HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – A new year means a new legislative session in Alabama and it starts with an organizational meeting at the state house on Tuesday. Lawmakers will approve new rules, appoint members to the committees and elect new leaders, like a new house speaker.
Former Huntsville-area State Rep. Mac McCutcheon served as the speaker of the house for six years until he decided to retire in 2022. Small business owner, pharmacist and volunteer firefighter Phillip Rigsby will fill his District 25 seat but not his leadership role.
A man from Rainsville is expected to take his place as Speaker of the House, District 24 State Rep. Nathanial Ledbetter. In November, the House Republican caucus nominated Ledbetter. He has represented Dekalb County since 2014 and is the House Republican caucus’ majority leader.
The transition of power is expected to go smoothly according to State Rep. James Lomax.
He believes this process won’t be anything like the difficult process to elect the federal Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy
“I think we have an office that works together well and that starts from the top down,” explains State Rep. James Lomax. “We did have our caucus meetings where we nominated our selections for speaker of the house. I don’t think you’ll see any of these Washington antics in the state of Alabama. I believe that starts with strong leadership.”
Representative-Elect Lomax is replacing Howard Sanderford to represent District 20, which covers parts of Madison County.
Sanderford did not seek re-election after 23 years in office.
“I’m going to do my job and go down to Montgomery and best represent Huntsville and the north Alabama area try to make sure we get those road dollars back to help improve the interstate system, help improve the traffic congestion and then focus a lot on education,” says State Rep. Lomax.
McCutcheon and Sanderford are two of three north Alabama lawmakers who decided to retire.
Mike Ball decided not to run after serving 20 years as the District 10 house representative.
Dr. David Cole, a medical executive and a former army surgeon, will take his place.
They are three of 31 new lawmakers heading to Montgomery.
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