Folks, 2026 is shaping up as one of the best political years in memory in Alabama.
The Governor’s, Lt. Governor’s, and Attorney General’s offices and maybe one of our U.S. Senate seats are up for grabs with no incumbent. The jockeying has begun in earnest for all these posts.
The Attorney General’s position is a powerful job in Alabama government, and it appears to be attracting several competent competitors. Current Attorney General Steve Marshall has served eight years and is term-limited.
The early front-runner is State Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell. He seems to be edging towards running for Attorney General next year, although it is hard to understand why someone would leave a safe seat on the Supreme Court to be Attorney General. Mitchell was just elected to a new six-year term on the high court last year. Being a Supreme Court judge is more important and prestigious than being Attorney General.
Mitchell is a long-time resident of Homewood and lifetime resident of Alabama’s most populous county, Jefferson. He graduated from Birmingham-Southern College where he played basketball. He went on to law school at the University of Virginia. He practiced with a prominent law firm prior to being elected to the Supreme Court in 2018. He is well-respected as a lawyer and jurist. He has $660,000 in his campaign account and would be a favorite of the business community.
Mitchell’s biggest challenge would have come from veteran State Senator Arthur Orr of Decatur. However, Orr has taken his name out of consideration. Senator Orr is generally considered the most powerful State Senator in the Upper Chamber. He chairs the Senate Education Budget Committee. In that post, he oversees Alabama’s $9.3 billion Education Budget. He has immense power as the crafter of this budget and is probably more powerful than the Governor.
As the Senate’s most potent member, he has amassed over a $1 million campaign war chest. For this reason, Orr is looked upon as a player in a statewide race. He more than likely can remain Chairman of Education Finance and Taxation in the next quadrennium. He made a wise move choosing to remain as the state’s most powerful senator rather than moving to Attorney General.
U.S. Attorney Jay Town of the Northern District of Alabama is eyeing the Attorney General race. Town is a proven prosecutor and would be a viable candidate. He was appointed U.S. Attorney by Trump and is well known as a proven conservative. After getting his law degree, Town served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps and was a JAG prior to practicing law. After military service, he worked as a prosecutor in the Madison County District Attorney’s office. He has a reputation as a tough prosecutor, which is what the Attorney General of Alabama is expected to be.
Katherine Robertson, who is current Attorney General Steve Marshall’s long-time General Counsel, is expected to make the race for Attorney General. She will make an attractive candidate and is very well qualified. She knows the office inside and out. Robertson is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of Alabama School of Law and is a native of Montgomery.
Katherine would be the darling of the far right. She would be a clone of her boss and mentor Marshall. She would not be a far right-wing extremist just for political purposes. She is a true believer. Katherine has the inside route to garnering the important Alfa endorsement. Her great grandfather was president of the powerful Alfa organization several decades ago. Jimmy Parnell and some of the powers that be still remember him. She has deep Black Belt roots.
Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey is the only announced candidate for Attorney General. She officially announced on January 15. She certainly has the experience. Pamela has been the DA of Blount County for 15 years. She has been a working DA. Being a practicing DA is the right experience to be Attorney General. This is the exact background that current Attorney General Steve Marshall came from.
If Pamela Casey or Katherine Robertson win, they would be the first female Attorney General of Alabama.
See you next week.
