Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse - Legislator votes to abolish his own county

  Our Alabama Constitution is very antiquated. One of the flaws inherent in the document is that it does not allow local county governments much authority or power.

  Therefore, the county governments must channel most changes or actions into local acts, which must be advertised in their local paper for four weeks and then taken to the Alabama Legislature to be enacted.  Thus, the entire state legislature has to act on a local bill for Fayette County that might involve something as mundane as whether to pave a road or buy a tractor.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse - Democrat wins a House seat in Alabama

  The national media has been keenly interested that a Democrat has been elected to an Alabama House of Representatives seat. I have had several inquiries from national news and political publications asking me to explain and analyze this phenomenon. They are particularly interested in the fact that women’s reproductive rights were a central focus of this special election in Huntsville.

  Democrat Marilyn Lands indeed won a resounding victory in House District 10, a Madison County seat, in a special election last month. She made women’s reproductive rights the primary issue of her campaign. 

What Marilyn Lands’ win says, and what it doesn’t

  One thing is clear from Marilyn Lands’ House District 10 victory: Abortion still motivates Democrats.

  Lands turned a seven-point loss in 2022 into a 25-point romp on March 26. And for the first time since 2002 – when then-Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman almost pulled off a shocking re-election upset – Alabama Democrats came out of an election with more legislators than they had before it.

  But the obvious question is whether Democrats can replicate Lands’ win around the state.