Morgan County GOP resolution demands state representative be reprimanded

Nov. 23—A north Alabama state representative faces backlash from the Morgan County Republican Executive Committee after he prefiled a bill to stop political parties from disqualifying candidates based on the source of contributions they receive.

Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Greenhill, prefiled House Bill 6 on July 28 for the 2025 legislative session. The bill would “prohibit political parties from disqualifying an individual from running for office based solely on receipt of contributions from a particular person or political action committee.”

In response to HB6, the Morgan County GOP Executive Committee passed a resolution demanding that Pettus be reprimanded because he is “blatantly hindering the right of the GOP to oversee who may run under the umbrella of the party banner and ensuring that true conservatives are vetted for candidacy,” and noting that GOP candidates should not accept contributions from the Alabama Education Association’s political action committee.

For Pettus to be reprimanded, a majority vote is required by the state House of Representatives.

Pettus introduced this bill previously during the 2024 session as HB186, but it did not make it out of committee.

State law currently allows parties to set the standards for individuals who desire to represent that party while running for office. HB6 would prevent a party from disqualifying a candidate solely based on the source of contributions.

In August 2023, the Alabama GOP State Executive Committee passed a resolution that bans school board and superintendent candidates running as Republicans from accepting campaign donations from the National Education Association and its affiliate, the Alabama Education Association.

Morgan County Republican Party chairwoman Julie Clausen and Tom Fredricks, a member of the Morgan County Republican Executive Committee, say Pettus is trying to undermine the state GOP resolution by filing HB6.

“It’s a legitimate concern,” Fredricks said. “Political parties exist to coalesce like-minded thought and like-minded people to promote agendas of the party as defined by members of the party and we should be able to deny ballot access to anybody we want for any reason we want as long as it is consistent with the beliefs of the members of the party.”

Pettus, a member of the state GOP executive committee, said he sponsored HB 6 because he does not want legislators to fall under the same party examinations as school board and superintendent candidates. He said he opposed the state GOP resolution.

“They passed it where candidates running for school board and superintendent could not receive AEA money and they made a statement that day that the legislators were next,” Pettus said. “Andrew Sorrell (state auditor) was the one down there and said legislators didn’t run for two more years and we had plenty of time to do it.

“Why should they decide who and what organizations could give legislators money?”

Fredricks said he does not believe the Legislature should control the actions of political parties in the state and that a party “has to be able to define itself.”

Pettus said it does not matter what organizations a Republican candidate takes contributions from, as long as the candidate’s views are consistent with the GOP platform. According to Secretary of State records, Pettus has received contributions from Alabama Voice of Teachers for Education (A-VOTE), the AEA’s political action committee.

“What if I take money from the (Poarch) Indians?” Pettus said. “Just because I take a contribution from someone doesn’t mean I’m not conservative.”

Pettus said his bill only targets political parties who disqualify candidates based on the funds they receive and accused the Alabama Republican Party of wanting too much control over who represents the GOP brand. He referred to Senate Bill 289, passed in May 2023, which permits political action committees to make contributions to political parties.

“It’s basically like a dictatorship; they want control over everything,” Pettus said. “What the GOP wants is all the lobbyists to send money to the GOP and the GOP decides which candidate gets the money and what that amounts to is they want control over all the money.”

Pettus said neither the state GOP nor the Morgan County GOP should have a say on whether he is on the ballot or not and it should only be left up to his constituents in west Lauderdale County.

“What it’s going to come down to … is my constituents will have no say if I run or not,” Pettus said. “Eight people in the whole state will decide if I’m on the ballot or not, so that is a dictatorship.”

Pettus referenced the Limestone County Commission District 4 race in 2020 and said challenger LaDon Townsend was removed from the Limestone County Republican ballot during the Republican primaries because he contributed funds to former Sheriff Mike Blakely, a Democrat. Townsend then ran as an independent and beat the incumbent Republican Ben Harrison.

Pettus also noted the inconsistency of the state GOP wanting to control the source of contributions received by a candidate, but not condemning President-elect Donald Trump for contributing to Democratic campaigns before 2009 while he was still a registered Democrat.

“If you put Donald Trump in Alabama, Donald Trump cannot run in Alabama because he gave money to a Democrat,” Pettus said. “But they don’t want to talk about that. They’ll say, ‘Oh, we’re all for Donald Trump.'”

Fredricks and Clausen said Trump sought a new party after no longer aligning with Democrats.

“When you switched 18 years ago, it was majority Democrat (in the state) so many of them were switching, not because they changed their views, it was just all they had was the Democratic Party,” Clausen said. “Switching from Democrat to Republican in 2024, that’s a little fishy.”

Clausen said the Morgan County GOP currently screens candidates through a questionnaire they must answer.

“We look at their background to see who contributed to them in the past and if they are a previous office holder,” Clausen said. “It’s not just about who gave money, we look at other things too. We had a challenge on one candidate because of moral issues. It’s a committee that votes on it and if they decide to challenge it, it goes in front of the steering committee.”

Fredricks said if Pettus disagrees with the GOP platform, he should run as an independent or Democrat.

“This has nothing to do with the platform, it has to do with money,” Pettus responded. “I support the platform and I’m very conservative. You can look at my voting record and see. Talk to the educators in my district and ask them if I’m helping the schools. That’s who I represent.”

Pettus said his bill wouldn’t prevent the state or county Republican parties from disqualifying candidates based on past Democratic affiliation; it would only stop disqualification over campaign contributions received.

Besides, he said, the Alabama Education Association is not the same organization it was years ago.

“Most of the teachers in my district belong to AEA and most of them are Republicans,” Pettus said. “They donate to AEA and the AEA puts the candidates back in office who are conservative. In the old days, AEA was a big Democrat organization. They support more Republicans than Democrats now and the leadership from the old days at AEA is gone.”

Pettus also mentioned the Trial Lawyers Association and the Business Council of Alabama contributing to Democratic campaigns years ago and said the state GOP should not single these organizations out for their past affiliations. Fredricks admitted to having received funds from the Trial Lawyers Association in the past.

“I asked (Alabama GOP chairman) John Wahl if he wanted the Democrats to take back over, because if we can’t accept AEA money, what do you think they are going to do,” Pettus said. “They are going to go to the Democrats.”

Clausen accused state legislators of ignoring their county resolutions and said Pettus prefiling the bill is just another instance of that.

“I think they need to let me do my job,” Pettus said in response to the Morgan County GOP. “I’ve been asked how come the representatives don’t do what we tell them to, and I said, ‘I don’t represent you, I represent constituents in my district.'”

He said the Morgan County GOP Executive Committee should be concerned about its own representatives.

“They don’t need to be worried about Lauderdale County,” Pettus said. “As long as my constituents in Lauderdale County are happy, I’m happy, and I think I’m doing a good job.”

— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442.

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