Upcoming Year will See the End of an Era for Long-Time Alabama State Leaders

With the first of December upon us, we are nearing year end and just weeks away from the start of 2026.

The upcoming year will be significant in Alabama for a number of reasons. First and foremost, there will be a sea change of leadership at the top of the state. Governor Kay Ivey, Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth and Attorney General Steve Marshal are all term limited and thus will be leaving office after their long service to the state. With Senator Tommy Tuberville seeking to move to the Governor’s office, we will have a new senator for Alabama in the United States Senate next year. In addition, there will be a number of retirements from the Alabama House of Representatives and State Senate.

In a little bit over a month from now, Governor Kay Ivey will be gearing up for her last state of the state address before the Alabama Legislature. She has served as governor since being sworn into office in the Spring of 2017 after the resignation of then Governor Robert Bentley. She has since won two elections on her own in 2019 and 2023 gaining the distinction as having the longest consecutive tenures of any governor of Alabama. Governor Ivey has served through the depths of the pandemic and through record budgets and economic success in the state. She has made some controversial moves through the years, but has remained as one of the most popular governors in the Nation. Thus, the governor will want to prioritize what is important to her legacy as she completes her term in office. So with her last year in office, we will see what is on Governor Ivey’s to-do list as she prepares to finish her final months in office.

It will be interesting to see what will be on the agenda for Governor Ivey and these other state officers as they close out the end of their terms. Usually, an election year means controversial issues and hard decisions are kicked down the road. However, there are plenty of important challenges that need to be addressed now, like Alabama’s failing criminal justice system, chronic education woes and infrastructure issues with the state’s roadways.

Hopefully, these officials will use their last year in office to take on the state’s pressing problems and do what they can to help solve them before they leave office.

Paul DeMarco is a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives and can be found on X, formerly Twitter, at @Paul_DeMarco