MONTGOMERY, Ala. — After serving six years on the state’s top bench, Alabama Supreme Court Associate Justice Jay Mitchell submitted his letter of resignation Monday to Gov. Kay Ivey to launch a bid for attorney general in 2026.
“Serving on the Supreme Court has been the privilege of a lifetime, but my role as a judge limits what I can say and do for our state and country,” Mitchell wrote in a resignation letter to Gov. Kay Ivey obtained by Alabama Daily News. “President (Donald) Trump is moving boldly to restore the United States Constitution – and we must ensure that his agenda takes root not only in Washington, but also in the state. I feel called to play a larger role in that effort in Alabama.”
Mitchell was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court in 2018 and was reelected in 2024. A native of Mobile, Mitchell now resides in Homewood and was an attorney with a Birmingham-based law firm prior to being elected to the state’s highest court.
Under Alabama law, Mitchell could not seek elected office in the executive branch while serving the judicial branch, making his resignation inevitable. It came the same day candidates could begin raising money for the 2026 election.
Mitchell could have a leg up on any potential opponents on the fundraising side. His most recent campaign finance filings show that in 2024, he received $52,450 in cash contributions, and had an ending balance of nearly $642,000 in cash on hand. That money can be used in a new campaign account in his bid for attorney general.
Mitchell is expected to face a crowded field in 2026 for the Republican nomination, as the current attorney general, Steve Marshall, is term-limited, and cannot run again for re-election. Marshall’s chief counsel Katherine Robertson is openly planning a run for AG. Lloyd Peeples, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, is also considering a run for AG. And Pamela Casey, the district attorney for Blount County, has already announced her candidacy for the role.
Sarah Stewart, who leads the Alabama Supreme Court as its chief justice as of this year, was also elected to the court in 2018 as an associate justice, and called Mitchell both an “exceptional colleague” and a “close friend.”
“Justice Mitchell provided the court with a scholarly and thoughtful approach to every issue before us, and while his leaving leaves a tremendous hole in our bench, I know he will continue to be a gifted leader wherever he lands,” Stewart told Alabama Daily News on Monday.
Mitchell earned a bachelor’s degree from Birmingham-Southern College in 1998, his master’s degree from the University College Dublin in 1999, and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2002.