In the latest installment of the Alabama Policy Institute’s (API) By The Numbers series, the conservative think tank compares Detroit, filer of the largest government bankruptcy in American history, to Birmingham, county seat of Jefferson County, which comes in at number two on that list. What did API find? The Magic City and the Motor […]

In an unexpected move, Alabama Republican Party political director John Kay has resigned effective Sept. 13. Multiple members of the ALGOP steering committee told Yellowhammer that Kay submitted his resignation to the Party’s chief of staff just before the Labor Day weekend. Kay has only been with the Party since March of this year. His […]

MONTGOMERY – ForestPAC, the Political Action Committee of the Alabama Forestry Association (AFA), has endorsed State Representative Chad Fincher, R-Semmes, in the race to succeed Jo Bonner as U.S. Representative for the 1st Congressional District. Only days ago it seemed as if all the major state organizations were going to remain neutral in the AL-01 […]

Republican Candidate for Alabama’s First Congressional District Bradley Byrne released his first television advertisement today, titled “Courage.” “The ad details Bradley Byrne’s experience, courage and leadership in public service specifically as Chancellor of the two-year college system,” said campaign manager Alex Schriver. “During his tenure as Chancellor, Bradley cleaned up widespread corruption and cronyism in […]

In celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Yellowhammer compiled a list of the top 7 quotes from Dr. King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims

Earlier this year I sat with Sandy Stimpson at an Alabama Policy Institute board members retreat. By this point, he had already dove headlong into a campaign to unseat two-term Mobile Mayor Sam Jones, and to be frank, a lot of people thoughts he was crazy. Mobile is a city of just under 200,000 people. […]

A new television ad produced by GOPAC touts AL-01 congressional candidate Chad Fincher’s ability to win tough legislative battles. Alluding to Fincher’s sponsorship of the Alabama Accountability Act, the ad says, “He defeated the liberals and the teachers’ union, and now schools are more accountable and parents have more control — more choice for parents […]

GQ magazine recently commissioned Warren St. John, the author of the definitive Alabama fan book Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, to write a profile piece on University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban. Here are seven things we learned from St. John’s piece: 1. He’s concerned the national championship game takes away from his recruiting time. […]

Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, R-Indian Springs, one of the most ardently pro-life members of the Alabama legislature, is retiring at the conclusion of her current term after 16 years of service. “It has truly been a wonderful 16 years, Rep. McClurkin told Yellowhammer today by phone. “It has been a great opportunity to serve the […]

Faulkner University was put into lockdown earlier today after reports of an active shooter on campus were disseminated through the University’s emergency information system. The situation has now been resolved. According to the Montgomery Policy Department, a custodial employee was shot by her estranged husband after a physical altercation on the campus. She is currently […]

(Above: Highlights of Kevin Spacey’s keynote address at the Edinburgh Television Festival) Since 2006, political drama junkies have been relegated to watching old reruns of The West Wing to get their fix. That is, until Kevin Spacey delivered the surprise hit of 2013 with his Netflix original series, House of Cards. House of Cards debuted […]

The Alabama Farmers Federation (ALFA) and the Alabama Association of Realtors have both decided to not get involved in the Alabama First Congressional District Republican primary. According to sources with knowledge of ALFA’s political operation, the group commissioned a poll earlier this month in order to get a better handle on the current state of […]

Well heeeeeeere we go. @ALGOP executive committee meeting. pic.twitter.com/xlKmm0oKP5 — Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) August 24, 2013 The state executive committee does not like being told what to think, or do Flashback seven or eight months to the most recent election for Alabama Republican Party chairman. Most of Alabama’s most prominent Republican elected officials lined up […]

It has been roughly eight months since Jim DeMint left the United States Senate. His reason for leaving the world’s greatest deliberative body was simple; he believes he can make more of a difference from the outside than he could as a senator. As Heritage Foundation president, he now leads the country’s preeminent conservative policy […]

The South Carolina Republican Party voted Saturday to ban CNN and NBC from conducting presidential primary debates in the state ahead of the 2016 campaign if they move forward with programming featuring Hillary Clinton. The resolution was passed by the state executive committee at its quarterly meeting in Columbia. “If CNN and NBC continue to […]

In an email that was sent to the Alabama Republican Party steering committee, one of the committee’s members expressed concerns that the Party may have committed Social Security fraud. The email, which was obtained by Yellowhammer News, was sent by Jeff Peacock, ALGOP Vice Chair for Congressional Districts 1 and 2. In the email, Peacock […]

The Alabama Republican Party will play host to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on Friday night at their annual summer dinner. The Party has had some luck with the timing of their speakers in recent years. Texas Gov. Rick Perry spoke to a record crowd in Birmingham in 2011 just a day before he announced his […]

On the final day of business at the Republican National Committee’s summer meeting, the RNC passed a resolution sponsored by Alabama’s National Committeeman Paul Reynolds lambasting the President’s energy policies and expressing support for the coal industry. The resolution “calls upon President Obama, his administration and the Environmental Protection Agency to rescind their misguided and […]

Today Attorney General Luther Strange and Alabama Policy Institute (API) President Gary Palmer addressed API’s recent receipt of a letter from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) that inquired about API’s relationship with the American Legislative Exchange Council and asked whether API supports “stand your ground” legislation.  According to a joint statement put out by the […]

An amendment proposed last week to the bylaws of the Alabama Republican Party would have removed from the Party’s steering committee any member who publicly supports a position contrary to the most recent GOP platform, which was adopted during the 2012 Republican National Convention. Today, the amendment’s sponsors, Don Wallace of Tuscaloosa and Bonnie Sachs […]

(Above: a montage of Matt Pitt’s best quotes from his recent NBC 13 interview) After being accused of impersonating a police officer for the second time, Matt Pitt, founder of Birmingham area youth ministry, The Basement, gave a wide-ranging interview to Kalisha Whitman of NBC’s Birmingham affiliate. In the interview, Pitt declared his innocence, flashed […]

Congressional candidate Dean Young made his position on gay marriage crystal clear yesterday during an interview with Mobile’s local NBC affiliate. “I’m against homosexuals pretending like they’re married,” he said during an on-camera interview, which can be seen above. Young feels like current members of Congress are not doing enough to protect traditional marriage. “Congress […]

Then-president Richard Nixon secretly taped all of his White House conversations from February 1971 until July 1973. As part of a legal agreement signed in the mid-90s not long after Nixon’s death, the tapes have been periodically released in batches since then. The final 340 hours of those tapes was released this week, revealing some […]

Prior to The Alabama Public Service Commission’s decision to lower rates for Alabama Power customers last week, it had been a quarter century since major changes had been made to Alabama Power’s rate setting structure. The Commission has now turned its attention to Alagasco, which hasn’t seen significant changes in its rate setting mechanism since […]