Republicans elect Garlan Gudger to lead Alabama Senate • Alabama Reflector

Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, appears set to become the next leader of the Alabama Senate after a meeting of the chamber’s Republican caucus.

According to Harrison Adams, spokesman for outgoing Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed, R-Jasper, Gudger, who was first elected to the Senate in 2018, was nominated by GOP senators to serve as Senate President Pro Tempore. A vote total was not immediately available Tuesday afternoon.

“I appreciate the trust placed in me by my fellow Republican senators and will ensure everyone has a voice in how the Senate operates,” Gudger said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “If we bring everyone together, put teamwork first and unite behind the conservative beliefs, traditional values ​​and core morals that each of us share, we can make an already great state even greater.”

The other known candidate was Senate Majority Leader Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro.

The position still needs to be confirmed by the full body, but Republicans hold 27 of the 35 seats in the upper house.

Gudger is chair of the Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development. Last spring, he supported SB 1, which criminalizes some forms of mail-in voting support and is currently partially banned.

Livingston, who has been Senate majority leader since 2023, handled the Senate side of the redistricting process.

There was little ideological difference between the candidates, both of whom come from heavily Republican districts. senators said in advance of the competition that the choice would depend on the style of the candidates.

Reed said last month he would do it leaves the Senate at the end of the year accept a position as an adviser to Governor Kay Ivey on workforce development issues.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.