In the Weeds with Alabama Daily News

Todd and Mary are at a meeting of the Alabama Council of Association Executives. For those not familiar, that's the group of governmental affairs leaders that team up for regular updates on the state of affairs inside Alabama politics and government. In short, it's an insider crowd. And so there's perhaps no better audience to do the first live in-person recording of the In the Weeds podcast. 

Attorney General Steve Marshall comes In The Weeds to review the year that was from his office on a number of different issues: redistricting, the McCraney conviction, the opiod settlement, criminal code revisions and more. We also look forward to discuss what's coming up next, including his involvement in the Trump immunity case before the Supreme Court and his legislative agenda for 2024. So as not to waste the opportunity, Todd slips in some questions about gambling and Marshall's political future.

Todd and Mary are joined by Congressman Barry Moore, currently of Alabama's 2nd District with his sights set on the newly redrawn 1st District. They talk about the nature of the race, including what sets the candidates apart, plus the nature of Moore's affiliation with the Freedom Caucus. 

Congressman Jerry Carl says he knows voters in the Wiregrass area, newly drawn into the congressional district he’s represented since 2021, don’t love the idea of being represented by someone from Mobile.

“And I don’t blame them,” Carl said. “They’re used to having someone from the Wiregrass, in the Wiregrass and they’ve been stripped of that.”

In the court-mandated congressional map changes, Carl's District 1 was stretched from the southwest corner of the state across the lower counties to the Georgia line. Similarly, District 2, which formerly included all of the Wiregrass region, now goes west and dips into Mobile.

Carl, a former Mobile County Commission member, is losing much of the city of Mobile and Prichard from his district.

“It is what it is at the end of the day and we have to work with it,” Carl said. “The people realize that and have been very nice about it.”

The change now pits Carl against his GOP colleague and fellow two-term House member, Barry Moore of Enterprise.

Nursing a rant w/ April