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Alabama State Senate District 1

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Alabama State Senate District 1
Incumbent
Assumed office: November 5, 2014

Alabama State Senate District 1 is represented by Tim Melson (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Alabama state senators represented an average of 143,716 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 137,228 residents.

About the office

Alabama's senators serve without term limits for four-year terms. Alabama's state senators assume office the day following their election.[1]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Members of the Alabama State Senate must be at least 25 years of age at the time of their election, registered voters, U.S. citizens for at least one day, residents of the State of Alabama for at least three years, and residents of their district at least one year prior to the general election.[2]


Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[3]
SalaryPer diem
$59,674.08/yearNo per diem is paid to legislators whose permanent residence is less than six hours away. Legislators who are 6-12 hrs from their permanent residence receive $12.75/day. Legislators who are over 12 hours away and have no overnight stay receive $34/day.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the Alabama State Legislature, a special election must generally be conducted in order to fill the vacant seat. In the event that a vacancy occurs on or after October 1 in the year of a regular election, the seat will remain vacant until filled at the regular election. Otherwise, the governor must call for a special election if the vacancy happens before the next scheduled general election and the Legislature is in session.[4][5][6] The governor has all discretion in setting the date of the election along with the nominating deadlines.[6][7]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Alabama Code § 17-15-1


District map

Redistricting

2020 redistricting cycle

See also: Redistricting in Alabama after the 2020 census

On August 22, 2025, the district court struck down the state senate map as a violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.[8]

Alabama enacted state legislative maps for the state Senate and House of Representatives on Nov. 4, 2021, after Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed the proposals into law.[9] Senators approved the Senate map on Nov. 1 with a 25-7 vote.[10] Representatives approved the Senate map on Nov. 3 with a 76-26 vote.[9] For the House proposal, representatives voted 68-35 in favor on Nov. 1 and senators followed on Nov. 3 with a 22-7 vote.[11] These maps took effect for Alabama's 2022 legislative elections.

How does redistricting in Alabama work? The Alabama State Legislature is responsible for drawing both congressional and state legislative district lines. Both chambers of the state legislature must approve a single redistricting plan. State legislative district lines must be approved in the first legislative session following the United States Census. There is no statutory deadline for congressional redistricting. The governor may veto the lines drawn by the state legislature.[12]

The Alabama Constitution requires that state legislative district lines be contiguous. In addition, the state constitution mandates that state Senate districts "follow county lines except where necessary to comply with other legal requirements."[12]

In 2000, according to All About Redistricting, the legislative committee charged with redistricting "adopted guidelines ... asking that [congressional] districts be contiguous, reasonably compact, follow county lines where possible, and maintain communities of interest to the extent feasible." In addition, the committee agreed to "attempt to avoid contests between incumbents." Similar guidelines apply to state legislative redistricting. At its discretion, the state legislature may change these guidelines, which are non-binding.[12]

Alabama State Senate District 1
until November 8, 2022

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Alabama State Senate District 1
starting November 9, 2022

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2022

See also: Alabama State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Alabama State Senate District 1

Incumbent Tim Melson won election in the general election for Alabama State Senate District 1 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Tim Melson
Tim Melson (R)
 
97.9
 
35,480
 Other/Write-in votes
 
2.1
 
748

Total votes: 36,228
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 1

Incumbent Tim Melson defeated John Sutherland in the Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 1 on May 24, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Tim Melson
Tim Melson
 
69.2
 
16,564
John Sutherland
 
30.8
 
7,361

Total votes: 23,925
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Alabama State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Alabama State Senate District 1

Incumbent Tim Melson defeated Caroline Self in the general election for Alabama State Senate District 1 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Tim Melson
Tim Melson (R)
 
67.6
 
33,141
Image of Caroline Self
Caroline Self (D)
 
32.3
 
15,830
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0
 
23

Total votes: 48,994
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Alabama State Senate District 1

Caroline Self advanced from the Democratic primary for Alabama State Senate District 1 on June 5, 2018.

Candidate
Image of Caroline Self
Caroline Self

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 1

Incumbent Tim Melson advanced from the Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 1 on June 5, 2018.

Candidate
Image of Tim Melson
Tim Melson

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2014

See also: Alabama State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the Alabama State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014; a runoff election took place where necessary on July 15, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 7, 2014. Mike Curtis defeated Earl Gardner in the Democratic primary. Chris Seibert, Jonathan Berryhill and Tim Melson faced off in the Republican primary. Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters - Siebert and Melson - met in a runoff election, which Melson won.[13][14][15][16][17] Tim Melson then defeated Mike Curtis in the general election on November 4, 2014.[18]

Alabama State Senate District 1, General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngTim Melson 62.6% 22,982
     Democratic Mike Curtis 37.3% 13,704
     NA Write-In 0.1% 25
Total Votes 36,711


Alabama State Senate, District 1 Democratic Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngMike Curtis 73.1% 3,573
Earl Gardner 26.9% 1,318
Total Votes 4,891
Alabama State Senate, District 1 Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngTim Melson 39.8% 4,953
Green check mark transparent.pngChris Seibert 36.6% 4,560
Jonathan Berryhill 23.6% 2,936
Total Votes 12,449

2010

See also: Alabama State Senate elections, 2010

Elections for the office of Alabama State Senate consisted of a primary election on June 1, 2010, and a general election on November 2, 2010. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 2, 2010. Tammy Irons defeated Jerry Freeman (R) in the general election.[19] Irons defeated Ryan Clayton (D) in the June 1 Democratic primary.[20] Freeman defeated Angela M. Laughlin in the June 1 Republican primary.[21]

Alabama State Senate, District 4, General Election, 2010
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngTammy Irons 55.9% 23,178
     Republican Jerry Freeman 44.1% 18,266
Total Votes 41,444

Campaign contributions

From 2002 to 2014, candidates for Alabama State Senate District 1 raised a total of $1,936,469. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $129,098 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money.

Campaign contributions, Alabama State Senate District 1
Year Amount Candidates Average
2014 $817,468 5 $163,494
2010 $324,001 4 $81,000
2008 $2,586 1 $2,586
2006 $540,161 3 $180,054
2002 $252,253 2 $126,127
Total $1,936,469 15 $129,098

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. Justia, "Alabama Constitution, Article IV, Section 46," accessed November 22, 2016
  2. Alabama Secretary of State, "Minimum Qualifications for Public Office," accessed May 21, 2025
  3. National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  4. Ballotpedia, "Alabama Amendment 4, Legislative Vacancies Amendment (2018)," accessed March 28, 2025
  5. Justia US Law, "2023 Code of Alabama Title 17 - Elections. Chapter 15 - Special Elections. Section 17-15-1 - When and for What Offices Held." accessed February 26, 2025
  6. 6.0 6.1 Justia US Law, "2023 Code of Alabama Title 17 - Elections. Chapter 15 - Special Elections. Section 17-15-3 - Special Elections Ordered by Governor." accessed February 26, 2025
  7. Alabama Legislature, "Constitution of Alabama 2022," accessed February 26, 2025
  8. Alabama Reflector, "Federal judge: Alabama Senate map violates Voting Rights Act," August 22, 2025
  9. 9.0 9.1 Montgomery Advertiser, "Gov. Kay Ivey signs off on Alabama congressional, legislative, SBOE maps for 2022," Nov. 4, 2021
  10. Alabama Political Reporter, "Alabama Senate passes Senate, State School Board districts," Nov. 1, 2021
  11. Alabama Political Report, "House district lines comfortably pass House over objections from both sides ," Nov. 1, 2021
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 All About Redistricting, "Alabama," accessed April 16, 2015
  13. AL.com, "Alabama primary runoffs: Live results from select statewide races," July 15, 2014
  14. Alabama Democrats, "Qualified candidates for public office list," accessed February 25, 2014
  15. Alabama Republican Party, "State Senate," accessed February 25, 2014
  16. Alabama Secretary of State, "Official Democratic Primary Results," accessed June 20, 2014
  17. Alabama Secretary of State, "Official Republican Primary Results," accessed June 20, 2014
  18. AL.com, "Alabama 2014 general election: Results for statewide and congressional races," November 4, 2014
  19. Alabama Secretary of State, "State of Alabama 2010 Certified General Election Results," November 22, 2010
  20. Alabama Secretary of State, "Democratic Primary results," November 21, 2013
  21. Alabama Secretary of State, "Republican Primary results," November 21, 2013


Current members of the Alabama State Senate
Leadership
Majority Leader:Steve Livingston
Minority Leader:Bobby Singleton
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
Jay Hovey (R)
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
Republican Party (27)
Democratic Party (8)