The Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the Alabama House of Representatives, elected by House members at the Legislature’s organizational session held after each general election. The Speaker recognizes members to speak, refers bills to committees, and appoints members to House standing committees under chamber rules adopted for each four-year term.
Following Reconstruction, Democrats held the speakership continuously until 2010, when Republicans won control of the House and elected Mike Hubbard, the first Republican Speaker since Reconstruction. , the Speaker is Nathaniel Ledbetter.
List of speakers
Speaker Terms of office County Party Gabriel Moore 1818 Madison Democratic-Republican John W. Walker 1818 Madison Democratic-Republican James Dellet 1819 Monroe Whig George W. Owen 1820–1821 Monroe James Dellett 1821 Monroe Arthur P. Bagby 1822–1823 Monroe Samuel W. Oliver 1823 Conecuh William I. Adair 1824 Madison Samuel Walker 1824 Madison William Kelly 1825–1826 Madison Samuel W. Oliver 1826–1828 Conecuh Clement C. Clay 1828–1829 Madison Democratic John Gayle 1829–1830 Greene James Penn 1830–1832 Madison Samuel Walker 1832–1835 Conecuh James W. McClung 1835–1836 Madison Arthur P. Bagby 1836–1837 Monroe James W. McClung 1837–1839 Madison John Dennis Phelan 1839–1840 Tuscaloosa Samuel Walker 1840 Conecuh Robert A. Baker 1841 David Moore 1841 Madison John Erwin 1842–1843 Greene Andrew B. Moore 1843–1845 LeRoy Pope Walker 1847–1850 Lauderdale John D. Rather 1851–1853 Morgan William Garrett 1853–1854 Coosa Richard W. Walker 1855–1856 Lauderdale Crawford M. Jackson 1857–1858 Autauga Alexander B. Meek 1859–1860 Mobile Walter H. Crenshaw 1861–1865 Mobile Thomas Butler Cooper 1865–1867 Cherokee B. B. McCraw 1867–1868 Chambers Republican George F. Harrington 1868–1870 Mobile Republican John P. Hubbard 1870–1872 Pike Democratic Lewis M. Stone 1872–1873 Pickens Democratic Lewis E. Parsons 1872–1873 Coosa Republican Decatur C. Anderson 1874–1876 Mobile Democratic Newton Clements 1876–1877 Tuscaloosa Democratic David Clopton 1878–1879 Montgomery Democratic Nathaniel H. R. Dawson 1880–1881 Dallas Democratic Wilbur F. Foster 1882–1883 Macon Democratic Henry Clay Armstrong 1884–1885 Lee Democratic Thomas G. Jones 1886–1887 Montgomery Democratic Clement Clay Shorter 1888–1889 Barbour Democratic Newton Clements 1890–1891 Tuscaloosa Democratic Francis L. Pettus 1892–1893 Dallas Thomas H. Clark 1894–1895 Montgomery Newton Clements 1896–1897 Tuscaloosa Democratic Charles E. Waller 1898–1899 Hale Democratic Francis L. Pettus 1901 Dallas Alfred M. Tunstall 1903 Hale Democratic Charles C. Adams 1907 Tallapoosa Democratic Roberts H. Brown 1909 Lee Democratic William L. Martin 1911 Archibald H. Carmichael 1907–1911 Edward B. Almon 1911 Colbert Democratic Archibald H. Carmichael 1915–1919 Colbert Democratic Henry P. Merritt 1919 Macon Democratic Seybourn A. Lynne 1920–1921 Morgan Democratic Hugh D. Merrill 1923–1927 Calhoun Democratic J. Lee Long 1927 Butler Democratic Alfred M. Tunstall 1931–1935 Hale Democratic Robert H. Walker 1935–1937 Limestone Hugh Davis Merrill 1939 Calhoun Democratic George O. Miller 1942–1943 Sumter Democratic Charles D. Norman 1945 Bullock Democratic William M. Beck 1947–1949 DeKalb Democratic Roberts H. Brown 1951–1953 Lee Democratic Rankin Fite 1955–1957 Marion Democratic Charles C. Adams 1959 Tallapoosa Democratic Virgis M. Ashworth 1961 Bibb Democratic Albert Brewer 1963–1967 Morgan Democratic Rankin Fite 1967–1971 Marion Democratic G. Sage Lyons 1971–1975 Mobile Democratic Joe McCorquodale 1975–1983 Clarke Democratic Tom Drake 1983–1987 Cullman Democratic James S. Clark 1987–1999 Barbour Democratic Seth Hammett 1999–2010 Covington Democratic Mike Hubbard 2010–2016 Lee Republican Victor Gaston (acting) 2016 Mobile Republican Mac McCutcheon 2016–2022 Madison Republican Nathaniel Ledbetter 2023–present DeKalb Republican
Notes Contemporary House journals document key 1830s–1840s speakerships: Samuel W. Oliver (1832–33), John Dennis Phelan (1839–40), and Robert A. Baker (1841 called session). McClung’s repeated speakerships (1835–36; 1837–39) are also noted in archival descriptions of his papers. Bagby’s early and later turns as Speaker are summarized by reference works on Alabama political history.
References