Senate Republican Caucus Nominates Garlan Gudger for Full Term as President Pro Tem

From the Alabama Senate Republican Caucus

November 5

During its post-election meeting held in Birmingham on Thursday, the 24-member Alabama Senate Republican Caucus nominated Sen. Garlan Gudger (R - Cullman) for a full-term as the body’s president pro tem for the 2026 - 2030 quadrennium.

Republicans hold a supermajority within the Alabama State Senate and have pledged to vote together, so their nomination for pro tem is tantamount to election when the legislature meets for its organizational session in January.

“Our Senate Republican Caucus members are a talented and dedicated group who remain committed to providing commonsense conservative government and protecting our homegrown Alabama values, and I appreciate their ongoing confidence,” Gudger said. “If elected to serve again as Senate pro tem at the upcoming organizational session, I will continue working to ensure that every member’s voice has an opportunity to be heard in the committee rooms and chamber of the Alabama Senate.”

Members of both parties unanimously elected Gudger to serve as Senate president pro tem in January of 2025 after his predecessor, Greg Reed, resigned from the Legislature to join the Ivey administration.

A former member of the Cullman City Council, Gudger first joined the Alabama Senate in 2018 and served as chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee prior to leading the chamber.

Among the significant laws he has personally sponsored and passed are a measure that bans men from competing in women's sports across the state and requires public school students to use restrooms based upon their biological sex at birth rather than any different gender they may claim; a bill that mandates businesses and churches must be allowed to stay open during declared emergencies, such as pandemics; and legislation that combats voter fraud by creating the crime of ballot harvesting.

He and his wife, Heather, are the owners of Southern Accents, which has been recognized as one of the top five architectural salvage companies in the nation and was awarded Alabama Magazine’s “Best Antique Store in Alabama” honor for three consecutive years.