January 2019 Group Watch: News & Views from the State House
As we gear up for the 2019 legislative session, elections and appointments top the state’s political news.
- Marsh, McCutcheon re-elected as legislative leaders. Alabama legislators re-elected Rep. Mac McCutcheon as Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senator Del Marsh as Senate President Pro Tempore. Alabama lawmakers took these actions during a recently completed organizational session for the four-year term. McCutcheon will continue in the role he took on in 2016 after then-speaker Mike Hubbard was convicted on ethics charges. Marsh is the longtime leader of the Senate, having served in the role in the Alabama Senate since 2010. McCutcheon was elected 98-1, and Marsh was elected 32-0.
- Victor Gaston elected House Speaker Pro Tem. During the recently completed organizational session, The Alabama House of Representatives elected Victor Gaston of Mobile for another term as Speaker Pro Tem, a position he has held since 2010. Gaston was elected 84-13 with one abstention. The House Pro Tem assumes the authority and functions of the speaker in the event the speaker is unable to function and fulfill the duties.
- Charles Daniels appointed ADOC Deputy Commissioner of Operations. The Alabama Department of Corrections has appointed Charles Daniels as Deputy Commissioner of Operations. Daniels comes to the ADOC with more than 28 years of service with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He will oversee the ADOC’s daily operations of Alabama’s 23 male correctional facilities. Those facilities employ more than 1,700 security staff and house more than 18,000 inmates. He holds a degree in criminal justice and served in the U.S. Air Force from 1984 to 1988.
