In Alabama lieutenant governor’s race, big plans and little ability to carry them out

Alabama candidates for lieutenant governor have ambitious plans for the office.

Medicaid expansion. Job creation. A host of public safety and development programs.

At a press conference Wednesday, Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, his party’s nominee for the office, announced a host of policy priorities ranging from a voter-approved lottery to expanding Medicaid; expanding the state’s First Class Pre-K program to a data center moratorium and safe storage for firearms to term limits in Alabama.

“These are serious times that require serious leaders who want to solve problems rather than divide and distract. The people of Alabama deserve transparency from their elected officials,” Ensler said.

Many of his priorities mirror bills that he filed during his time in the House of Representatives, but he will not be able to file a bill should he win in November.

Ensler’s Republican opponent – former Alabama Republican Party chair John Wahl – also has many policy priorities, but they are more broad. He said in a phone interview Wednesday that he wants to increase job and educational opportunities, reduce crime and address affordability.

“(Government) was created to help make sure that people enjoyed their liberties – the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That’s going to always be my first priority,” he said.

The problem is that the lieutenant governor has very little power to do any of that.

Limited power, and shrinking

The lieutenant governor becomes governor should the occupant of that office die, resign or be removed. The office once had powers comparable to that of the Alabama House speaker, with powers to control legislation and assign senators to committees.

But the office was stripped of its power in 1999 after a lengthy standoff between then-Lt. Gov. Steve Windom, a Republican, and the Democratic-controlled Senate, which transferred most of Windom’s powers to the Senate President Pro Tem.

The role had its powers further decreased by the Senate this spring. Senate Resolution 108, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, allows Senate President Pro Tem to preside over the Senate if the lieutenant governor has not taken his or her seat five minutes after a meeting time.

The resolution also removes the lieutenant governor from a committee that assigns committee chairs, removes their power to appoint members to conference committees, gives the Pro Tem the power to recommit bills to committees and gives the Pro Tem and to direct the lieutenant governor to call up legislation carried over to the call of the chair.

Republicans have held the office since 2010.

Wahl said that the influential power of the lieutenant governor and a party chair are similar, so he is equipped and excited for the actual power of the elected office.

More from this section

Vandals wanted for decapitating Peppa Pig hedge sculpture

Vets perform delicate eye operation on rare lion

Why 3 in 5 haven’t taken a vacation this summer

“If you look at my record and what I was able to accomplish as party chair, the sky is the limit when we’re looking at the lieutenant governor’s office,” he said. “There are so many things in government that the lieutenant governor can do to make people better. I look forward to using every part of that for the people of Alabama.”

The bully pulpit

During meetings of the Legislature, the lieutenant governor presides over the Alabama Senate. They do not vote, file bills or debate legislation, but they do have the power to recognize senators on the floor and call lawmakers into session.

Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers of the legislature. If Ensler wins in November, he said he would work across the aisle like he did in the House to get legislation passed.

“I can’t introduce the bills myself, but I will work with the colleagues. I have the relationships already, and that trust,” Ensler said.

Ensler sponsored a bill banning Glock switches, a modification to firearms that turn semiautomatic weapons to automatic ones. It did not pass under his sole sponsorship, but it did pass in 2025 when Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, sponsored the bill after Gov. Kay Ivey named it as a top priority following a 2024 mass shooting in Birmingham.

Ensler also worked with Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, to pass Beau’s Law, an animal welfare law that he sponsored for multiple sessions. The bill passed this spring with opposition from major interest groups.

“People said the same thing about Beau’s law, dealing with welfare for dogs, and said there’s no way,” he said. “They said, ‘You’re not going to get it through. Every politician that’s tried to do it. It’s gotten killed, and that politician has gotten attacked.’ I worked with Senator Gudger, and we did it.”

Wahl and Ensler agree on at least one campaign promise: eliminate the grocery tax.

“Our tax code here in Alabama is backwards in so many ways. We still tax groceries, which means we tax people for feeding their kids,” Ensler said. “The grocery tax is regressive, and we should eliminate it.”

Wahl said that cutting the grocery tax was a priority for him as ALGOP chair – a position with no legislative power on paper. He said he wants it “phased out completely as soon as possible.”

“The people of this state are the best in the country, and they’re hardworking, and they deserve a government that looks out for them and that makes sure we return a little bit of money back to their wallets,” he said.

The legislature has reduced the grocery tax from 4% to 2% over the last three years. Lawmakers this spring passed a two month suspension of the state tax in May and June. Democrats and Republicans have advocated for a full elimination, but leadership has expressed concern of the impacts to the Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget.

Ensler on Wednesday challenged Wahl to a debate, which Wahl agreed to with enthusiasm in an interview.

“I love to debate and to talk about the issues that are facing the people of Alabama. For me, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Republican, whether you’re a Democrat, or whether you’re Independent,” he said. “I am always excited to be on the debate stage and make that argument and talk about what I believe in, why I believe it.”