Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives

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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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Speaker Terms of office County Party
Gabriel Moore 1818 Madison Democratic-Republican
John W. Walker 1818 Madison Democratic-Republican
James Dellet 1819 Monroe Whig
George W. Owen 1820–1821 Monroe
James Dellett 1821 Monroe
Arthur P. Bagby 1822–1823 Monroe
Samuel W. Oliver 1823 Conecuh
William I. Adair 1824 Madison
Samuel Walker 1824 Madison
William Kelly 1825–1826 Madison
Samuel W. Oliver 1826–1828 Conecuh
Clement C. Clay 1828–1829 Madison Democratic
John Gayle 1829–1830 Greene
James Penn 1830–1832 Madison
Samuel Walker 1832–1835 Conecuh
James W. McClung 1835–1836 Madison
Arthur P. Bagby 1836–1837 Monroe
James W. McClung 1837–1839 Madison
John Dennis Phelan 1839–1840 Tuscaloosa
Samuel Walker 1840 Conecuh
Robert A. Baker 1841
David Moore 1841 Madison
John Erwin 1842–1843 Greene
Andrew B. Moore 1843–1845
LeRoy Pope Walker 1847–1850 Lauderdale
John D. Rather 1851–1853 Morgan
William Garrett 1853–1854 Coosa
Richard W. Walker 1855–1856 Lauderdale
Crawford M. Jackson 1857–1858 Autauga
Alexander B. Meek 1859–1860 Mobile
Walter H. Crenshaw 1861–1865 Mobile
Thomas Butler Cooper 1865–1867 Cherokee
B. B. McCraw 1867–1868 Chambers Republican
George F. Harrington 1868–1870 Mobile Republican
John P. Hubbard 1870–1872 Pike Democratic
Lewis M. Stone 1872–1873 Pickens Democratic
Lewis E. Parsons 1872–1873 Coosa Republican
Decatur C. Anderson 1874–1876 Mobile Democratic
Newton Clements 1876–1877 Tuscaloosa Democratic
David Clopton 1878–1879 Montgomery Democratic
Nathaniel H. R. Dawson 1880–1881 Dallas Democratic
Wilbur F. Foster 1882–1883 Macon Democratic
Henry Clay Armstrong 1884–1885 Lee Democratic
Thomas G. Jones 1886–1887 Montgomery Democratic
Clement Clay Shorter 1888–1889 Barbour Democratic
Newton Clements 1890–1891 Tuscaloosa Democratic
Francis L. Pettus 1892–1893 Dallas
Thomas H. Clark 1894–1895 Montgomery
Newton Clements 1896–1897 Tuscaloosa Democratic
Charles E. Waller 1898–1899 Hale Democratic
Francis L. Pettus 1901 Dallas
Alfred M. Tunstall 1903 Hale Democratic
Charles C. Adams 1907 Tallapoosa Democratic
Roberts H. Brown 1909 Lee Democratic
William L. Martin 1911
Archibald H. Carmichael 1907–1911
Edward B. Almon 1911 Colbert Democratic
Archibald H. Carmichael 1915–1919 Colbert Democratic
Henry P. Merritt 1919 Macon Democratic
Seybourn A. Lynne 1920–1921 Morgan Democratic
Hugh D. Merrill 1923–1927 Calhoun Democratic
J. Lee Long 1927 Butler Democratic
Alfred M. Tunstall 1931–1935 Hale Democratic
Robert H. Walker 1935–1937 Limestone
Hugh Davis Merrill 1939 Calhoun Democratic
George O. Miller 1942–1943 Sumter Democratic
Charles D. Norman 1945 Bullock Democratic
William M. Beck 1947–1949 DeKalb Democratic
Roberts H. Brown 1951–1953 Lee Democratic
Rankin Fite 1955–1957 Marion Democratic
Charles C. Adams 1959 Tallapoosa Democratic
Virgis M. Ashworth 1961 Bibb Democratic
Albert Brewer 1963–1967 Morgan Democratic
Rankin Fite 1967–1971 Marion Democratic
G. Sage Lyons 1971–1975 Mobile Democratic
Joe McCorquodale 1975–1983 Clarke Democratic
Tom Drake 1983–1987 Cullman Democratic
James S. Clark 1987–1999 Barbour Democratic
Seth Hammett 1999–2010 Covington Democratic
Mike Hubbard 2010–2016 Lee Republican
Victor Gaston (acting) 2016 Mobile Republican
Mac McCutcheon 2016–2022 Madison Republican
Nathaniel Ledbetter 2023–present DeKalb Republican

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.