One of the greatest honors of my life has been to serve as Chairman of the Alabama Republican Executive Committee for the last four years. I am grateful to the members of the Committee for having elected me as Chairman in February 2011, and again in February 2013.
Serving as Chairman of the Party during our transition from the minority party to the majority party has presented its challenges, as I knew it would. However, the gratification of leading the Party to even greater heights during these past four years has more than compensated for any internal growing pains we have experienced.
During the last four years, we have solidified our position as the majority Party in Alabama by winning every statewide office in 2012 and again in 2014; and as a result Republicans now hold every statewide office in Alabama. Republicans also hold six of the seven seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and both of the seats in the U. S. Senate.
Some feared Republicans would lose seats in the legislature because of the all-out war the Alabama Education Association declared on our Republican legislators. Millions of dollars were spent by the AEA to defeat Republicans, but when all the votes were counted Republicans did not lose a single seat to the Democrats.
As a result of the legislative targeted effort of Speaker Hubbard, Senator Marsh and our ALGOP team, Republicans picked up three additional seats in the Senate and five additional seats in the House. Republicans now hold 26 of the 35 seats in the house and 72 of the 105 seats in the House.
The results of the 2014 election also demonstrated that Republicans could win in counties where Republicans had not been elected in over 100 years. We were able to not only elect Republican legislators from these once Democrat dominant counties, but for the first time we elected Republicans to local offices including Sheriffs, County Commissioners, Superintendents of Education, Boards of Education, Tax Assessors, Tax Collectors, License Commissioners and Revenue Commissioners. The success of the local races helped the entire ticket. And, we have built a “foundation for our future” by establishing a pool of elected officials who can run for higher office in the future.
All of the successes we have achieved during the last four years could not have happened without the dedication and hard work of the staff at the Alabama Republican Party Headquarters, the outstanding candidates that worked tirelessly for months to win the confidence of the voters, our terrific grassroots organization throughout the state and last, but not least, our faithful donors who provided the finances for us to run successful campaigns. But ultimately, all the credit for our successes goes to God.
When I saw the results of the elections on November 4, I understood what Paul meant in Ephesians 3:20, when he wrote that God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” So, we give Him thanks for what He has done through us.
God has provided far more than we could “ask or think” during the last four years, in so many ways. However, it was never more evident than when our faithful donors provided the funds that allowed us to purchase a beautiful ALGOP headquarters building as our permanent home. We thank God and the donors for this great provision.
In closing, I am reminded of what King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:1: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” I am thankful for the season of my life where I have been given the privilege to serve as your Chairman. However, the time has come for the season of my life to change. Therefore, I wanted you to be the first to know that I will not seek a third term as Chairman. I will, however, continue to be an active member of the State Executive Committee.
My greatest concern at this time is for the future of our country. Therefore, the most important task ahead of us is to ensure a strong constitutional conservative wins the Republican nomination for president in 2016. I will, therefore, be committing my energy, time and efforts in the coming days, weeks and months to seeing that this becomes a reality. And, I pray our efforts will ultimately culminate in the election of a Republican as President of the United States in 2016. May God bless our country, our state and our Party.