MONTGOMERY, Ala. – House Speaker Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) will retain the gavel for the next term of the Alabama Legislature. He was unanimously affirmed by the 77-member House GOP Caucus to serve as Speaker during their meeting on Tuesday.
He and Speaker Pro-Tem nominee Victor Gaston (R-Mobile) will be officially voted upon when the full House meets for its organizational session in January.
Photo credit: Alabama House Republican Caucus
McCutcheon said he would preside “in a manner that gives all members of both parties a voice in the legislative process.”
“Serving as Speaker of the Alabama House has been the greatest professional honor of my life, and I’m humbled that my fellow Republicans have chosen me to continue serving in that role,” McCutcheon said.
“Our state faces many challenges, and finding needed solutions will require all of us to work together.”
Rep. Nathaniel Ledbetter of Rainsville was reelected to his post as Majority Leader. Along with McCutcheon, Ledbetter led the political effort to protect incumbent House seats and grow the GOP’s majority by five members in the 2018 elections.
A former mayor and city council member in Rainsville, Ledbetter was elected to the Alabama House in 2014. Originally elected as House Majority Leader in 2017, he was the first freshman member to serve in that post in modern times.
“Republicans added to our already impressive supermajority in the general election cycle, and I will work to ensure that the bills, measures, and resolutions passed by the House reflect the same conservative beliefs and traditional values that Alabama’s voters share,” Ledbetter said, thanking his Caucus members for re-electing him.
Two second-term lawmakers are stepping up into leadership roles within the caucus: Rep. Connie Rowe of Jasper was elected to serve as Caucus Vice Chair, and Rep. Phillip Pettus of Killen was elected Secretary/Treasurer.
Prior to her election to the Alabama House in 2014, Rowe served as the police chief in Jasper, Alabama and was previously employed as an investigator for the Walker County District Attorney’s Office for more than 20 years.
“I look forward to being a part of the Republican leadership team as we work to enact the conservative agenda that voters overwhelmingly endorsed at the polls,” Rowe said.
“By sticking together and offering a unified front, House Republicans have a tremendous opportunity to move Alabama forward over the next four years.”