The 2026 Alabama lieutenant gubernatorial election will take place on November 3, 2026 to elect the next

Lieutenant Governor of Alabama The lieutenant governor of Alabama is the president of the Alabama Senate, elected to serve a four-year term. The office was created in 1868,1868 Const. art. V, § 1 abolished in 1875,1875 Const. art. V, § 1 and recreated in 1901.AL Const. art. ...

. The primary election will be held on May 19, 2026. Incumbent Lieutenant Governor

Will Ainsworth Will Ainsworth (born March 22, 1981) is an American politician serving as the 31st lieutenant governor of Alabama since 2019. He previously served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 2014 to 2018, representing its 27th district. Ainsw ...

is term-limited and ineligible to seek a third full consecutive term.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

* Wes Allen, Secretary of State (2023–present) *Patrick Bishop, Cullman County Deputy *George Childress, community advocate *Dean Odle, pastor and candidate for governor in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Rick Pate Rick Pate (born April 6, 1955) is an American politician serving as the 30th Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries in Alabama. He previously served as mayor of Lowndesboro, Alabama from 2004 until his election as Commissioner of Agriculture ...

, Agriculture Commissioner (2019–present) *Nicole Wadsworth, economist and wife of state representative Tim Wadsworth

Publicly expressed interest

* John Wahl, chairman of the

Alabama Republican Party The Alabama Republican Party is the state affiliate of the Republican Party in Alabama. It has been the dominant political party in Alabama since the late 20th century. The state party is governed by the Alabama Republican Executive Committee. ...

(2021–present)

Declined

* Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, president of the

Alabama Public Service Commission The Alabama Public Service Commission, commonly called the PSC, was established by an act of the Alabama Legislature in 1915 to primarily replace the State Railroad Commission. The PSC's responsibility was expanded in 1920 to include regulatin ...

(2010–2025) and candidate for lieutenant governor in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

''(appointed as state director for rural development at

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production ...

)'' * Steve Marshall,

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

(2017–present) ''( running for U.S. Senate)''

Endorsements

Campaign

Nicole Wadsworth's campaign was the first to attract media attention following a request that was sent out to news organizations, in which her campaign requested that she be called "Dr. Nicole Wadsworth." The

AP Stylebook ''The Associated Press Stylebook'' (generally called the ''AP Stylebook''), alternatively titled ''The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law'', is a style and usage guide for American English grammar created by American journali ...

, which many organizations use to dictate how to write news articles, says that only medical doctors should be referred to as such. The next week, her campaign announced that they had made an error listing her credentials, and she had not received as

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

, but instead from the North Central Theological Seminary. That school had not been

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by any organizations recognized by the

Council for Higher Education Accreditation The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is an American organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for academic quality through accreditation in order to ...

. Her entire campaign staff resigned following the report. Later in June, her lawyers requested that

1819 News ''1819 News'' is an American conservative news website that focuses on the state of Alabama. The publication was launched in October 2021 as a subsidiary of the Alabama Policy Institute, but has been an independent non-profit organization sinc ...

take down all stories relating to her academic credentials.

References

External links

;Official campaign websites
Wes Allen (R) for Lieutenant GovernorPatrick Bishop (R) for Lieutenant GovernorDean Odle (R) for Lieutenant GovernorRick Pate (R) for Lieutenant GovernorNicole Wadsworth (R) for Lieutenant Governor
Alabama lieutenant gubernatorial elections Lieutenant gubernatorial

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

{{Alabama-election-stub