Jefferson County Republican Party

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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 next election for seats on the Committee is in June, 2018.

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.

The current Chair of the Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee is Sallie M. Bryant. The Treasurer is Chris Brown, and the Secretary is Deanna Frankowski.

Chairman of the Party

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

Elected Officials

Jefferson County currently has many elected Republicans in office including State Representatives, State Senators, Judges, and the County Sheriff, Mike Hale. Plus, three of the five County Commissioners, and four of the five members of the Jefferson County Board of Education are Republicans.

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 1960's this finally began to change around the state and in Jefferson County. In 1964, Jefferson County elected a Republican congressman, John H. 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 G. Seibels, Jr., 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.

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