Jefferson County Republican Party

The Jefferson County Republican Party is the county affiliate of the Alabama Republican Party. The party is governed by the Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee. The committee is composed of more than 100 members most of which are elected from individual legislative districts or portions of districts that are not wholly located within the County. The Chairman also gets to appoint 10 members. Elected members are chosen for four year terms in the party primary. This election is conducted in the same cycle as the Governor's race.

The committee's chief responsibility is to assist in the election of Republicans to county and statewide office. The committee is responsible for handling day-to-day party activities. It also writes Republican primary elections rules for the county races, qualifying candidates, and setting qualifying fees for county candidates not otherwise governed by state law. It also promotes the beliefs of the national, state, and county parties.

History

Like most southern states the Republican Party struggled to seriously compete for elective office beginning with the end of Reconstruction in 1874. In the early 1960s this finally began to change around the state and in Jefferson County. In 1964, Jefferson County elected a Republican congressman, John Buchanan Jr, who served until his defeat in the Republican Primary in 1980 by Albert Lee Smith. Smith then served one term in the U.S. Congress himself.

In 1966, Jefferson County elected its first Republican State Senator, Leland Childs. In 1967, Birmingham elected its first and only Republican Mayor, George Seibels, who would serve two terms in office. Seibels went on to serve an additional three terms (1978–1990) in the Alabama House of Representatives from Birmingham. One of Jefferson County's Republican State Senators, J. T. "Jabo" Waggoner Jr, is also one of the long-serving legislators in Alabama history with 44 years service with 17 years in the House and 27 years in the Senate.

In 2021 chair Paul DeMarco invited retired general and QAnon supporter Michael Flynn to address the group, and to, "talk about patriotism and public service, his military service and what we all need to do to move to keep this the greatest nation in the world."

Officers

• chairs
  • Cecil Rhodes Holliman, 1952–
  • William L. Longshore Jr, –1956)
  • Herman Dean Jr, –1962)
  • John Buchanan Jr, 1962–1963
  • Kenneth Traweek Sr, 1963–1967
  • Earle Wells Hall, 1967–1970
  • Bob Ryan
  • J. Bentley Owens Jr 1975–1979
  • Tom Ensey, 1979
  • Suzi Straight Harris, 1970–1985
  • Ken Trucks, 1985–1989
  • Robert Milton Watts, 1989–1991
  • Johnny Curry, 1991–1995
  • Bert Jordan, 1995–1999
  • Buddy Black, 1999–2001
  • James Smotherman, 2001–2003
  • Michael Bolin, 2003–2004
  • Gilbert Douglas III, 2004–2005
  • Virginia Doyle, 2005–2007
  • David Wheeler, 2007–2009
  • Gilbert Douglas III, 2009–2011
  • Chris Brown, 2011–2012
    • Brent Latta (acting), 2012
  • Chris Brown, 2012–2013
  • James Matthews, 2013–2015
  • Sallie Bryant, 2015–2017
  • Butch Zaragoza, 2017–2019
  • Paul DeMarco, 2019–2021

• treasurers
  • Raymond C. Barry, 1963-1993
  • Robert Thomason, 1993-2007
  • Levan Ellertson, 2007-2009
  • Vickie Fuller, 2009-2013
  • Kevin Speed, 2013-2015
  • Chris Brown, 2015-present

• secretaries
  • Will Morton, 1970–
  • Helen Stidham, –1993
  • Frances Wideman, 1993-2011
  • Vickie Bailey, 2011-2013
  • Brent Latta, 2013-2017
  • Deanna Frankowski, 2017-present

References

• Gore, Leada (June 11, 2021) "Jefferson County GOP chief Paul DeMarco defends Gen. Michael Flynn invite." The Birmingham News