Steve Flowers: Five seats on the Alabama Supreme Court up for election in 2024
Next year is a big year nationally. It is a Presidential year. However, it is a down or off year for Alabama. We, like several other southern states, have our big election year in non-presidential years. We elected our governor, other constitutional offices, and our entire legislature last year in 2022. However, since we have staggered six-year terms for our state judges, we have an inordinate number of seats on our Supreme Court up for election next year. We have nine members of our State Supreme Court. All nine are Republicans. Even though our Supreme Court is elected, we have a surprisingly wise and very qualified state high tribunal. All nine are well-qualified and well-rounded, yet very Republican and very conservative. We are a very Republican and very conservative state. Therefore, these nine judges are reflective of the Heart of Dixie. Even though there are five seats up for election, there is only one opening. Chief Justice Tom Parker is precluded from running for a six-year term. He is 72, and our state laws mandate that someone cannot run for a judgeship after they reach the age of 70. Popular and younger jurists hold the other four seats. Three of the four will seek reelection and will win easily even if they draw opposition. These three incumbents are Will Sellers, Jay Mitchell, and Tommy Bryan. The fourth, Sarah Stewart, is opting to run for the Chief Justice post Tom Parker is vacating. Justice Will Sellers probably will not draw an opponent. He is perfectly suited for the State Supreme Court. His resume reads as though he was born for the job. He was a successful tax attorney in his hometown of Montgomery. He graduated from the University of Alabama Law School and has a Master of Law Degree in Taxation from New York University. His Tax Law expertise is invaluable to his colleagues on the Court. Will has a keen political mind in addition to his legal prowess. He and his wife, Lee Grant Sellers, are Governor Kay Ivey’s closest confidants. Will has sworn Governor Ivey into office at both her Inaugurations. Justice Sellers also pens a monthly column on historical events. Justice Tommy Bryan is up for another six-year term. This popular incumbent jurist will be reelected without opposition. He hails from rural South Alabama – Brantley in Crenshaw County, to be exact. He was first elected in 2012 and reelected to a second six-year term in 2018. Therefore, he will be seeking his third six-year term in 2024. He previously served eight years on the Court of Civil Appeals. He and his lovely wife Pam have two adult children. Tommy and Pam are very active members of the First Baptist Church of Montgomery. Judge Jay Mitchell is the tallest member of the Supreme Court. He stands a good 6 feet 8 inches. He also stands tall with integrity and wit. He is an affable fellow and is finishing his first six-year term on the high court. He will easily win election to his second term, probably unopposed. He graduated from Birmingham Southern College, where he starred in basketball. He graduated from the University of Virginia Law School. He and his wife, Elizabeth, reside in Homewood with their four children. Jay Mitchell is only 46. He is not only the tallest member of the Court but also the youngest. Justice Sarah Stewart is opting to leave her safe seat as an associate justice to seek election as Chief Justice next year. She has already announced and is actively running. More times than not, the early bird gets the worm. Justice Stewart served 13 years as a Mobile Circuit Court Judge prior to going on to the Supreme Court. Judge Chris McCool, an associate justice on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, is favored to win Justice Stewart’s seat. You can bet your bottom dollar he will not be outworked. Even though there are five seats up for reelection on the high court, there will be very little change when the dust settles. This is a good court, and they have an excellent collegial working relationship. The 2024 elections have begun. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at: www.steveflowers.us.
State Auditor Andrew Sorrell addresses East Alabama Republican Assembly
Alabama State Auditor Andrew Sorrell was in Opelika on Monday to address the East Alabama Republican Assembly. Sorrell served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 2018 to 2022, prior to his election last year as state Auditor. “In my first four years in the Legislature, I was the most conservative one down there,” Sorrell said, citing the ranking of members by the American Conservative Union and Club for Growth. “And it wasn’t even close. On every conservative scorecard, I was either number one or tied for number one.” “They said I was too conservative to get elected statewide,” Sorrell said. “I got the highest percentage of any candidate on the ballot in November.” “I was born in California, but I got out of there as quick as I could,” Sorrell said. “I was only there six weeks. We were there because Dad was a preacher at a Church there. If there is one thing that California needs, it’s more preachers. Dad took a job teaching Greek at a college in Wisconsin. I lived there until I was six years old. Dad got laid off from that job.” Sorrel’s father was laid off at the college and worked as a truck driver until finally; he was offered a job as pastor of a Church in Muscle Shoals, so the family moved to Alabama. ” There is nowhere I would rather be,” Sorrell said. Sorrell and his wife have one daughter and are expecting another. “We are going to home-school our children,” Sorrell said. “I got a good education at Muscle Shoals,” Sorrell said. “I can’t believe what has happened to the schools. There is a transgender kid in Muscle Shoals. When I was growing up, all my teachers were Christians.” Sorrell said that he became an entrepreneur growing up. His brother, Matthew, went to college at the University of North Alabama and received a $200 scholarship, so he thought his books were paid for. “That only bought one book,” Sorrell said. Then when that course was over, the bookstore would only pay $50. His brother decided to buy books on Amazon for substantial cost savings. He wanted to buy books and then sell them for a profit but had no money, so he formed a 50:50 partnership with Andrew because Andrew could front the $2000 in startup capital. “He came back home with a basket full of textbooks and $2500,” Sorrell said. They began offering cash for textbooks at the end of the semester to resell them at the beginning. “We were the book guys on campus. At one point, we bought 856 books in four days.” “We started buying hundreds of textbooks a day,” Sorrell said. Before selling the company, Andrew and his brother had grown the company to forty employees and over a million dollars in revenue. Next, Sorrell decided to go into the pawn shop business to sell guns. “It took two and a half years,” to open the store, Sorrell said. “Then I opened a second one – Gold, Guns, & Guitars. I also have eight rentals around the state.” “I am not in politics to make money – in fact, I am losing money,” Sorrell said. “Most of them (legislators) are losing money. Dr. [Larry] Stutts – I guarantee you that he is losing money in the legislature instead of delivering babies.” The Sorrell brothers became involved in local GOP campaigns, but all the candidates they helped lost their races. “Andrew, we are doing something wrong,” Matthew Sorrell said that his brother told him. “There are schools that teach you how to learn to run campaigns.” So they spent a week at a D.C. event learning how to run campaigns, and things changed. “We learned how to be campaign managers,” Sorrell said. After that, they found growing success. Sorrell said that Republican dominance has brought its own unique problem. “A big problem we have in the state is if you can’t run as a Democrat, you run in the Republican primary,” Sorrell said. “That is why we need party registration. I know you have a large problem with that down here with that.” Sorrell ran for House District 3 when he could not recruit a candidate to challenge incumbent Rep. Marcel Black (D-Tuscumbia). Black ultimately decided not to run again. “I narrowly won,” Sorrell said. “The gentleman that replaced me got 64% where I just got 52%. Part of that is redistricting made it a lot more fair, but it is also a lot more acceptable to vote Republican in Colbert County than it was.” Sorrell said one of his greatest legislative accomplishments was seeing constitutional carry law passed. That removed the requirement that gun owners purchase a pistol permit from their sheriff to carry their handguns concealed. “The guy that had it before I got elected got elected as a circuit judge, so I agreed to carry it,” Sorrell said. “I only had seven cosponsors,” Sorrell said that first year. That second year State Rep. Connie Rowe, a member of the leadership, “Stuck her neck on it” and agreed to cosponsor the bill after 22 members had signed on to cosponsor. “That took it to 26 or 27.” That third year, “I got it up to 28 or 29 (cosponsors),” Sorrell said. The bill would not come to the floor, so Sorrell decided to add it as an amendment to the lifetime permit bill to force a House floor vote on the legislation. Sorrell said that the Speaker of the House asked him to not bring that amendment and agreed to cosponsor the bill and bring it to the floor in 2022 if he would agree. “I decided to take the deal,” Sorrell said. “Fortunately for me, the Speaker kept his word.” Sorrell said that the decision by Mobile Sheriff Sam Cochran to fire State Rep. Shane Stringer as a deputy in the 2021 session over his support for constitutional carry was a key moment in passing the bill because legislators who weren’t fans of constitutional carry liked Stringer. “I wanted to introduce an amendment to name it the
Spending, school choice among key session issues in Alabama
Alabama lawmakers began the 2023 legislative session on Tuesday. Here are some issues to watch in the session that can last through mid-June: PANDEMIC RELIEF FUNDS Lawmakers are expected on Wednesday to begin a special session on allocating the remaining $1.06 billion in state relief funds from the American Rescue Plan. Lawmakers will take up a proposal that steers money to water and sewer projects, along with broadband and healthcare needs. Republican Sen. Greg Albritton said there have been disagreements among lawmakers “because it is the last batch.” BUDGET SURPLUS The state has a $2.8 billion surplus in the state education budget and no shortage of ideas how to use it. Lawmakers are expected to debate a plan to provide one-time tax rebates. Republican Sen. Arthur Orr, who chairs the Senate education budget committee, said rebates of $200 for single taxpayers and $400 for married couples, with the possibility of more for families with dependents, are under discussion. Lawmakers are also considering permanent tax cuts. House Democrats are pushing to remove the 4% state sales tax on food. Orr said he believes that will be discussed, but likely in a phased-in approach. Pay raises are also expected for education employees. Legislative leaders have also said they intend to be cautious with spending choices, over fears of a potential economic downturn. SCHOOL CHOICE Republican lawmakers are expected to introduce “school choice” proposals that range from providing money to help parents pay for private school to expanding the number of charter schools in the state. The push comes as at least a dozen other conservative states are considering similar legislation in what is emerging as a landmark year for school choice battles. Republican Sen. Larry Stutts, of Tuscumbia, is finalizing a proposal to allow parents to use about $6,000 a year in state tax dollars to send their children to private schools through education savings accounts. “Parents want the ability to choose,” Stutts said. BAN ON ‘DIVISIVE CONCEPTS’ Legislation has again been introduced to ban the teaching of so-called “divisive concepts” about race and gender. It would prohibit anyone in local school systems, state agencies, and public universities from being forced “to accept, acknowledge, affirm, or assent to a sense of guilt, complicity, or a need to apologize” because of their race, gender, or national origin. Similar legislation was introduced last year and drew criticism from educators and others who said it would have a chilling effect on honest classroom lessons and discussions about the nation’s history. IMPACT OF NEW MEMBERS The dynamic at the Alabama Statehouse this year brings an air of unpredictability because of an unusually large number of freshmen. There are 31 new members in the 105-member House of Representatives and six in the 35-member Alabama Senate. The House also has a new leader, following the election of House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter. Republicans maintain strong majorities in both the House and Senate. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Alabama lawmakers turn attention to $1 billion relief funds
Alabama lawmakers returned to Montgomery Tuesday with a focus on how to use the state’s remaining $1 billion in pandemic relief funds, with disagreements surfacing as the federal windfall comes to an end. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is expected to call a special session, beginning Wednesday, to isolate the issue, lawmakers said. Legislative leaders adjusted their meeting schedule Tuesday to accommodate the expected special session. Lawmakers will decide how to use the remaining $1 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act — the sweeping $1.9 trillion relief plan approved by Congress to help the country climb out of the coronavirus crisis. Republican Sen. Greg Albritton of Atmore said more disagreements have surfaced this time “because it’s the last batch.” “It has been impossible for us to satisfy everybody. We have been successful at making everyone mad,” Albritton said. Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed, a Republican from Jasper, said he believes lawmakers have a “good starting place” with a planned focus on water and sewer projects, broadband expansion, and healthcare needs. He said a personal priority for him is also to establish an avenue for grants for local pandemic-related needs that lawmakers want funded. “One of the attitudes that we’ve had from the beginning is making sure that we’re using these funds — one-time funds — for things that really will make a difference long into the future as an investment for the people of Alabama,” Reed said. He said water and sewer projects, for example, “will still be serving members in those communities” for decades to come. The American Rescue Plan steered $2.1 billion to Alabama. Alabama lawmakers used the first half of the funds for water and sewer projects, broadband expansion, and healthcare costs, as well as a controversial prison construction plan. Lawmakers in 2021 approved the plan to use $400 million of the relief funds to help build two super-size prisons, brushing off criticism from congressional Democrats that the money was not intended for such projects. Asked if divisions had arisen this time between Republicans and Democrats over the use of the funds, Democratic House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels said, “There’s not a uniform agreement on the other side on how to spend the money.” Daniels, of Huntsville, said House Democrats are interested in making sure funds are directed to housing needs in the state. Ivey will address lawmakers Tuesday evening in her annual State of the State address. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
