazing!”
“So I am keeping my word and will qualify today to run in Alabama House District 20,” Brooks added. “I look forward to returning to the political battlefield and, once again, being a warrior for my family’s future and the state and people I love.”
Lomax was first elected to HD20 in 2022. During that cycle, Lomax won the Republican primary runoff and cruised in the general election in the heavily-GOP district, which spans a fast-growing portion of southeast Huntsville.
Brooks, who was also most recently on an election ballot during the 2022 cycle, was defeated overwhelmingly by U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Montgomery).
On Friday morning, in a detailed campaign dispatch, Lomax and his campaign characterized Brooks as a “self-absorbed” career politician with “zero meaningful accomplishments” across four decades of holding elected office.
“Mo Brooks is the very definition of a political opportunist who has spent over 40 years chasing public office for his own ego, not for the people of Alabama,” Lomax said.
“From his embarrassing failures as a defeated District Attorney to his do-nothing stints in the Alabama House, Madison County Commission, and U.S. Congress, Brooks has proven time and again that he’s nothing more than an ineffective placeholder.
“He’s collected taxpayer-funded paychecks for longer than I’ve been alive all while achieving nothing for hardworking Alabamians.
“Now, after an embarrassing crash out in Congress and turning into a bitter commentator for the liberal media, he’s crawling back to the same scam he’s peddled for the last four decades.”
The Lomax campaign labeled Brooks an “anti-Trump blogger” in his latest post-career move as an opinion columnist for aldotcom.
According to his campaign, Lomax has sponsored and passed more legislation in three years than Brooks in over two decades across state and federal roles.
On Friday, Lomax’s campaign took individual aim at Brooks’ time as Madison County District Attorney, on the Madison County Commission, as a member of the Alabama House, and a member of Congress.
Lomax argued the common denominator of Brooks’ political career is “grandstanding over governance, contributing to gridlock rather than solutions.”
“Mo Brooks has spent his post-congressional career as a member of the liberal media, taking pot shots at conservatives while I’ve been working to improve the lives of the people of my district.” Lomax added.
“I can see why he wants back in– we’re finally accomplishing meaningful results for the people of our state and he sees an opportunity to take credit after never accomplishing anything. Mo’s grievance-filled, victimhood style of politics is dated and stale. While he sits at home writing anti-Republican blog posts and daydreaming about the good old days; I’ll keep working to ensure the best days are yet to come.”
With candidate qualifying closing at 5:00 p.m. today, the Alabama Republican Party primary will be held on May 19, 2026, now 116 days away.
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
