Wikipedia

Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives

The Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the Alabama House of Representatives, elected by House members at the Legislature’s organizational session held after each general election.[1][2] The Speaker recognizes members to speak, refers bills to committees, and appoints members to House standing committees under chamber rules adopted for each four-year term.[3]

Following Reconstruction, Democrats held the speakership continuously until 2010, when Republicans won control of the House and elected Mike Hubbard, the first Republican Speaker since Reconstruction.[4] As of 2023, the Speaker is Nathaniel Ledbetter.[5]

List of speakers

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SpeakerTerms of officeCountyParty
Gabriel Moore1818MadisonDemocratic-Republican
John W. Walker1818MadisonDemocratic-Republican
James Dellet1819MonroeWhig
George W. Owen1820–1821Monroe
James Dellett1821Monroe
Arthur P. Bagby1822–1823Monroe
Samuel W. Oliver1823Conecuh
William I. Adair1824Madison
Samuel Walker1824Madison
William Kelly1825–1826Madison
Samuel W. Oliver1826–1828Conecuh
Clement C. Clay1828–1829MadisonDemocratic
John Gayle1829–1830Greene
James Penn1830–1832Madison
Samuel Walker1832–1835Conecuh
James W. McClung1835–1836Madison
Arthur P. Bagby1836–1837Monroe
James W. McClung1837–1839Madison
John Dennis Phelan1839–1840Tuscaloosa
Samuel Walker1840Conecuh
Robert A. Baker1841
David Moore1841Madison
John Erwin1842–1843Greene
Andrew B. Moore1843–1845
LeRoy Pope Walker1847–1850Lauderdale
John D. Rather1851–1853Morgan
William Garrett1853–1854Coosa
Richard W. Walker1855–1856Lauderdale
Crawford M. Jackson1857–1858Autauga
Alexander B. Meek1859–1860Mobile
Walter H. Crenshaw1861–1865Mobile
Thomas Butler Cooper1865–1867Cherokee
B. B. McCraw1867–1868ChambersRepublican
George F. Harrington1868–1870MobileRepublican
John P. Hubbard1870–1872PikeDemocratic
Lewis M. Stone1872–1873PickensDemocratic
Lewis E. Parsons1872–1873CoosaRepublican
Decatur C. Anderson1874–1876MobileDemocratic
Newton Clements1876–1877TuscaloosaDemocratic
David Clopton1878–1879MontgomeryDemocratic
Nathaniel H. R. Dawson1880–1881DallasDemocratic
Wilbur F. Foster1882–1883MaconDemocratic
Henry Clay Armstrong1884–1885LeeDemocratic
Thomas G. Jones1886–1887MontgomeryDemocratic
Clement Clay Shorter1888–1889BarbourDemocratic
Newton Clements1890–1891TuscaloosaDemocratic
Francis L. Pettus1892–1893Dallas
Thomas H. Clark1894–1895Montgomery
Newton Clements1896–1897TuscaloosaDemocratic
Charles E. Waller1898–1899HaleDemocratic
Francis L. Pettus1901Dallas
Alfred M. Tunstall1903HaleDemocratic
Charles C. Adams1907TallapoosaDemocratic
Roberts H. Brown1909LeeDemocratic
William L. Martin1911
Archibald H. Carmichael1907–1911
Edward B. Almon1911ColbertDemocratic
Archibald H. Carmichael1915–1919ColbertDemocratic
Henry P. Merritt1919MaconDemocratic
Seybourn A. Lynne1920–1921MorganDemocratic
Hugh D. Merrill1923–1927CalhounDemocratic
J. Lee Long1927ButlerDemocratic
Alfred M. Tunstall1931–1935HaleDemocratic
Robert H. Walker1935–1937Limestone
Hugh Davis Merrill1939CalhounDemocratic
George O. Miller1942–1943SumterDemocratic
Charles D. Norman1945BullockDemocratic
William M. Beck1947–1949DeKalbDemocratic
Roberts H. Brown1951–1953LeeDemocratic
Rankin Fite1955–1957MarionDemocratic
Charles C. Adams1959TallapoosaDemocratic
Virgis M. Ashworth1961BibbDemocratic
Albert Brewer1963–1967MorganDemocratic
Rankin Fite1967–1971MarionDemocratic
G. Sage Lyons1971–1975MobileDemocratic
Joe McCorquodale1975–1983ClarkeDemocratic
Tom Drake1983–1987CullmanDemocratic
James S. Clark1987–1999BarbourDemocratic
Seth Hammett1999–2010CovingtonDemocratic
Mike Hubbard2010–2016LeeRepublican
Victor Gaston (acting)2016MobileRepublican
Mac McCutcheon2016–2022MadisonRepublican
Nathaniel Ledbetter2023–presentDeKalbRepublican

Notes

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  • Contemporary House journals document key 1830s–1840s speakerships: Samuel W. Oliver (1832–33), John Dennis Phelan (1839–40), and Robert A. Baker (1841 called session).[6][7][8]
  • McClung’s repeated speakerships (1835–36; 1837–39) are also noted in archival descriptions of his papers.[9]
  • Bagby’s early and later turns as Speaker are summarized by reference works on Alabama political history.[10]

References

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  1. ↑ "The Alabama Legislative Process (Winter 2024)" (PDF). Alabama League of Municipalities. pp. 9–10.
  2. ↑ "Section 51: Election of president pro tem. of senate and speaker of house of representatives". Justia. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
  3. ↑ "The Alabama Legislative Process (Winter 2023)" (PDF). Alabama League of Municipalities. pp. 8–10.
  4. ↑ Stevenson, Tommy (November 7, 2010). "State's political sands shift". Tuscaloosa News.
  5. ↑ "Ledbetter elected as new Alabama House Speaker". Associated Press. January 10, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Journal of the Alabama House of Representatives, Nov. 1832–Jan. 1833" (PDF). p. 4.
  7. ↑ "Journal of the Alabama House of Representatives, Dec. 1839–Feb. 1840" (PDF). p. 2.
  8. ↑ "Journal of the Alabama House of Representatives, April 1841 (called session)" (PDF). pp. 4–5.
  9. ↑ "James White McClung Papers". The University of Alabama Libraries. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Arthur P. Bagby". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
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