Russell Bedsole
Russell Bedsole (Republican Party) is a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, representing District 49. He assumed office on December 7, 2020. His current term ends on November 4, 2026.
Bedsole (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the Alabama House of Representatives to represent District 49. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on May 19, 2026.[source]
Biography
Russell Bedsole earned a B.A. in criminal justice from Auburn University in 1998 and an M.S. in physician assistant studies from Troy University in 2005. Bedsole's career experience includes working as a captain in the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. He has served as a board member of KenyaRelief.org and as a public relations chair for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.[1]
Committee assignments
2025-2026
Bedsole was assigned to the following committees:
- House Judiciary Committee
- Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee
- Shelby County Legislation Committee, Vice Chair
- State Government Committee, Vice Chair
2023-2024
Bedsole was assigned to the following committees:
2021-2022
Bedsole was assigned to the following committees:
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2026
See also: Alabama House of Representatives elections, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on May 19, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Republican primary
Republican primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 49
Incumbent Russell Bedsole (R) is running in the Republican primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 49 on May 19, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Russell Bedsole | |
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Endorsements
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2022
See also: Alabama House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Alabama House of Representatives District 49
Incumbent Russell Bedsole won election in the general election for Alabama House of Representatives District 49 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Russell Bedsole (R) | 97.6 | 10,604 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.4 | 266 | ||
| Total votes: 10,870 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 49
Incumbent Russell Bedsole defeated Michael Hart in the Republican primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 49 on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Russell Bedsole | 72.9 | 4,492 |
 | Michael Hart | 27.1 | 1,670 | |
| Total votes: 6,162 | |||
| = 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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2020
See also: Alabama state legislative special elections, 2020
General election
Special general election for Alabama House of Representatives District 49
Russell Bedsole defeated Cheryl Patton in the special general election for Alabama House of Representatives District 49 on November 17, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Russell Bedsole (R) | 63.2 | 1,599 |
| Cheryl Patton (D) | 36.7 | 930 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 2 | ||
| Total votes: 2,531 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Special Republican primary runoff for Alabama House of Representatives District 49
Russell Bedsole defeated Mimi Penhale in the special Republican primary runoff for Alabama House of Representatives District 49 on September 1, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Russell Bedsole | 51.3 | 1,250 |
| Mimi Penhale | 48.7 | 1,185 | ||
| Total votes: 2,435 | |||
| = 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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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Cheryl Patton advanced from the special Democratic primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 49.
Republican primary election
Special Republican primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 49
The following candidates ran in the special Republican primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 49 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Russell Bedsole | 34.8 | 923 |
| ✔ | Mimi Penhale | 31.3 | 829 | |
| Chuck Martin | 24.4 | 646 | ||
 | Donna Dorough Strong | 6.7 | 177 | |
| Jackson McNeely | 2.2 | 57 | ||
| James Dean | 0.6 | 17 | ||
| Total votes: 2,649 | |||
| = 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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Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
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2022
Russell Bedsole did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Russell Bedsole did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Alabama scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Alabama State Legislature was in session from February 6 to May 9.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Alabama State Legislature was in session from March 7 to June 6.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Alabama State Legislature was in session from January 11 to April 7.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Alabama State Legislature was in session from February 2 to May 17.
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See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate Alabama House of Representatives District 49 |
Officeholder Alabama House of Representatives District 49 |
Personal |
Footnotes
