Like the Alabama State Senate, the State House of Representatives will have very little turnover. Our state legislative seats are becoming analogous to congressional seats when it comes to incumbency. Over 80% of the legislature is unopposed. The partisanship makeup and faces will be pretty much unchanged. The House will have a supermajority Republican complexion. It will remain 75% Republican. There will be a strong continuity of leadership in the House of Representatives between this quadrennium and the next quadrennium.

The leadership on both sides of the aisle will be returning. The Speaker of the House will, again, be the respected and powerful Nathaniel Ledbetter, a Republican from Dekalb County. He will have the affable gentleman from Mobile, Chris Pringle, by his side as Pro Tem. The major Committee Chairmen will remain the same. Joe Lovvorn (R-Auburn) will chair the Rules Committee. Representative Danny Garrett (R-Trussville) and Representative Rex Reynolds (R-Huntsville) will chair the Budget Committees.

Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at steve@steveflowers.us.