Alabama

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Alabama

1 State Facts
2 Largest Cities
3 Racial Composition
4 Political Overview
5 Facts
6 Alabama Congressional Delegation
7 Alabama State Government
8 Alabama Cities & Counties
9 Elections
10 Alabama News, Etc
11 Organizations
12 Political Blogs
13 See also

State Facts

Abbreviation: AL, Ala.
Admitted to the Union: December 14, 1819 (22)
Population (2000): 4,447,100 (23)
Population (2008): 4,661,900 (23) - (+ 4.83%)
Capital: Montgomery
Largest City: Birmingham
State Bird: Yellowhammer
State Flower: Camellia
State Nicknames: The Yellowhammer State, The Heart of Dixie, The Cotton State
State Motto: Audemus jura nostra defendere (We Dare Defend Our Rights)

Largest Cities

Birmingham (229,800)
Montgomery (204,086)
Mobile (191,411)
Huntsville (171,327)
Tuscaloosa (88,772)
Hoover (69,872)
Dothan (65,447)
Decatur (55,741)
Auburn (54,348)
Madison (38,275)

Racial Composition

Caucasian/White: 3,225,567 (70.3%)
African American/Black: 1,204,354 (26.3%)
Hispanic/Latino: 112,718 (2.5%)
Two or More Races: 52,059 (1.1%)
Asian: 43,838 (1.0%)
Some Other Race: 36,768 (0.8%)
Native American: 21,557 (0.5%)
Pacific Islander: 1,757 (0.0%)

Political Overview

The current government blueprint is the Constitution of 1901, which has the dubious distinction of being the largest government document of its kind in the world due to provisions that require amendments to be made to the constitution for even minor local changes in law. This has led to growing calls for a new constitution to be drafted.

The Governor of Alabama is Robert Renfroe "Bob" Riley. He was born in Ashland, Alabama on October 3, 1944. He is a Republican and is serving his second term, having defeated the unpopular and ethically challenged incumbent Democrat Don Siegelman in 2002. Siegelman was indicted on May 27, 2004, (and later convicted) along with his former chief of staff and one other person, of having illegally rigged bids for state medical contracts. Despite the rumors of ethical misdeeds, Siegelman almost defeated Riley , a testament to Alabamians' stubbornness and the power of the National Rifle Association endorsement that Siegelman was somehow able to secure in the final weeks of the campaign.

Prior to his election, Bob Riley served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 3rd Congressional District. Although Riley is a staunch conservative, he has drawn the ire of many of the more rabid anti-tax groups such as the Club For Growth for his proposed reform of the Alabama tax code, which was rejected in a referendum on September 9, 2003, by a 68%-32% margin. Since that failure, Riley has been considered vulnerable for defeat in his coming reelection attempt.

The Lieutenant Governor is Democrat Jim Folsom, Jr. By virtue of his office, Lt. Governor Folsom is President and Presiding Officer of the Alabama Senate.

The two U.S. Senators from Alabama are Jeff Sessions and Richard C. Shelby. Both are Republicans and are considered prohibitive favorites for reelection. Shelby was actually a Democrat until the year of the Republican Revolution in 1994 when he defected. Despite being quite conservative ideologically, Shelby has a reputation for being independent-minded. This is due in large part to the time he spent as the chief Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Sessions is a member of Class II and defeated Democrat Vivian Davis Figures in 2008. In contrast to Shelby, Sessions is considered to be a party hack. Sarah Wildman wrote an article for the December 30, 2002 issue of The New Republic that lambasted Sessions as having a worse record on race than the recently demoted Trent Lott.

The Alabama House delegation is split 4-3 in favor of the GOP and will likely remain that way for the foreseeable future due to the way the districts are drawn.

Facts

45 Alabamians have been killed in the War in Iraq.

Alabama Congressional Delegation

U.S. Senate
- Senior Senator: Richard C. Shelby (R)
- Junior Senator: Jeff Sessions (R)

U.S. House of Representatives
- AL-01: Jo Bonner (R-Mobile)
- AL-02: Bobby Bright (D-Montgomery)
- AL-03: Mike D. Rogers (R-Saks)
- AL-04: Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville)
- AL-05: Parker Griffith (D-Huntsville)
- AL-06: Spencer Bachus (R-Vestavia Hills)
- AL-07: Artur Davis (D-Birmingham)

Alabama State Government

Executive Branch
- Governor: Bob Riley (R)
- Lt. Governor: Jim Folsom Jr. (D)
- Secretary of State: Beth Chapman (R)
- State Treasurer: Kay Ivey (R)
- Attorney General: Troy King (R)
- State Auditor: Samantha Shaw (R)
- State Agriculture & Industry Commissioner: Ron Sparks (D)

Legislative Branch
- Alabama State Legislature

As of the 2008 elections, Democrats control both chambers of the Alabama Legislature.

- Alabama House of Representatives (59.05% Democratic)
  - Democrats: 62
  - Republicans: 43
- Alabama Senate (62.86% Democratic)
  - Democrats: 22
  - Republicans: 13