The Alabama Republican Party Saturday approved a new rule that would allow the party to disqualify an elected GOP official if they appoint a Democrat to a position during their term.

About 83% of the attendants at the GOP Summer Meeting in Montgomery voted for the rule that prohibits elected partisan officials from appointing people other than Republicans. Suzelle Josey, a former candidate for Senate District 30 in 2014, wrote the rule change.

Josey said in an interview after the meeting that the rule is meant to send a message to Republicans to keep Republicans in office.

“If you are Republican, if you have taken Republican support, if you have depended upon people to get out there and knock on doors for you, taking money, their time, their treasure, once you have the opportunity and the privilege of being elected as a Republican, then we certainly would expect you to be appointing Republicans when you have the opportunity,” Josey said. “We hope this bylaw change will send a message to elected Republican officials that we have new expectations.”

In the chairman’s report, John Wahl claimed that Democrats do not listen to opposing views or debate, but said that the new rule would allow Republicans to be in the room in areas that are typically Democratic.

“You would never see a Democrat appoint a Republican,” Wahl said in an interview. “I want to see Republicans taking seriously the fact that we want the opportunity to debate. The open debate here is actually giving Republican appointees the chance to go out and talk to their community, explain their values that they may never have the chance to do if they weren’t appointed to these positions.”

The Alabama Democratic Party’s bylaws do not have a similar rule.

Wahl also gave the 287 attendants an update on the congressional redistricting litigation. The court ordered the state to draw a new congressional map in 2023 after nearly two years of litigation with two appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. The panel determined that voting in Alabama is racially polarized, with white voters tending to support Republicans and Black voters tending to support Democrats. With that determination, the judges ruled that the Legislature-approved map did not give Black voters the ability to choose their preferred leaders, and ordered a majority-minority congressional district and a district with a near-majority of Black voters to be drawn.

After a trial earlier this year, the court ruled in May that Alabama had intentionally discriminated against Black voters by approving a map in 2023 that initially only had one majority-Black district. The judges are considering sanctions, which could include requiring court approval of any future congressional maps, a process known as preclearance.

Wahl said that the litigation is not fair because California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to redraw the state’s congressional districts to include more Democratic seats. Texas Republicans on Wednesday drafted a map that would flip five Democratic-held districts.

“California and New York redistricted based on a political basis, without any repercussions from federal courts,” Wahl said. “Now I’m not arguing that anyone should be unrepresented, but I’m going to tell you double standards are not okay.”

Wahl said that majority-minority districts were inherently racist because not all members of minority groups vote for Democratic candidates.

“It shouldn’t matter what the color of your skin is. And if that’s the case, then if any district is drawn based on the color of someone’s skin, it is racist by the nature of that decision,” Wahl said. “I do not think this should be a political or or racial decision. This should be based on communities of interest and traditional lines.”

The party also established qualifying dates for the 2026 midterms. State and county GOP candidates must file their candidacy between Jan. 5 at 8:30 a.m. and Jan. 23 at 5 p.m. with the party’s chairman, according to the resolution that passed at the meeting. The resolution was amended from the qualifying period for statewide candidates only starting on Jan. 12 with 69% of the party’s support.

“I think it’s confusing to have two different dates there as a former county party chair,” said Michael Hoyt, former Baldwin County GOP chair. “I think it’s helpful to have uniform dates across the board. I think a lot of the 11 day period is far too short.”

Wahl said the original 11 day period was due to the primary election being moved from May 26 to May 19, and the qualifying period could not start sooner because of winter holidays.

“Originally it was at three weeks for county parties and two weeks for the state party. Members felt that they would like to have the dates consistent,” Wahl said in an interview after the meeting.

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.