Singleton Elected Alabama Democratic Party Chairman

Alabama Democrats reorganized their State party Saturday, electing Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) as Chairman and filling a slate of party leadership posts ahead of the November general election.

Members of the Alabama Democratic Party’s State Democratic Executive Committee gathered Aug. 8 at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa for the party’s once-every-four-years organizational meeting.

Singleton defeated incumbent Chairman Randy Kelley to take control of the State party. Singleton had announced his bid for Chairman in late July, saying he wanted to unite Alabama Democrats and focus the party on winning elections.

“I’m not coming at this from a side,” Singleton said when announcing his candidacy. “I don’t have a side. I’m not interested in fighting. I’m here to win. That’s what I do – I win. And that’s what I want for the Alabama Democratic Party. I have no enemies within our party.”

Singleton has served in the Alabama Legislature for more than two decades and is currently the Minority Leader in the Alabama Senate. His election put one of the State’s highest-ranking Democratic elected officials in charge of the party organization.

Saturday’s meeting involved far more than the race for Chairman.

Caroline Self was elected Vice Chair, replacing Tabitha Isner. Isner, who was nominated to be Secretary, was defeated by incumbent Valerie Bright, who retained the position.

Bradley Turner was elected without opposition to be Vice Chair of Labor, and incumbent Vice Chair for County Affairs Ben Harris was reelected to the spot.

Under the party bylaws, the new Chairman appoints the Treasurer after taking office.

Also selected were Alabama’s Democratic National Committee members, and SDEC vacancies in multiple districts remaining after the May 19 primary.

The party allowed any registered Alabama voter who identified as a Democrat to seek one of the vacant positions. Candidates could qualify until the position was filled.

Several party caucuses met before the full SDEC session. The Youth, Black, LGBTQ, Hispanic, Asian-American and Native-American caucuses were scheduled to convene at 9 a.m., before the noon organizational meeting.

Congressional district delegations were also met after the SDEC completed its work. Delegates from each district were tasked with choosing one man and one woman to represent their district on the party’s Executive Board.

The leadership contest came as Alabama Democrats prepared for the Nov. 3 general election and followed months of debate over the direction and operation of the state party.

Singleton entered Saturday’s meeting as an alternative to Kelley, who had led the Alabama Democratic Party since 2022. Singleton said when launching his campaign that his goal was to build a broader coalition and strengthen the party’s ability to compete.

“I just want this party to win,” Singleton said before the meeting.

The SDEC meeting was livestreamed to the ALPolitics.com Facebook page.