A look back at Alabama political stories that made headlines in 2025

As we look back at the past year, there were a lot of political stories that made headlines in 2025.

Probably the biggest political story from 2025 was the decision by United States Senator Tommy Tuberville to leave his seat in Congress to run to be Alabama Governor. With Governor Kay Ivey term-limited, it was expected that Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth or Attorney General Steve Marshal would announce that they were seeking to be the state’s next top executive, but now Senator Tuberville is the prohibitive favorite to succeed Ivey.

Also noteworthy was the impact President Donald Trump taking the helm at the White House has had on Alabama. As expected, President Trump has been good to the state. A lot of federal resources are moving to Alabama, such as the U.S. Space Command, Fannie Mae offices, and more FBI facilities. The President has an excellent relationship with the state’s federal delegation and his policies are benefiting the state.

Unfortunately, there was also unsettling news from the criminal justice system and public safety front that got the attention of state leaders - a mass shooting in Montgomery, a child sex trafficking ring in Bibb County and a failure by the state Department of Human Resources that led to the death of a child in Jefferson County. Add to all of that, the state parole board underwent new leadership that is now releasing violent felons over the objections of crime victims .

Economic news has been big in Alabama in 2025. Record breaking investment and job creation across the state has been good in both big cities and rural areas. From aviation to auto manufacturing and biomedical, the state’s manufacturing sector is the envy of the Nation as it continues to grow. Major announcements are leading to millions of dollars flowing to Alabama and that will be good for Alabama families.

This past fall the Port of Mobile officially became the deepest container port in the Gulf of America. The completion of dredging, created a 50-foot channel depth, making the deeper channel able to handle more capacity for more ship traffic. This will mean additional cargo flowing to Alabama and the port will allow more ships come to the state to deliver products at a more efficient capacity.

Now as we approach 2026, we will watch most of these stories carry over into the new year as well.

Paul DeMarco is a former member of the Alabama House if Representatives and can be found on X at @Paul_DeMarco.