AshLeigh Dunham is running for the Alabama Supreme Court

June 2, 2025 – Jefferson County Attorney AshLeigh Dunham has announced that she is running for the Alabama Supreme Court.

Dunham is running for the seat currently held by Associate Justice Greg Shaw. Shaw has served on the Court since 2009.

Dunham was recently selected as a Fellow of the Birmingham Bar Foundation. She presently serves as a Jefferson County Senior Trial Referee for Juvenile Court, Bessemer Division, and practices as a Fertility Attorney at Magic City Fertility Law, which she owns.

Dunham is an active advocate in Fight For Alabama Families, protecting IVF access.

The Alabama Supreme Court's controversial February 24 decision that frozen embryos are human beings and have all the rights of a child in the womb under Alabama's Constitution – which threatened the viability of continuing to perform controversial IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) treatments in the state angered Duham.

"I've spent my entire legal career standing with Alabama families-and now I'm all in," Dunham said in a press release. "Our Supreme Court needs justices who understand the real challenges families face. The court has made some anti-family rulings that are wildly out of touch with the people of Alabama."

Dunham and her husband, Jonathan, had their daughter Aria through IVF. They live in Homewood and are members of Trinity United Methodist Church.

"No family should have to leave their home state to pursue the dream of parenthood," Dunham said. "I know what it means to desperately want a child, to fight for that chance, and to finally hold that miracle in your arms. That empathy drives my career, my faith and my life, and it's why I'm stepping up now."

Associate Justice Jay Mitchell wrote the majority opinion in the ruling.

The Alabama Legislature passed, and Governor Kay Ivey signed, legislation protecting IVF access – though it is legally dubious that a statute would in any way negate a Supreme Court ruling on an amendment in the Alabama Constitution.

Dunham is a native of Huntsville. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama and a law degree from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. She is running as a Democrat.

She has been voted a "Top Women" Lawyer for the last few years, a "Top Flight Attorney" for the last few years, and has been voted a Rising Star by Super Lawyers. In addition to this, she has authored Introduction into Alabama's Assisted Reproduction Law for the Alabama Lawyer on the rising legal realm of ART in 2020 while also co-directing the biggest Family Law Conference of the year for the Alabama State Bar and serving on the Family Law Section Board for the Alabama State Bar. She has litigated in Madison, Marshall, Morgan, Limestone, Colbert, Hale, Jefferson, Shelby, Talladega, Blount, and Lawrence County.

The Democratic Party primary is May 19, 2026.