One of the best races in this blockbuster election year will be for lieutenant governor. In bygone years, this was a much more powerful position than it is today. For about 50 years, from the 1950’s through the 1990’s, the lieutenant governor controlled the State Senate.
The Constitution gives the power to the State House and State Senate to organize their own bodies. The Senate relinquished this power to the lieutenant governor when the most brilliant parliamentarian in the annals of Alabama legislative history, Jim Allen, became lieutenant governor.
The legendary Senator, Jim Allen of Gadsden, became lieutenant governor and assuaged that power. He knew how to craftily maneuver the gavel. He was a Wallace ally. He and Governor Wallace worked well together, but Allen had made himself the “King of the Senate.” He garnered control of operations, the calendar, and most importantly, the power to appoint chairmen of all committees. Allen would appoint the Chairman of the Rules Committee, but he would confer with Wallace on this post because Governor Wallace wanted his agenda addressed.
When Wallace was not governor and when a weaker or less experienced governor would arrive, the lieutenant governor would become even more powerful. They had been elected on their own and had the power of the gavel and complete autonomy of the senate because they set the agenda and the committee assignments.
Legislation is the most important project of special interest groups. Special interests campaign money would flow to the lieutenant governor’s race. In many quadrennium contests, there would be as much money raised in the lieutenant governor’s race as for governor. Not many of the lieutenant governors, or any for that matter, had the parliamentary prowess with the gavel as the great Jim Allen. However, they would have the legendary, 50-year Secretary of the State Senate, McDowell Lee, sitting beside them and instructing them on the rules of the Senate, which are very intricate. Mr. Lee was the Master.
The state senate took the power away from the lieutenant governor in 1999. Steve Windom had been elected lieutenant governor as a Republican, and Don Siegelman was elected Governor as a Democrat, and the State Senate was dominated by Democrats. The Senate took back the power inherently given to the Senate and rested the leadership and committee assignments to their own internally elected President Pro Tem. That person currently is State Senator Garlan Gudger of Cullman. He will be coming back after this election cycle. As will the strong, powerful, effective Speaker of the House, Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Dekalb County. Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter and President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger will be the two most powerful people in state government in the next quadrennium. The apparent new Governor, Coach Tommy Tuberville, is very close to Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter. Coach stayed in Ledbetter’s house when he ran successfully for the U.S. Senate six years ago. They are arch political allies. Tuberville will have a harmonious working relationship with the legislature as governor.
The 2026 race for lieutenant governor will boil down to a two-man race between two current popular statewide constitutional office holders. Secretary of State Wes Allen versus Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate will be a real horserace.
Secretary of State Wes Allen is a real thoroughbred. He is a true-blue Republican with an impeccable political pedigree. He is a lifelong Republican. He served as Pike County’s Probate Judge for nearly a decade before being elected to serve District 89 in the Alabama House of Representatives. He was elected overwhelmingly as the 54th Secretary of State in 2022. He is looking to move up to lieutenant governor in this 2026 election year. He is an indefatigable campaigner and a devout Baptist Deacon and dedicated family man.
Rick Pate is a very popular two-term Agriculture Commissioner. He has done an outstanding job in this very important post for eight years. He is a lifelong resident of Lowndes County, a small Black Belt county adjoining Montgomery. He was a longtime Mayor of Lowndesboro prior to being elected Agriculture Commissioner. He has been a successful Agri-businessman in the River Region for decades. He sold his landscaping business when he became Commissioner of Agriculture. He is a workhorse and people like him when they meet him.
There are three “also ran” candidates in the race. Nicole Jones Wadsworth, Patrick Bishop, and Dean Odle are running. Mr. Odle has run statewide before. Nicole Jones Wadsworth is working the state hard and may surprise folks. The race between Pate and Allen may be so close that these three candidates may get enough votes to force a runoff.
See you next week.
