Steve Flowers: Presidential race is Biden vs. Trump 2.0
In seven months, we, the American people, will go to the polls to elect the next President of the United States on November 5th. A rematch between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden is looming. Americans are not very excited about this rematch. I have never in my lifetime seen two candidates with such […]
Steve Flowers: Second Congressional District primary runoffs ahead
If you live in the new 2nd Congressional District, you'll be voting in a runoff this Tuesday — the most intriguing and entertaining political race in Alabama this year. This new district consists of all of Montgomery County and most of the rural counties surrounding Montgomery, including Macon, Lowndes, Bullock, Pike, Butler, Crenshaw, Barbour, and […]
Steve Flowers: State leaders all aboard on ‘Working for Alabama’ plan
Anyone who follows Montgomery's annual legislative session knows it's always contentious. The House has its priorities, the Senate has its priorities, the Governor has his priorities, and it's fair to say those priorities aren't always the same. Take the gaming that's been going on this session for example. But there's a big push this session […]
Steve Flowers: Nathaniel Ledbetter a very powerful Speaker of the House
The 2024 Regular Legislative Session began about three months ago, so I wrote a column titled, “The 2024 Regular Legislative Session Begins Next Week.” In that column, I highlighted the leadership of the Alabama Assembly and Senate. I said that there were three key leaders: Senator Greg Reed, Senator Arthur Ohr, and Speaker of the […]
Steve Flowers: A Democrat wins a House seat in Alabama
The national media has taken a keen interest in the election of a Democrat to the Alabama House of Representatives. I have received several inquiries from national news and political publications seeking explanations and analysis of this phenomenon. They are particularly intrigued by the fact that women's reproductive rights were a central focus of the […]
Steve Flowers: Liberal Democrats in Washington Fear Katie Britt
Senator Katie Britt has quickly established herself as one of the most capable and respected members of the United States Senate. “In my many years of observing state and national politics, I have never seen anyone gain the respect of both parties as quickly and as conscientiously as Rep. Britt has in just 16 months […]
Steve Flowers: ‘Working for Alabama’ legislation is monumental
To paraphrase what U.S. Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn once said, “Anyone can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build it.” In today's political climate, from Washington, DC on down, there are plenty of people to kick down barns, but not nearly enough carpenters to build them. During the […]
Steve Flowers: ‘Tis the (primary) season
This Tuesday is Alabama's primary election day. Winning the Republican nomination for a statewide office in Alabama is tantamount to an election, so your vote next week will likely matter as much as this Tuesday's November general election. We're participating in the Super Tuesday Republican presidential primary caravan, so the primaries are early this year. […]
Steve Flowers: Leaders of the Alabama Senate
Last week, we discussed the Alabama House of Representatives and focused on the House leadership. This week, we're going to talk about a prominent member of the very powerful Alabama State Senate. First, the state senate is made up of 35 members. The parent group is overwhelmingly Republican. There are 27 Republicans and only 8 […]
Steve Flowers: Players to watch in the House as session opens
The 2024 legislative session began this week. It could last three and a half months until May 20th. The Alabama Legislature is a very conservative institution. Republicans hold supermajorities in the House and Senate. The Senate is made up of 27 Republicans and just eight Democrats. There are 77 Republicans and 28 Democrats in the […]
