Republican candidate for Alabama lieutenant governor John Wahl raised more than $1.1 million in late January after jumping into the race with an endorsement from President Donald Trump.
Candidates’ monthly campaign finance reports were due Tuesday, and Wahl now leads in cash-on-hand in the race with $1.2 million, including a $25,000 contribution this month.
Secretary of State Wes Allen has about $1.66 million on hand, according to his latest filings.
Wahl’s largest contribution was $250,000 from Christopher Drummond in Birmingham. Wahl also loaned his campaign $60,000.
After Wahl’s announcement late last month, Allen received three $25,000 donations, including from the Business Council of Alabama and the Alabama Farmers Federation’s political action committees.
Wahl stepped aside as chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, which he’s led since 2021, when he qualified for the race. On Sunday, a party steering committee dismissed a residency challenge against Wahl. The challenge said Wahl didn’t meet the state’s criteria for serving as lieutenant governor, citing his voter registration in Tennessee in 2020 and a Tennessee-issued driver’s license presented in a 2023 traffic stop. Wahl, who is going by his given first name Nehemiah on his campaign finance documents, has waved off accusations about his residency, saying most recently it’s not against state law to have an out-of-state residence.
Current Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate had a modest fundraising month with $4,200 and ended January with more than $563,000 on hand.
The lieutenant governor’s race is one of the more crowded ones this election cycle. Here’s how other GOP candidates ended the month: Patrick Bishop, $2,412; Dean Odle, $12,972; Nicole Wadsworth, $309,827.
Democrat Phillip Ensler raised $25,000 last month and ended it with $83,903 on hand. Democrat Darryl Perryman did not file a January report.