From AP Studios in downtown Montgomery.

I'm Todd Stacy.

Welcome to Capitol Journal.

The 2026 election is in the books and won an election.

It was.

Overall, 44% of Alabama registered voters turned out on Tuesday, which is a relatively healthy number for a midterm.

By comparison, just 37% turned out four years ago.

Talk of that blue wav nationally turned out to be well founded, as Democrats swept most of the swing districts and states to take firm control of both the US House and U.S.

Senate here in Alabama.

That wave certainly had an impact, but it was not enough to propel Democrats to win statewide races.

Those offices will remain in Republican hands, and that starts with the top of the ticket.

In a close race, Republican Tommy Tuberville defeated Democrat Doug Jones 51.79% to 47.86%.

That's the closest finish in a general election for governor since 2002, when Bob Riley defeated Do Siegelman by less than a point.

Tuberville gathered with supporters in Auburn on election night.

In his victory speech, he addressed all Alabamians, saying he wants to work for all the people, whether they voted for him or not.

Standing here, I'm reminded of what I tell my team when we won.

Winning is not an accident.

Winning is a decision.

And tonight, Alabama decided to win.

Tonight's victories because you love Alabama and love the United States of America.

Yeah.

In the face of blue waves, which we've had tonight, unfortunately, this staff has stood up to the pressure and said, not in my Alabama job.

And I guarantee you this.

And we will not let you down.

And to the folks who didn't vote for me, listen, I' going to be your governor, too.

And a lot of you didn't vote for me.

I don't understand why.

But honestly, at this point, I don't care who you voted for.

Because we have to work and a lot of work to do.

And my goal isn't just to help.

One group is to help all.

My goal is to help everyone who wants to be part of a championship team.

Thank you.

I only care whether you're willing to roll up your sleeves and help make Alabama better.

That's what matters now.

Six years in the United States Senate.

It's been an honor of my lifetime to represent you.

But I've got to tell you something.

I'm not going to miss one damn bit of that clown show.

They deserve what they got tonight.

I'm telling you.

I'm ready to come home and go to work for the people of this great state.

Doug Jones and his supporters were in Birmingham Tuesday night, even though Tuberville ha declared victory at about 10:00.

Jones said he was not ready to conced because of the Associated Press hadn't called the race and tens of thousands of votes were still outstanding in Jefferson County.

And speaking to his supporters, Jones said the election was bigger than just himself.

He said the Democratic Party laid a foundation they can build upon in future cycles.

When w started this race, look at that.

Look at the odds that we were given next to nothing.

Everybody said no.

There was no way in the world that a Democrat could win.

There was no way that Doug Jones could win.

Well, we are that close.

And.

And when and when Louise and I started this, this journey, we really told folks that there were two things that we had a goal and we had an objective.

We have not met the goal yet.

We may.

And that goal was to win, to be the next governor of Alabama.

But there was also an incredibly important objective.

And the objective was to build, to build something special that is going to outlast the campaign.

That's what we have done over the last 11 months.

I am so proud of the campaign staff and the folks that we've had out in the field every day.

The folks that we have had helping to run this campaign, whether it was from April Hodges, the campaign manager, and Caroline Shell and all of this staff right over here have been there from day one.

I could rattle them all up.

But here's the thing that is so important to me.

And this was what I insisted on.

Every one of those folks right there.

Those are Alabama folks.

Let's take a look at the down ballot races in those other contests again.

Republicans swept all statewide contests for lieutenant governor.

It was John Wall prevailing with 54.3% of the vote over Philip Ensler, with 45.59% for U.S.

Senate.

Barry Moore won with 54.69% to Everett West, Wes's 45.19% for Attorney General Katherine Robertson, and won with a full 55% of the vote over Jeff McLaughlin, who got 45%.

Robertson becomes the first woman to be elected Attorney General of Alabama for Secretary of State.

Caroleene Dobson won with 54.55% to Wayne Rogers 45.37%.

State Treasurer Young Boozer got 55% compared to Rosaly Houston's 45% for state Auditor.

Andrew Sorrell won with 55% over Violet Edwards, who got 45%, and Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Corey Hill won with 54% of the vote over Ron Sparks, 46% of the vote.

On the legislative front there were a lot of close races across the state, but only five seats held by Republicans flipped two House seats and three Senate seats.

That means Republicans will maintain their super majorities in the Alabama legislature and wasting no time.

The House and Senat Republican caucus met in Auburn the day after the election to organize and choose their leaders in the House.

It will be the same as it was.

Nathanie Ledbetter will remain speaker, Chris Pringle wil remain speaker pro tem, and Paul Lee will remain majority leader in the Senate.

Garland Gudger will remain the president pro tem.

And there's a change in the majority leader role.

State Senator April Weaver was elected by her colleagues to serve in that capacity.

The first tim a woman has held that position.

And I should note that for the speaker of the House and the Senate pro tem, those positions are elected by the full chambers.

So their selection by the caucuses is really just a nomination that will get a floor vote durin the next organizational session that starts in January.

And for reaction to all these state elections, I turn to my colleague Randy Scott.

Randy.

Goodness gracious.

What an election.

You know, there are no major change in terms of the parties, right?

Republicans still control all of the statewide offices that still control, the majorities in the House and the Senate.

But Democrats came closer tha they have in a long, long time.

And within the last two, ten, 20 or so years, they've come a little bit closer.

But the thing is, it's not that Alabama has made a lot of changes like many other states.

A Georgia, a Mississippi, a Florida, a Tennessee in our region, but around the country.

Alabama made literally no changes.

Things are pretty much the same.

A little difference.

A few seats changed hands.

But you can hear people like House speaker in the thing a little better.

Say, hey, the super majority is still the super majority, with the exception of a few seat changes.

You know, so it's to the party stays the same.

The party control stays the same.

But you kno we're going to have new people and all but one statewide constitutional office.

That's young boozer.

He's the only one that remains.

Everything else from the governor attorney general go down the list are all new people.

Now, some of them have had quite a bit of experience, like a Kathryn Robertson.

She's been, I think, attorney general levels for ten years.

You know what she's doing.

But a lot of a lot of these people taking office have not been in that realm.

So it's a lot of new faces and not a lot of new blood.

And it's a brand new day for state government.

It's going to be some on the job training for a lot of people.

Let's see.

Okay.

What do you have?

Do you have what it takes to work in this office, to understand this office, to understand how this office works with other offices in Alabama government because you're going to have to whether it's legislators in the House or the Senate or the Chamber of Commerce around the state.

You're going to have to work with people.

That's going to be the test.

How well do you work with other people, people who may be in your part or who may not be in your party?

Because those are positions that work for the people.

And working for the people may mean you have to do things that you're not used to doing or comfortable with doing.

Yeah.

And, you know, I heard that the House and Senate have their or the Republican caucus has had their retreat up in Auburn day after the election.

But Tuberville was very involved there.

So they're already trying to, you know, work together no that they've all been elected.

Well, speaking of the speaker, it was announced he's once again going to be speaker of the House, our guest nominated, technically.

So, you know legislative leadership remains mostly the same.

Speaker of the House, pro tem, majority leader in the House.

The one change was over in the Senate, where he for Weaver, is now the majority leader.

But think about the House because you cover the House for Capital Journal.

You know, they had some dram there at the towards the end of last session.

Lots of infighting withi the caucus and things like that.

But this reelection of the speaker and the majority leade and the pro tem seems to be that maybe people are happy with that leadership and maybe those that infighting will go away.

I think that's the big Chris Christmas wish that a lot of people had, that the infighting that ended the last session that we went through would not be around, lingering around that could cause troubles as a new year get started.

You know, the majority, as I say, a supermajority is, for lack of better words, pretty much just saying they're going to start off the new year and we'll see where they go from there.

Same with the minority portion of the House.

They are also getting themselves together.

We did hear from, Anthony Daniels, the minority leader of the House, who said that.

Hey, you know, we're taking this one da at a time, one step at a time.

We may not have 120 seats or so, but we did win a few seats.

We did see some hands change, but we're going to come in like we did at the end of las session and last session to work for the people in a lot of those seats went uncontested.

Well, Randi thanks again for your insight.

And, I guess we all should get some rest while we can.

Well, while Democrats did not score any statewide wins Tuesday, they did have a major win at the congressional level in Alabama's second district.

Congressman Jamal figures won reelection with 53.8% of the vote over challenger Rhett Marcus, who had 46.2%.

It's especially noteworth because the district was redrawn by the Republican legislature in May to make it more likely to be a GOP pickup.

President Donald Trump won that same district by 14 points two years ago.

And ye it was that redistricting effort that helped boost Figures chances by angering Democrats, especially black voters, and spurring them to turn out on election Day.

Figures celebrated the victory with supporters here in the capital city.

We know what happened with this district.

We kno about the redistricting efforts.

We know what the district was, what the district is now.

But we had a job to do.

We was right to talk and talk.

And so we put our hands to the plow.

And we did not look backwards.

We kept moving forward.

Now, this is this is a this is the part of the game where we get back to work though, because we don't run elections just to say we won.

We run elections to be able t go do the work that you can do.

If you win.

And so there's still a hospital here in Montgomery named Jackson Hospital that we need to make sure it stays open.

This state still has the third or fourth lowest life expectancy in America.

The individual median income in this state is still just around $35,000.

Our schools still need help.

Gas is still too damn high.

Groceries are still too high rent to.

Go back.

Rent is still too high.

Mortgage rates are still too high.

Life is still too expensive.

Yes, ma'am.

We still have a war raging in Iran that is risking lives of people right here in Montgomery who serve it.

Maxwell Garner, friends of yours that we must bring to a close.

We still have tariffs that are raging and causing undue harm to everybody, but especially to this state's largest industry, our agricultural industry.

At the end of the day, we want to go forward.

We will see what the cards hold in terms of what is the future of this district.

There's actually still pendin litigation, believe it or not.

But at the end of the day, whate we will be your representative for the next two years.

And to break down these election results, we turn to Alex Angle, our Washington correspondent, right there on Capitol Hill.

Alex.

Obviously, this was a monumental victory for Shomari Figures and for Democrats.

You covered this campaign trail.

You went aroun on the campaign trail with this.

These candidates did that, did the results on election night kind of match the energy that you experienced on the campaign trail?

Yeah.

Todd, I saw lots of enthusiasm for congressman figures out on the campaign trail in the weeks leading up to the election.

And that energy was apparent not just in Montgomery, which is the Democratic stronghold of the second district, but it also stretched down into the Wiregrass.

And those are some deep red parts of the state.

He held a rally in Dothan, Alabama.

He brought out about 300 people and those people were excited.

They were energized to be able to vote for him.

He even acknowledged he hasn't really seen a rally like this in Dothan, Alabama.

And who knows how long.

And he made comments about how there was energy i deep red areas for a Democrat, and he was able to touch o some of the economic conditions that people are facing.

Right.

High gas prices, high diesel prices, some of those those pains that farmers in particular are facing under the tariffs.

And so he tapped into those issue and really made a broad appeal to voters, whether they were Democrati leaning or Republican leaning, as someone who could really help change those conditions and help, help bring about that, that change that was needed as he saw fi under the Trump administration.

And so that message seemed to resonate.

He also ran a really well funded and really well message campaign, and that helped boost his message across all areas of the district.

And when the party that you'r running under is not in power, it's really easier to kind of make that message that you're going to help fight against it.

And that was harder for Representative Marcus to do, as Republicans have controlled all chambers of Congress and the white House these past two years.

And that's when we've seen those high gas prices.

So he had a little bit harder of a time boosting that enthusiasm.

Unlike congressman figures.

And he really made sure that he tapped into that.

Yeah.

And there's been a lot of talk about backlash to that redistricting effort I mentioned earlier.

Do you think that, had had anything to do with boosting turnout especially among black voters?

It definitely played a part for congressman figures this victory on Tuesday night.

There was just lots of anger and people being upset about the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, and then Republicans that quickly redrew that map.

There was just lots of anger that was apparent in the second district, especially in black voters just did not want to go back to a time before the voting rights existed, as it did before thi recent Supreme Court decision.

So that played a major factor in helping to get people to the polls.

But congressman figures, as well as Congresswoman Terri saw, were really at the forefront of pushing back on these redistricting efforts.

They started at the state Capitol, you know, urging lawmaker to not go through with a plan.

And then they held a rally in Montgomery pushing back against it.

And up until Election Day, that has been a really big message from both of their campaigns, making sure that they knew that people not take away their vote.

And so they really also pushed a really big get out the vote message, making sure that those who were angry about those redistricting efforts, that they actually turned that out into going to the polls and casting a ballot.

And it really seemed like that did was or that was the case on Tuesday.

We saw, especially in Montgomery, a Democratic stronghold, the birthplace of the civil rights movement.

They had about a 50% voter turnout, which is much higher than it usually has during a midterm election.

And that just reflects kind of that the backlash to the redistricting and gutting of the Voting Rights Act and really played a part in getting figures, the votes he needed to to win the district.

Well, let's let's zoom out a bit.

This was obviously historic election for Democrats.

They will soon take the majority in the House and the Senate by some pretty big margins.

You're there on Capitol Hill.

What's the vib been like there on Capitol Hill, knowing that there's going to be a huge change here in Washington?

Todd there is a lot of change that is coming very soon next year.

Democrats are obviously ecstatic.

They are ready to get to work.

They're going to hold that majority in both the House and Senate.

So we're going to see a lot of changing of the guard, a lot of new committee leadership that's afoot.

And so lots of energy there.

They're going to really be pushing back on the Trump administration and doing investigations that will really lead a bulk of their work.

Since there is still a Republican in the white House, these next two years.

You know, when it comes to Alabama Democrats, we're going to have Congresswoman Teresa full.

She's a more senior Democrat who holds a powerful spo on the Ways and Means Committee.

She also plays a major role in the party in helping on health care legislation and voting rights policy.

Now, those are two issue that are sure to be top of mind for the Democratic Party especially after redistricting and the expiration of the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits.

So she's probably going to pla a big role on those two front.

And then Congressman Shamari figures following his win in a Republican district.

He's really gained some national attention.

So he's sure to get some more sway in this next Congress as he steps up for being a freshman member here.

When it comes to Republicans, obviously a lot more somber mood on the Hill.

You know, a lot of members will be leaving the Hill because of those losses.

Alabama Republicans will still be holding their seats, the ones that they held in the last Congress.

But their influential rol is definitely going to be dimmed a little bit just because simply, they're not in the majority anymore.

We're going to be losing our House chairmanship.

The House Armed Services Committee.

Mike Rogers was the chair of that.

He will no longer be doing that.

He's asking to seek a waive to still be the top Republican on that committee.

But being in the minority does not really give you as much power as it does when you're a chair of a party in the majority and in the Senate.

We're also going to see those Republican senators lose some of their influence.

You know, Katie Britt is on some powerful committees, but being in the minority, you don't get to do quite as much on those committees.

And then, Senator Barry Moore, Senator elect Barry more, he's going to be low dow on that totem pole of seniority.

And in the minority, that's also going to be a little bit more difficult.

But the delegation really works together usuall well for the good of the state.

And so I'm sure that that practice will look the same.

It'll just be different under this Democratic controlled Congress.

Well, that's really something.

We'll look.

Thanks, as always, for your coverage, Alex.

Thanks for joining us from Washington, D.C., and we'll take a quick brea and be back with Steve Flowers.

Stay with us.

How did colonists employ language to paint King George the Third as a tyrant?

On July 4th, 1776, American patriots declared their independence from Great Britain with the Declaration of Independence.

Considere one of the most essential parts of the declaration by the Committee of Five.

The list of grievances against the King criticized his rule of law and called into question the legitimacy of his reign.

Using verbs like ravaged, plundered, and excited, the writers sought to justify their revolution and illustrate that Georg was actively abusing his power.

Even when some of the charges laid against the king were exaggerated accusation like sending swarms of officers to harass our people and burnt our towns and destroyed the lives of our people, were claims that produced images of injustice in the minds of the patriots.

Language such as this helpe incite the ire of the colonists, and were the building blocks for the American Revolution.

The 375,000 acres that make up the three Ranger districts of Talladega National Forest were purchased by the federal government in 1936 as part of an effor to restore clearcut timberlands and farmlands no longer capable of producing crops.

The beautiful reserve includes the 102 mile, pin holding National Trail System and Alabama's highest and second highest points, Mount Chia and Duggar Mountain.

You're watching Alabama Public Television.

And you.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is political columnist Steve Flowers.

Steve thanks for coming on the show.

Thanks for having me.

Well, look, we got to talk about the election.

Who best to have on to talk about this this historic election.

Really.

So I wanted to start nationall because it was this blue wave, blue suit nominees.

Some people are calling it because it really was I mean, a generational impact in terms of Democrats sweeping the House, sweeping the Senate, and and having an impact in states that normally they don't play in.

I mean, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, things like that.

What was your takeaway just from watching all that unfold Tuesday?

You know, the best term has been used as a blue tsunami or even a blue hurricane, whichever you prefer.

But it was a it was a generational change.

And American politics, you know, we knew the house of most people do.

The house was going to go because of historical, standards and history, and also the economy.

And you saw the blue.

What?

I saw the wave coming.

I mean, you could see th polls showed it was a big way.

But you know, how how it was going to crest you knew the house was going to go, I thought maybe 30 seats, but probably on the closer to 45, the real the real sweep.

And the real dramatic thing was to take over the Senate.

That was dramatic and major, because, you know, you don't can't replace a senator maybe six years.

So you're looking at having a majority Senate probably for six years or longer.

And like you said a while ago that you swept states that unheard of Texas, Kansas, our South and North Carolina.

Yeah.

And even Mississippi.

Right.

I mean, so it was you made some inroads in the into generational decades building of Republican Senate seats in Republican states.

The Kansas thing was the biggest thing to me.

1932, during the FDR New Deal, was the last time a Democrat went to Senate in Kansas.

So this was a deep, deep, life changing or really political changing, of Washington.

Yeah.

Well, and also, it's going t have presidential implications.

Think about Texas.

There is no path for a Republican to the white House without winning Texas.

And and not to say that it' going to always be Democrat now.

But that's definitely in play.

And so that just changes the Electoral College map for future presidential elections.

It does.

And you you know, you almost had Flores become the the bastion of Republican strength now in a presidential race.

And and there's a problems there.

But it is, you know, two years is a long time because you think about two years ago, Trump carried on states, double digits.

And, so things can change if the Republicans depends on who the Republicans nominat and who the Democrats nominate, Democrats nominate a real lef wing person like AOC or the guy in Michigan or something like that, a known liberal.

They could get that.

Sure.

The chances of winning.

And but conversely, if the Republicans nominate someone tied to Trump, you know, I think they could have troubles.

But, if the Democrats take the white House, then it is a real change and political environment.

Probably already has anyone.

Well, what's the lesson here?

Because you mentioned Trump winning going away in many states like Alabama in 2024.

And convincing.

Right.

And yet two years later, there's a wipe out and I'm thinking about, you know, voters being disappointed with, the economy, obviously, because I think it's a big reason why I got elected.

Maybe some overreaches on things like deportations and Ice and things like that.

The tariffs, how they impacted prices and things like, what are the lessons that, Republicans should take away from this big wipe out?

The last time that Democrats did this were 1974, well after the war.

Great thing.

But in the Clinton, presence, Ron James Carville made a statement that is is true, proven true throughout the last 2 or 3 decades.

Is the economy stupid?

And the wrong war instigated a lot of that from here, the gas price and diesel cost and groceries, which were all based a lot o exact policies that Trump did.

So I think the economy was a driving force.

I think, secondly, that Trump's personality has finally become to be a haunt on his on his legacy, just the all about m kind of thing and irreverence.

See the glow, Garrett?

Either just a lack of decorum and, presidential person, you know I think he began his arrogance.

They can be great on people, you know, and I think his combination of his policies and, and his personality combined, it was a perfect storm.

Well, how does it impact the Alabama delegation?

Because obviously.

And we'll get to the second district.

So I want to your your take on that.

But, our primarily Republican members of Congress and senators are certainly going to be in the minority.

That's a lot less fun than being in the majority.

But how does that dynamic change in terms of how our delegation operates in Washington?

That's the biggest, consequence of Alabama on our state is for, as the, congressional thing, because, as you know, having been around politics as long as you have and no one much bothers you do and no one especially Washington politics, Washington politics become very, very Partizan now.

And it was been Partizan all along.

And who had a party takes a majority and either chamber makes all the rules and makes all the decisions.

But even on this partizan divide we have in the countr now, it's even more pronounced.

And so therefore, what with us having a congressional delegation of five Republicans and two Democrats and both of our senators being Republican, we have lost a lot of power in Washington, with this change because the House and the Senate going Schumer's young relegate our two senators and, to the back bench.

Katie, even though she's a freshman, has done a lot of work, but she's going to be in the minority party, and May Moore's freshmen he'll be in the minority party.

And, and they're going to treat the Republicans with disdain the same way that, even more to more degree in, than they did where the Republicans were in control.

The House the same way we lose two of our congressmen, Robert Aderholt and and Mik Rogers, our committee chairman, you know, and because of the seniority system, they're going to move to being ranking members of the House.

You know, s I think that we lose the power, the power in the, in the House and like, Congress is going to be with witness.

So, you know, it's fortunate that they did not try to take away two of those seats.

I don't think they can now thought about it.

Yeah, they did, but I think that if you don't have to and I'm gonna tell you some more figures, if you want me to, that race is going to becom a national hero in Washington.

He's going to be a leader in the Democratic.

He's going to be a rising star.

And so it may have been a, a coup de gras or, a halo thing that we got to, save some more.

I figured, well, let's talk about that.

I wanted to get to statewide numbers, but let's just go ahead and talk about the second district because I said on election night that for Alabama that was the story of the night that, I mean, things seem to be trending, in the way of reelection for congressman figures.

But nobody expected just just the, the margin that it was.

But it's significan for that district to be redrawn, to favor Republican.

You can put it at R plus seven, you can put it at R plus 12 and some, some some people even say R plus 14.

It was drawn to favor Republicans.

And yet, shamari figures defied those odds.

Came in one national way.

Had a big thing to do with it, but also doesn't doesn't the redistricting itself have a lot to do with the backlash from especially black voters feeling like they they were being disenfranchize from the redistricting effort?

I think you nailed it.

Exactly.

I was like you, I saw some polling, and even inside Montgomery, politicians were telling me that the, figures are going to beat Marcus in that race.

It just continues to tren that way in the national trend.

The, when they drew that district, you hit it round the head.

It was designed to be a 55, 45 Republican seat based on past experience and voting patterns and that sort of thing.

But it began that way and then it continued to slide down to the last Cook report.

And Sabato polls showed tha it was going to be a Democratic when it was it was riding a national trend.

But you hit the point round the head is that there was there was a backlash and a voter enthusiasm among Democratic African-American voter that they had been taken away.

One of the rights they had been given the hard way in 1965, out of the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court, the Trump appointed Supreme Court, had made that a Democratic problem.

But, you know, this happened all over this country, all over the South.

There were five in Texas.

And they overcame a lot of obstacles.

And he he wrote a big vote in Montgomery County, here in Montgomery County.

It was a tremendous.

But I saw that coming.

I knew that they were going that the Democratic base voter were mad about that situation.

So it was a local thing combined.

Well, actually, he's a pretty good candidate.

Oh, absolutely.

And ran a strong campaign, had a ton of money coming in nationally to Democrats.

Really wanted to keep that seat.

He had.

He had worked hard in there two years.

And I think he's got the, the makings of being a great congressman, especially given the fact that the Democrats are going to be in control.

So it's a good thing that he won that thing for the states price.

Well, yeah.

And, you know, he and Congresswoman.

So they're going to be pretty busy for because, you know, when it was when it's Republicans in the in the majority, then, you know, they get a lot of requests.

Now the Democrats are in the majority.

They're going to get a lot of requests for appropriations and things like that.

Well, let's zoom out a little bit from the second district.

Talk about the whole state, because Alabama statewide was able to withstand that blue wave or the Republican candidates here.

Now some of it was close.

Let's start at the top of the ticket.

Tommy Tuberville wins, defeats Doug Jones.

But that was closer than I think a lot of people expected.

Probably a lot closer than Tuberville would have wanted.

What was your take away from that race?

Well, again, I saw that coming.

Their own polls.

His people around him were saying it was going to be 53, 47.

Okay.

And I think Jones was showing the same thing.

Jones never saw where he was going to win.

I think he but I think he was surprised he got to be 51.7 to 48.

But that was an eye opener.

But we've seen but I've said this throughout this whole time, we are the last bastio maybe for red state Americans.

We we withheld that title late, but we are ready to we're not an island.

And so we are becoming a little more nationalized than we used to be in the South, obviously, with South Carolina and North Carolina, Georgia gone blue, but, even Florida and Mississippi, you saw the same.

The blue wave attack their state.

And it was it's happened here.

And so back to the top, the race, I think that they were still a hard core, 55% for all the Republican candidates.

But terrible underperformed because I think when it got down to it, he was not a popular candidate.

I think people distanced himself from him in the last 2 or 3 weeks.

Matter of fact, one of the representativ in Huntsville told me they saw a blue wave coming up there in Madison Limestone, and they said that he had a rally the last night before the election, in the last week before election, Huntsville.

And he said he was he was the only one only elected official to be seen, whatever the term was, a drag on the ticket and there were 50,000 Alabama Republicans that consciously went in there and didn't vote for Toby or vote for other Republican candidates.

So you're talking about like the under vote.

Yeah, yeah.

And typically that's the other way around.

You know that.

Well, you got to give credit to Jones too, because he was a good candidate, actually.

I mean, and he was a known, widespread name I.D.

and things like that.

So he's different than a lot of the other candidates running for statewide office, because he's a known quantity and had some money, ran a good campaign.

He did.

And he's the reason that I think that, the point I want we probably get around to two.

Is it you and I and everybody who follows up on politics have written this state off as being a 6040 race.

It was it was in Steele in the in the battle.

I mean, not about, the mayor of Tuscaloosa, Mort Maddox, in 2018.

He ran the perfect campaign, was a good candidate.

And yeah, they beat him 6040.

So we set the threshold at 6040.

And it was confirmed a few years later, six years ago, in that first term, Jone race for the Senate, it was 64.

So I had just written this race off of 6040.

But Jones started a year ago, as you know, watching behind the scenes, maybe longer than that.

He was determined to build the Democratic Party back, to be a viable party.

He fielded good candidates down ballot.

Ron Sparks was a good candidate.

You have McGrath and whole slate were good candidates.

So they just lay down and quit.

But he built a grassroots organization too.

He raised money of $20, a shot from all over the state.

He ran a perfect campaign in that regard.

And so, you know, the, he's he's be and I think he, you know, and I will say he would do it all altruistically, but he was determined to build the Democratic Party back.

So the lasting thing on this, Todd, is I think the barrier now is 50, 45.

I think a Democrat can show he can get 45.

I think that he he got 48 against.

Well, may not be the standard.

I think that was like you said, anomaly.

But, you know, I think that the standard has been raised.

So therefore in future years, if a general election occurs and there's a governor's race in Alabama, Jones has raised the bar to 45.

I think that way you get home tonight is another factor.

When you and you mentioned North Alabama being, you know, there were, I think three legislativ losses up there for Republicans.

I think five total.

There might be, as many as six losses for Republicans not going to affect the supermajority.

But it's notable, but okay, given what you just said, how does that impact, how things will go in the legislative session.

Like, but because it was a closer election than people thought, does that impact at all how Tuberville governs?

How he goes about he did say in his election night speech, you know, whether you voted for me or not I'm going to be your governor.

It was kind of conciliatory.

Do you think the close nature of the election impacts his, how he governs, starting in January?

Yes, it does, but I don't think he was going to make a difference anyway, because, as you know, the legislature, constitutionally and pragmatically has the most power in the legislature and the state get money.

So having said that, Tocqueville probably is not going to come with any issues that the supermajority Republican legislature is.

Don't disagree with.

Anyway, they're both conservative.

And the coup de gras is that tourbillon.

Daniel Ledbetter are very close friends.

I mean, they like each other and they're going to work together.

So I don't think Toby will come with an initiative that Nathaniel Ledbette is not going to agree to and say and maybe help him decide what to do.

Ledbetter is going to be in a very powerful position, as is good, you know, in the Senate or the Senate and House.

I don't control the flow, but I don't see them having any major differences in philosophical issues.

Both of them are going to be for school choice and conservative issues.

So I don't think he'll have that.

If it does happen, though, the upper hand will go to the legislature, in this regard, because he has no mandate.

Matter of fact, he's more popular and he's less popular district than they are, you know?

So give an example.

In bygone days, I'm so old.

I was in the legislature when George Wallace was governor.

He controlled the legislature.

He we were simply an appendage of of the governor's office because of his popularity, because of his personal popularity.

The way so he could go int your district and change things.

Exactly.

And that's what he would do, that he would go out.

Maybe it was before my time, but he would go in there and he would he would run against a state senator.

He was against him on an issue, and he'd beating, because what was extremely popular, more pop in the stat Senate, it was in his district.

This is just the opposite.

I had one on.

Tell me that one I say would have told me.

Okay.

My district said he was against me.

Help me, you know.

Really?

Yeah.

He said, I don't care if I'm okay.

What?

Tell me.

I think I'm more bothered.

He is.

Wow.

In most of their districts, I mean.

So it was like, well, the bully pulpit is that is that unwritten, power of the governor.

And I remember, when it was Bob Riley he got a Democratic legislature and yet was able to get a lot of wins because he could go around and be, you know, popula even with Democratic districts.

So that that's a real thing.

And if Tuberville wants to be effective as governor, he he's going to need that popularity to come back so he can wield that bully pulpit.

He's going to have to cultivate legislators personally.

He's going to have to go in there and not depend on just Ledbetter to to pull the strings.

And he's got to go in there and get to know him and have them out together.

Manchin and and and caught him a little bit, because like I say, a lot of one to spite him.

So he has no following in their district.

He, he so he it's like they, they they're going to be independent, but they're going to be I don't see an issue that'll be different.

But how how is tha is any of this a mirage though.

Because it was this big blu wave, blue army and everything, a generational electio that we probably won't see again in a long time.

So.

Or is it a mirage in terms of, you know, the people who were reliably going to show up and vote, total maybe more popular with them.

They're more reliable Republican.

Is that what am I making sense?

Like, is this an anomaly that we're not going to see again for a long time?

And so shoul we are reading too much into it?

I think it has, but has changed.

The state has changed And this is a two year period.

And I don't want to hang too much on Madison, Limestone County.

But more votes are cast in Madison limestone now than in Jefferson.

And there are some purple strains showing up in Madison.

That makes us more like a national state.

And it's also show up a little bit in the suburbs of Shelby and Jefferson.

It sure did.

It showed up in those two.

But now the one basher they've got is Baldwin.

It ain't solid is solid rock solid.

But they're in the rural areas of solid Republican.

But you're seeing some purple tinge in like you said.

It didn't it didn't affect a supermajority.

Losing four seats was not major.

I mean, you know, tw and a half to three in the House and two Senate seats, they can overcome that.

That' not going to be a problem there.

So the legislature's going to have all the power, and I think they'll work closely with Coach Tolliver.

And I think they won't have any animosit and they'll be on the same page.

So I think that that's I don't see I don't think you see where they have a difference.

Like Boon Riley was a Republican governor.

I got both in the same party.

So I think you have a harmonious relationship, and I think we'll have a good agenda an we'll do a good job as governor.

But it's not like in the old days where the the bully pulpit is where he had to control the highway department, things like that, where they can say, you know, you road, you own.

It may not come to fruition if you don't help me on this thing but I, I don't know if anything will happen like that, but he can if he uses the pull of it that way.

Well, Steve, we're out of time.

Really appreciate you coming and sharing your thoughts.

What an election, man.

What?

It really was something, but it really was.

But thanks again.

Thank you sir.

We'll be right back.

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Ralph Shug Jordan coached the Auburn Tigers for 24 seasons, from 1951 through 1975, with 176 win coached during ladies alma mater to more wins than any other head football coach in Auburn's rich football history.

He's remember the College Football Hall of Fame.

The 1950s were probabl his best decade with the Tigers, winning the national championship in 1957.

I'm Thomas Garcia, wide receiver on Coach Jordans 1972 football team, nicknamed The Amazing.

A major underdo entering the season, we finished with a ten one record, number five in the country, including the infamous Punt Bama punt Iron Bowl victory.

Coach always said that his 197 team was one of his favorites.

Coach Jordan remains one of the most highly respected personalities in the history of Auburn University.

Not only because of his success as a head football coach, but also because of his tireless devotion to the Auburn community.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

November is national family caregiver Month and coming up later this Sunday at Jewish Family Services Alzheimer's of Central Alabama.

The Parkinson's Association of Alabama and the UAB Integrative Center for Aging Research are hosting a special event in Birmingham.

When caregiving becomes yours a community conversation with families.

And joining me now to talk about it is Lauren Schwartz executive director of the Cjf.

S. Lauren, thanks for coming on Capital Journal.

Thank you for having me.

I appreciate being here.

Well, this is a fascinating event and obviously a very important topic.

Tell me more about, this panel you're going to be having.

Sure.

So, Sunday at 230 at the Alice Stephens Center, we're hosting a panel of caregivers and professionals who work in dementia and caregiving, to talk about and shine a light on the caregiving journey.

You know, every journey is different.

Aging is something that we don't like to talk about in our in our country.

And, we see stories every day how, really, the heroes who are caregivers to their family members, step up every day to care for them.

It can be small ways, like taking your parent to the doctor and it can be big in big ways.

Like really caring for your person who has dementia that you've been married to for 50 years.

So we want to really show the community, what that experience is like.

And as I said every experience is different.

But there are a lot of commonalities, and we see a lot of similar dynamics across the board.

It seems to me it can maybe sneak up on you.

I mean, everybody like you say, we're all going to either be caregivers or be taken care of.

Yes.

And so doe it help to, to proactively plan to say, okay, I'm we know years from now we're going to be in a situation.

Is that part of what you'r trying to promote?

Absolutely.

So one of the things about planning is that we all hope we're going to age.

We don't know what's going to happen.

For some people, they lose their cognitive ability.

But physically, they're healthy.

For other people, they lose their physical capabilities but cognitively they're healthy.

Some people are healthy all along the journey until the very end.

So we don't know.

But we can thin about those different scenarios and we can talk to the older people in our lives about what do you imagine you would want?

What would be important to you if your mind wen and and your body was healthy?

How would you want to be taken care of?

Would you want to be in a place?

Would you want to be at home?

90% of, of Americans, according to a want to age in place, as long as safely possible?

Yeah.

And so at first, that's really what we do.

We help people to stay living at home as long as possible.

Yeah.

And so, you know, that's difficult conversation to have.

Right.

And we think about talkin to your mom or dad about that.

That's tough and yet so needed.

Yeah.

Is is breakin that kind of stigma part of it?

Yes.

So, you know we often say parents don't want to talk to their kids.

They often don't want to talk to one another right about what it's going to look like.

So having a professional come in and have that conversation with the family is often all that it takes to sort of get the ball rollin and really expressing concern.

So we think you're doing great right now, mom.

And you know, we want you to stay like this as long as possible.

But we are concerned in the future that we don't really know what you want.

We want to honor those wishes.

We want to know what matter to you and be able to honor that if things change.

Because, as you said, sometimes they change really suddenly, right?

There's some sort of crisis.

A mom has a fall or, you know there's some sort of an illness that is diagnosed, or Alzheimer's is diagnosed.

Sometimes it's very gradual, you know, that the ability to be mobile goes very, very slowly.

And it starts with I've got a little arthritis to you know what?

It's not really safe to be driving anymore.

How do we have that conversation?

Yeah, absolutely.

And there was this Bradley Cooper documentary where he, I mean, what a look.

Great.

I don't know what a great gift.

For him to document the his journe taking care of his father.

Yes.

I mean some of it's not easy to watch, but it seems to me that he wanted to help get the conversation starte about just how important it was and something we all deal with, an bringing it out into the open.

So maybe we can have more of these conversations.

Absolutely.

You know, th the amount of caregiver burden that people take on impacts every facet of their life.

It impacts caregivers have a, poor health outcomes, poor mental health outcomes.

There is often financial strain.

Someone might have to sto working in order to stay at home and take care of a parent.

At a minimum, they're missing work, right?

Because they got to take them to doctor's appointments.

I know my mom probably goes t the doctor, you know, six times, six times a month, right?

So sometimes that's really, part of the journey and figuring out what do I need to make this happen and be successful because most spouses, adul children, they really want to do right by the person who needs the caregiving, of course.

And so you talk about caring for the caregiver.

Yes.

Because and, you know, talking about parents, I'm thinking about my own, of course.

I mean, the children can be in the peak of their careers, right?

Busy all the time.

You know, or have childre of their own and just, I mean, not a lot of time on their hands.

And so that's got to add to the stress.

Talk about the importance of caregivers actuall getting the mental health care and just overall care that they need to sustain themselves without getting totally burned out and damaging themselves.

Yeah.

So, one of our panelists is, Doctor Renee Harmon, who, cared for her husband, for eight years with Alzheimer's disease.

They were physicians together.

They shared a practice.

And, when he was diagnosed, he had to immediately stop practicing.

She took over the practice.

She went from workin part time to working full time.

And she really talks about, how the red line for her was, when she couldn't sleep anymore.

Because when she couldn't sleep, because of Harvey's illness and what was happening for hi during the night, she realized I can't function the next day as a physician and do my job in a way that is effective.

What am I going to do to take care of?

To take care of him?

She also talks a lot about, enlisting other people's help.

So what we see at Cjf, as so often is, I've been married to this person for 50 years.

It is my job to take care of them, and nobody can do it the way that I can.

All of that is true, right?

You know your loved one the best.

All of that is true.

And just like when you're on the airplane and the the stewardess comes on and says, you got to put on your oxygen mask first and then help the people next to you.

The same is true of caregiving.

You cannot do it all all the time.

You have to enlist help.

So caregivers need breaks.

We have a dementi respite program in Birmingham, that operates four hours a day, four days a week.

And that's what it does.

It engages people living with dementia and a cognitive social atmospher where they're having a good time and it gives their caregivers a break.

Such a wonderful ministry that is started here in Alabama is catching fire all across the country.

One more time Remind us of the event Sunday.

The event is at the Alice Stevens Center.

When caregiving becomes yours.

It will be at 2:30 p.m.. Registration is required, but it is a free event.

You can go to our website, ww, JFS be ham.org.

And there is a button that says caregiving event where you can register.

Okay.

We'll look.

Good luck with the event.

Thanks so much for coming on and promoting it and telling.

And we want to continue thi conversation about caregiving.

Great.

Thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

How did attacks spark a revolution?

When you hear a stamp you're probably imagining this.

But the Stamp Act was not about mail.

In 1765, the stamp Act was British Parliament's first direct tax on the colonies to raise funds for England.

Suddenly, American publication were required to be printed on stamped paper, providing British agents the opportunity to censor content too.

The British taxed everything from legal documents to playing cards, even newspapers and almanacs.

Things common people needed.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine taxed.

Or it would have been if the colonists hadn't fought back.

Protests were organized and intimidation tactics executed until Boston stamp man Andrew Oliver quit.

Once wor spread of this violence, threats and protests broke out in the colonies, leading to the idea of n taxation without representation, which would grow into the backbone of the Revolutionary War.

Ten years later.

Originally designated as a postal route in 1806, the old Federal Road stretched through the creek Indian Territory of Lower Alabama.

Alabama's Federal road functioned as a major thoroughfare for western migration into the Old Southwest, ushering in a new era of national expansion and exploitation of Native American territory.

Although much of the Federal Road has disappeared, portions of it remain today.

You can watch past episodes of Capital Journal online anytime at Alabama Public Television's website.

App tv.org.

Click on the online video tab on the main page.

You can also connect with Capital Journal and link to past episodes o Capital Journal's Facebook page.

That's our show for this week.

Thanks for watching.

And thanks for following along with this election on Capitol Journal.

It's been a long election season.

We're glad it's over.

And we're now looking forward to the legislative session for our Capital Journal team.

I'm Todd Stacey.

We'll see you next time.