MARC Hosts Stadhagen, Commissioners, Legislators at September Meeting

The Mid-Alabama Republican Club (MARC) hosted a number of State and local officials at its regular monthly meeting on Saturday, September 13.

Alabama State Representative Jim Carns (R-Vestavia Hills) began his legislative report by reminding the group of “what we’ve endured the last four years” under the Biden administration: “illegals pouring in, we think 20 million. The Afghan pullout, which left 13 dead and had billions of dollars of military hardware left behind. The Department of Justice and FBI have engaged in absolute political fistfights with those who are true Americans. They buried Hunter’s laptop.”

Carns went on to decry the rise in antisemitism, the actions of George Soros in bringing in many DAs and law enforcement officials—with subsequent rising crime rates—and four years of watching “Joe Biden stumble through his activities. He was a true embarrassment.”

“It’s time for us to stand up and fight,” Carns said. “To stand up. To not be timid to get in the arena. To not get into the debate.” He pointed out that in the last session, “80% of the debate was the Democrats. They’re only 20% of the House.” Carns hinted that the next session might see that ratio changed, among other things.

For the County Commission Report, Commissioner Jimmy Stephens (District 3) said of Republicans that “we tend to focus on the macro politics—the things that harm our country. We need to look at things that harm our county.” He emphasized the need to focus on our local elections, especially with regards to the multiple redistricting suits in progress. “We are in a crisis situation in Jefferson County,” he said. “Our districts are at risk. We’re all running for reelection, but we don’t know what our districts are going to look like.”

Stephens then reported a significant positive: “we paved 150 miles of roads this year, up from 10 when we took office.

Commissioner Mike Bolin (District 5) said that all three of the Republicans on the Commission “generally see the issues through the same prism.” He discussed the decision to run again, before speaking about the current probate judge situation in Jefferson County. Bolin, who served as Probate Judge for sixteen years, expressed his serious concerns about one of the current holders of that office.

Commissioner Joe Knight (District 4) reported that last week the Commission passed the FY2026 budget. When he reported that in April, the County would make the final payment on its general obligation debt, it was very well received by the audience.

The Commission is finally able to operate on a “pay as you go” basis, Knight said. He briefly described two recent major projects—the revamp of the Coroner’s Office and the new Cooper Green Clinic—while saying “it’s a challenge” but “we’re on solid footing.”

Knight closed by mentioning the impending judicial decision in the redistricting case, saying “we don’t think it’ll be favorable to us.”

Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Phillip Brown discussed their recent fundraiser, in which “we didn’t do as well as we had hoped.” But, he said, “we saw the necessity for us to do what Charlie Kirk has been for doing for years,” in reaching out to young people. Brown stated that the County Party had been actively working to improve its social media presence and revamped their website. “It’s allowed us to reach out to young people.”

Brown went on to compare what’s happening now with the 1960’s, stating that era’s situation has now reversed: “We now have a tremendous amount of liberal parents with children who are becoming conservative,” and this is a reason for the Party to be more active in reaching out to them using the media they’re familiar with. He stated that “We have to be very active. We want to put on community events like Turning Point used to do.” He closed by saying “We have to put up the argument that, with conservative principles, we can make Jefferson County great again.”

Shelby County Party Chair Joan Reynolds opened by saying “we’re fortunate in Shelby County, we have the majority of our officials are Republicans.” She went on to say that one of her grandchildren had worked for Turning Point, knew Charlie Kirk personally, and “it’s been somber.”

“I think Turning Point USA and the assassination will be a ‘turning point’ for young people to do the right thing, to get out and get involved,” Reynolds finished.

Alabama House Majority Leader Scott Stadhagen (R-Hartselle), the meeting’s featured speaker, described his entry into politics and subsequent rise to become House Majority Leader. He said that “my job is to make sure I’m a resource for our caucus,” and spoke at length about how he’d arranged “Town Hall packages” for members to have access to large conference rooms to use to meet with representatives from their districts. He pointed out that the offices of most members are too small to fit more than two or three people, but now members can reserve large rooms to accommodate larger groups.

Stadhagen also reported that he has worked actively to improve the caucus’s social media presence, growing their Facebook page to “just shy of 22,000 followers.” He also stated that “we’ve started doing podcasts,” but on those podcasts “we don’t talk legislation. I want that member’s constituents to get to know him as a person.”

Stadhagen then closed with what he called the Three B’s:

Be honest.

Be brief.

Be gone.

The Mid-Alabama Republican Club meets on the 2nd Saturday of every month in the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest, 1221 Montgomery Highway, Vestavia Hills, AL 35216.

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