A candidate for Alabama Attorney General in 2026, Katherine Robertson, launched a new television ad targeting Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed over the capital city’s crime crisis, vowing to revive a police staffing mandate that Reed helped kill during the 2026 legislative session.
The ad, which began airing Thursday in the Montgomery market, features Robertson calling out Reed by name for denying resources to the Montgomery Police Department.
“Our capital city is struggling. The shootings and murders that have become commonplace in Montgomery have to stop,” Robertson said in the ad. “As attorney general, I’ll provide MPD the support and resources that Mayor Reed is denying them. I care about Montgomery. Let’s turn it around.”
Robertson went further in a statement accompanying the ad. “Since Steven Reed took office, bullets have been flying in Montgomery like it’s Dodge City, lifelong residents fear for their safety, and too little is being done to empower police officers to fight back, but all of that is going to change on my watch,” she said.
The Robertson Montgomery crime push ties directly to a legislative fight that consumed the final weeks of the 2026 session.
SB298, sponsored by State Sen. Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road), would have required Montgomery to maintain a minimum of two full-time officers per 1,000 residents and authorized the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to intervene if the city failed to comply.
Montgomery’s police force has dropped from roughly 485 officers in 2019 to an estimated 220 to 230 today.
Reed fought the bill. It passed the Senate, cleared a House committee, but died on the final day of session after Speaker Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) said it was going to be filibustered all the way through.
Robertson has publicly stated that reintroducing the Barfoot measure will rank among her immediate priorities as attorney general.
The campaign is also running a radio ad in the Montgomery market featuring former Mayor Todd Strange endorsing Robertson.
Strange, who served as mayor from 2009 to 2019, cited Robertson’s role in establishing the Montgomery Area Crime Suppression Unit and her work passing laws targeting gang activity.
“She has stood tall for Montgomery and said ‘enough is enough,’” Strange said in the ad. “Katherine Robertson cares about Montgomery, and she will work with Coach Tuberville to put an end to violent crime and restore law and order.”
The attorney general’s Republican primary is May 19. Robertson faces former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell and Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey
Sawyer Knowles is a capitol reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
