Former Alabama attorney general candidate Pamela Casey announced Tuesday that she will support Jay Mitchell in his 2026 bid for attorney general.
Casey, who has served as Blount County district attorney since 2011, placed third in last week’s Republican attorney general primary with 25.1 percent of the vote. She trailed Katherine Robertson, who received 40.5 percent, and Mitchell, who won 34.4 percent.
In a statement to Alabama voters released on social media Tuesday, Casey said her decision to endorse Mitchell was based on his record as an attorney and judge.
“This election is ultimately about who is best prepared to serve the people of Alabama moving forward. At the end of the day, I believe Alabama deserves an Attorney General who has actual courtroom and legal experience,” Casey wrote.
“Jay Mitchell has been in the courtroom. He understands the law, the judicial system, and the serious responsibility that comes with serving as our state’s top law enforcement officer,” she continued.
Before his attorney general campaign, Mitchell served as an Alabama Supreme Court justice from 2019 until stepping down in 2025 to focus on his run. He previously worked as a litigation attorney with Maynard, Cooper & Gale.
Robertson, meanwhile, has worked in the attorney general’s office for nearly a decade. She joined the office in 2016 as a senior adviser and now serves as chief counsel for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall.
Casey also expressed concern about the Robertson campaign’s links to out-of-state donors, which she called a deciding factor in her endorsement of Mitchell.
“I am deeply concerned about the role dark money and outside interests played in this race,” Casey wrote.
Dark money accusations have dominated the state’s attorney general race, with Mitchell attacking Robertson over sizable out-of-state nonprofit donations to her campaign. Such groups are not required to disclose their donors as Alabama political action committees are, prompting Robertson’s opponents to question her campaign’s financial transparency.
“The other candidate in this runoff has received millions of dollars from outside sources in a manner that prevents Alabamians from fully knowing who is funding her campaign,” Casey said. “There is only one candidate in this runoff who has been transparent about campaign funding, and that is Jay Mitchell. Alabamians deserve transparency and accountability from those seeking public office, and Jay has provided that transparency.”
Casey also criticized an advertisement run by Robertson, which condemned Mitchell for authoring the 2024 Alabama Supreme Court decision that jeopardized access to in vitro fertilization treatment statewide.
The majority decision, which Mitchell led, held that frozen embryos are children under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, prompting state IVF clinics to halt operations over liability concerns. In response to Robertson’s ad, Mitchell has said on the campaign trail that he supports IVF access.
“I did not believe it was appropriate for anyone to use IVF in negative ads in a way that appeared designed to play upon the emotions of families who have walked that painful road,” Casey said. “Alabama families who have experienced infertility deserve compassion and understanding, not political exploitation.”
In response to the state Supreme Court’s ruling, the Alabama Legislature passed a bill in 2024, now law, to shield IVF facilities from civil and criminal liability.
Despite her endorsement, Casey also expressed concerns with Mitchell’s past advertising, noting that in her conversations with him, he pledged to focus his campaigning on his legal experience.
“Let me say this plainly: I found two of the commercials run by Jay’s campaign in the primary to be distasteful and unbecoming,” Casey wrote. “I spoke directly with Jay about those ads. He assured me that his focus moving forward will be on the extensive legal and courtroom experience that qualifies him to serve as Attorney General.”
Throughout his campaign, Mitchell has run ads focusing on national issues and cultural divides, attempting to align himself as a defender of Trump administration policies. Two previous ads run by Mitchell highlight his stances against “radical Islam” and “woke anti-white nonsense.”
“I entered this race because I believed experience, integrity, and service mattered more than political insiders or massive outside spending. I still believe that today,” Casey concluded. “For those reasons, I am proud to support Jay Mitchell for Attorney General, and I respectfully ask those who supported me to join me in supporting him in the runoff.”
The Mitchell campaign welcomed the endorsement. Mitchell said Tuesday that Casey is “an outstanding DA who fights hard to protect Alabama families.”
“It’s my distinct honor to carry her endorsement into this runoff. Thrilled to have her on the team!” Mitchell added.
Robertson, meanwhile, announced an endorsement Tuesday from Baldwin County District Attorney Bob Wilters.
“Katherine has stood firm against the anti-incarceration movement that wants to dismantle public safety in Alabama, one bad policy at a time,” Wilters said in a statement released by the Robertson campaign.
A message left with the Robertson campaign Tuesday afternoon requesting comment was not immediately returned.
The 2026 runoff elections, including the race to decide the Republican attorney general nominee, will be held June 16.
The Republican nominee will face Democratic nominee Jeff McLaughlin, D-Guntersville, a Guntersville attorney and former state representative, in the November general election.
