Representative Ernie Yarbrough walked into this legislative session with two bills that should have been touchdowns: House Bill 7 / House Bill 13—The Laken Riley Act and House Bill 541—Closed Primary Elections. These weren’t long shot policy experiments or fringe ideological statements. They were the kind of bills any Republican legislator would normally want to carry because they’re straightforward, emotionally resonant, and aligned with the priorities of the conservative base. Both were red meat, base pleasing, Republican supported measures. Both had broad grassroots appeal. Both matched statewide GOP messaging almost word for word. And both entered the session with momentum already behind them.
And yet—neither passed this legislative session.
The Laken Riley Act is overwhelmingly supported by Republicans and even draws support from many Democrats and Independents. Under normal circumstances, that kind of bipartisan sympathy makes a bill glide through the process. But the bad news for the bill was simple: Ernie Yarbrough was the one trying to carry it, and it failed. The Closed Primary Bill, on the other hand, was controversial and substantively flawed, but it still had the backing of many Republicans and the Alabama GOP Executive Committee. In theory, that should have given it a fighting chance. The good news for the state was that Ernie carried it—so it failed too.
That’s not bad luck. That’s not “the establishment.” That’s ineffectiveness.
If you can’t pass the easy bills, what can you pass? The time for waiting is over.
The Laken Riley Act is sailing through red states across the country. Legislatures with similar political makeup’s are passing it with wide margins. Meanwhile, the closed primary bill had the Alabama GOP Executive Committee behind it, cleared committee and had media coverage framing it as advancing toward the floor. Both of the bills were popular, both were supported by the base, and both were positioned for success. And yet Ernie Yarbrough couldn’t close the deal on either one. That’s not leadership—that’s legislative drift. It’s what happens when a member is present in the building but absent in the work.
In any functioning legislature, if a member has influence, relationships and respect in the chamber, their bills move—especially bills the base wants. When a member lacks those things, their bills stall, even when leadership is open to the idea. That’s exactly what happened here. The problem wasn’t the content of the bills. The problem was the carrier.
The Speaker of the House supported these bills. The current United States Senator Tommy Tuberville supported them. The Alabama GOP supported them. Pretty much every Republican elected official and leader in the state supported them with a few exceptions. These were bills designed to help Ernie Yarbrough politically, to give him wins he could take home to District 7 to show that he has actually done something. Instead, they backfired by exposing his weakness. It’s like dropping back in a clean pocket, staring down a wide-open receiver, and still throwing straight to the defender—then watching them run it back the other way.
He has been so ineffective in his four years as a legislator that there was no realistic path for either of these bills to pass under his leadership. Even when the ball was handed to him on first and goal from the five-yard line, Ernie still couldn’t punch it in. That’s not leadership—that’s a stalled offense. Ernie Yarbrough fumbled both on the goal line. Two chances. Two turnovers.
He’s the quarterback who celebrates the snap, not the touchdown. In the legislature, touchdowns are passing bills. He’s got none. If you move the ball up and down the field but you never score, what good does it do anybody?
Any successful football coach will tell you that most games are won before the kickoff. Preparation determines outcomes. The work you do behind the scenes—studying film, building trust, coordinating with your team—is what sets you up to win on game day. In the state legislature, that preparation looks like shoring up your own caucus, counting votes, building coalitions, working the floor, making phone calls, attending forums and putting in long hours when nobody is watching. It’s the unglamorous work that separates performers from pretenders.
Ernie Yarbrough had two bills sitting on the goal line—The Laken Riley Act and the Closed Primary Bill—and he still couldn’t score. If you can’t punch in the easy ones, you’re not a playmaker. You’re a liability.
The residents of District 7 want results. They want competence. They want someone who can deliver, not someone who blames others when the ball slips through their hands. They don’t want drama. They don’t want excuses.
They want a representative who can actually score a touchdown.
