As the 140 delegates take their seats and settle in
to wrestle with resolving the state’s dilemma, I am reminded of my earliest
days observing the legislature. It is nostalgic to think back to my very first
legislative endeavors. I began as a House Page in the mid 1960’s. That was
almost 50 years ago. When I worked the House floor as a young teenager
delivering notes and getting coffee, the membership was much different. At that
time all the House and Senate members were white male Democrats. The scenario
today is much different and diverse.
In 1963 there were no African American legislators.
Blacks only began voting in the South after passage of the 1965 Voting Rights
Act. Alabama was a totally Democratic state. The legislature had not adhered to
the constitutional mandate to reapportion itself from 1901 to 1972. Therefore,
the legislature was grossly malapportioned in 1963.
Besides there being no black or female legislators,
the cities of Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville were blatantly discriminated
against when it came to equal representation. Rural Alabama prevailed in
membership as if nothing in Alabama had changed population wise in 60 years.
Iron ore had not even been discovered in Birmingham in 1901. Therefore, the
people in the Magic City and Jefferson County were not in existence as far as
legislative representation. A county with 15,000 people had as many senators as
Jefferson County with 250,000 people.
What about today? Let me give you a snapshot of the
House and Senate. Convening today, the legislature accurately reflects the
state’s population with one exception. We still have under-representation of
female legislators, especially given the fact that there are more female voters
in Alabama than male. In the House of Representatives there are 91 males and
only 14 females. In the Senate there are 30 males and a paltry five females.
There are no Republican female senators.
However, we are the most progressive state in the
nation when it comes to racial parity. Our black legislative membership mirrors
our state population. In the House there are 80 whites and 25 blacks. This will
probably grow to 26 in 2014 due to the Republican’s zeal to adhere to
requirements of the Voting Rights Act in their new reapportionment plan. The
Senate is made up of 28 whites and seven blacks. The Senate has 22 Republicans
and 12 Democrats. The House has 66 Republicans and 39 Democrats.
What about the geographical makeup? Today, the
larger counties have their legitimate share of representation.
I was also interested in where the leadership of the
House and Senate called home. Therefore, I divided the state into the following
categories: small towns or places of less than 15,000, mid-size cities with
populations of 15,000 to 60,000, and big cities for all places with populations
greater than 60,000.
In the Senate, I used as the top nine leaders, Del
Marsh of Anniston, Jabo Waggoner of Vestavia, Arthur Orr of Decatur, Trip
Pittman of Daphne, Jimmy Holley of Elba, Gerald Dial of Lineville, Cam Ward of
Alabaster, Roger Bedford of Russellville and Hank Sanders of Selma. Amazingly,
there are no senate leaders from a big city. Six of the nine hail from mid-size
cities of populations between 15,000 to 60,000 and three call small towns home.
In the House, I used Mike Hubbard of Auburn, Victor
Gaston of Mobile, Jay Love of Montgomery, Howard Sanderford of Huntsville,
James Buskey of Mobile, Craig Ford of Gadsden, Steve Clouse of Ozark, Paul
DeMarco of Homewood and Jim McClendon of Springville. The city boys fare better
in the House than the Senate. The House leadership is made up of four city
boys, four mid-size boys and one small town boy. Notice I used the term “boys.”
All nine leadership roles are held by men in both chambers.
See you next week.
About the author: Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading
political columnist. His column appears weekly in more than 70 Alabama
newspapers. Steve served 16 years in the state legislature. He may be reached
at http://www.steveflowers.us.
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