In the Weeds with Alabama Daily News

Todd and Mary celebrate being able to take a bit of a breather as the Legislature takes a week off for Spring Break. There's plenty of punditry to catch up on, though. They walk through what happened and what's next on gambling, IVF, school choice, the budgets, AL-1 & AL-2, and, of course, the fallout from U.S. Senator Katie Britt's national debut. Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

Todd and Mary are at a meeting of the Alabama Council of Association Executives. For those not familiar, that's the group of governmental affairs leaders that team up for regular updates on the state of affairs inside Alabama politics and government. In short, it's an insider crowd. And so there's perhaps no better audience to do the first live in-person recording of the In the Weeds podcast. Today @MarySellQuillen & I were asked to do an issues roundup for the Alabama Association of Council Executives and we thought, why not record it for In the Weeds? It was lots of fun, even if my jokes were lame. Thanks for inviting us ACAE! Now to edit the podcast...#alpolitics pic.twitter.com/iq9nDRWO4q — Todd Stacy (@toddcstacy) January 31, 2024  

Attorney General Steve Marshall comes In The Weeds to review the year that was from his office on a number of different issues: redistricting, the McCraney cold case conviction, the opioid settlement, criminal code revisions and more. We also look forward to discuss what's coming up next, including his involvement in the Trump immunity case before the Supreme Court and his legislative agenda for 2024. So as not to waste the opportunity, Todd slips in some questions about gambling and Marshall's political future.  

The newly drawn Alabama Congressional District 1 will be a much better political fit for Rep. Barry Moore than the District 2 he was recently drawn out of, the congressman told Alabama Daily News on Thursday. Moore, technically, is challenging incumbent Rep. Jerry Carl in District 1, but most of the nine counties in it are currently in District 2, which he’s represented since 2020. From Dothan to Dauphin Island, the newly drawn district will be one of the most conservative in the nation, Moore said. “Being a House Freedom Caucus member, being rated the most conservative member from (the Conservative Political Action Network) last year out of Alabama, it just makes sense that I can represent the district,” Moore said on In the Weeds, ADN’s podcast. Listen below. In the court-mandated congressional map changes approved in October, District 2 became the state’s second opportunity district where Black voters have a chance to elect the candidate of their choice. The district in the 2024 cycle will have a Black voting population of nearly 49 percent. District 2, which formerly included all of the Wiregrass region, now goes west dips into Mobile and stretches north to include all of Montgomery County. Moore’s hometown of Enterprise, in Coffee County, was drawn out of District 2 and into District 1. District 1 was stretched from the southwest corner of the state across the lower counties to the Georgia line. It became more white. Moore said he doesn’t think he’s politically aligned with the new District 2. “I just knew that every time I voted in Washington, D.C., my phones were going to be ringing and people weren’t going to be happy,” Moore said when asked if he considered running in that district. “…I’m not going to adjust who I am to represent a district. I want to be who I am and be a part of the district, be like the voter, be the voice, truly, of the voter. “So for me … it was just tough to say, yeah, I’m going to run in a district that I don’t really look like, sound like, talk like, act like, vote like,” he said. “It’s just that I am so conservative, so for me it just doesn’t seem like I could do them folks a good job and that’s not fair to those 780,000 people. I just didn’t see a path forward unless I changed who Barry Moore was and I just wasn't willing to do that.” There is an opportunity for a Republican in AL-2, Moore said. Eight candidates from the GOP qualified for the March 5 primary last month, along with 13 Democrats. “There is a path forward for the right Republican, but it’s not going to be someone who’s a House Freedom Caucus member, it’s going to be someone who’s more to the middle, more moderate.” “… There is an opportunity for some minority Republican candidates to come in and step up.” In his race, Moore said he plans on running on his record of serving constituents. “I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to do, I’m going to say, look at what we’ve done and see if we’ve done a good job for you,” he said. Carl, of Mobile, was also first elected in 2020. Last month said he expects Club for Growth, a Washington-based political group, to attack him again in this race. The group opposed him in 2020 and has previously supported Moore. But Moore Thursday said he asked Club for Growth “to sit it out” on his race because of its previous criticism of former President Donald Trump. “I thought that was ridiculous,” Moore said. “He is the leader of our party. Like him or not, he is the man right now that I think needs to be the (Republican nominee for president in 2024.”

Republican Congressman Jerry Carl says he knows voters in the Wiregrass area, newly drawn into the congressional district he’s represented since 2021, don’t love the idea of being represented by someone from Mobile. “And I don’t blame them,” Carl said on In the Weeds. “They’re used to having someone from the Wiregrass, in the Wiregrass and they’ve been stripped of that.” In the court-mandated congressional map changes, Carl's District 1 was stretched from the southwest corner of the state across the lower counties to the Georgia line. Similarly, District 2, which formerly included all of the Wiregrass region, now goes west and dips into Mobile. Carl, a former Mobile County Commission member, is losing much of the city of Mobile and Prichard from his district. “It is what it is at the end of the day and we have to work with it,” Carl said. “The people realize that and have been very nice about it.” The change now pits Carl against his GOP colleague and fellow two-term House member, Barry Moore of Enterprise.  “Neither one of us are here because we want to be here, running against one another, but (are) because of the redrawing of the map and courts making their changes,” Carl told Alabama Daily News’ Todd Stacy. He said he started campaigning in the Wiregrass about four months ago.  “It’s a lot of peanuts, a lot of cotton and a lot of helicopters,” he said about the agriculture and defense priorities of the area. Carl is on the House’s appropriations and natural resources committees. He said he’s been talking about economic development and infrastructure. Carl also said he expects Club for Growth, a Washington-based political group, to attack him again in this race. The group opposed him in 2020 and has previously supported Moore. “Sixty percent of this district, I’ve served for the last four years, three-and-a-half years,” he said. “They know me. I’ll run on my record.” The new district also means new media markets and campaign strategies, We’ve got four more months to “do everything we’re supposed to have a year to do,” he said about campaigning.  Carl also talked about the new speaker of the House and the three-week ordeal that led to the change.

Todd is on his own this week without Mary's supervision. That leads to a long rant about issues like the Speaker's race, the House Republican Conference and how that might impact Alabama. More importantly, Todd talks with State Sen. April Weaver and Peggy Benson of the Alabama Board of Nursing about the workforce shortage facing that profession.

Todd and Mary interview Lt. Gov Will Ainsworth about his thoughts on a number of issues: infrastructure spending priorities, school choice, that education capital project fund, what's next on grocery sales taxes, workforce development and the big question - is he running for governor? Ainsworth is candid in his answers to the point that this episode will probably make news.

Todd and Mary talk about the week that was in Alabama politics - and it was a hell of a week. Todd interviews State Rep. Chris Pringle, who breaks his silence over the state's redistricting fight.

Todd and Mary get extra weedy this episode as they welcome Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne for a discussion about two of his recent endeavors: updating the Alabama Ethics Code and using the Legislature's Sunset Committee to shine a light on questionable occupational licensing practices. Told you it was weedy! Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

Summer is usually a slow time for the news business, but not this year. Plenty has been going on in Alabama politics, and in this episode, Todd and Mary discuss the latest from an uncharacteristically busy summer. Topics include: * The recent BCA conference in Point Clear * ARPA spending oversight meeting * Potential changes to the state's ethics code * The latest on redistricting * The ongoing medical marijuana dispute * And the Trump phenomenon from Alabama's perspective Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Todd has many thoughts about the "re-redistricting" process banging around in his head, and so Mary kindly lets him download all of it on the pod to get it out of his brain.

Mary and I welcome State Senator Clyde Chambliss for an in depth discussion about his takeaways from the legislative session and his thoughts on what to expect in the future. That includes on the issue of transportation infrastructure, an area in which he has significant experience as a civil engineer. Of course, any conversation with Sen. Chambliss is going to involve talk about budgets and, in particular, how he thinks Alabama is preparing for the future. Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

Mary and Todd preview the last week of the legislative session, even if we can't remember what day it is (you'll have to listen). We go over our thoughts on the schedule and Mary's conversation with Sen. Arthur Orr about all those tax bills sitting in his committee, many of which are up today. Listen below or wherever you get you podcasts.

Mary and Todd preview the upcoming week in the Alabama Legislature. With just seven meeting days remaining, some big ticket items are still yet to be resolved, namely the budgets, the $2.8 billion supplemental education package, the grocery sales tax cut and school choice legislation. We'll go in the weeds on all those topics and more. Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

A new episode of our "In the Weeds" podcast is out today. This week, Mary and I are joined by ADN's newest reporter Alexander Willis! As ADN readers know, Alexander is doing great work reporting from the State House, and I'm excited for you to get to know him a little better in our conversation. We are talking about the budget & supplemental, where the grocery tax is headed, the Rep. Givan situation and other issues, all with a little perspective and history from me thrown in. Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.