The Frequency

The July 15 deadline is not waiting for a court order.

Under House Bill 475, Gov. Kay Ivey must appoint four interim commissioners to the expanded Alabama Public Service Commission by then. The law restructures the PSC from three statewide elected seats to seven district-based positions. Sheila McNeil, the Democratic candidate for PSC Place 2, is fighting it in federal court.

McNeil’s lawsuit argues that HB 475 unconstitutionally rewrites the rules of an election already in progress. Absentee voting began eight days before Ivey signed the bill into law. The suit cites the First and Fourteenth Amendments and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

As of this week, no injunction has been granted and no hearing date has been set. If the court doesn’t act first, Ivey moves forward with appointments. The shape of Alabama’s utility regulation changes before a single November vote is cast.

The PSC approves the rates Alabama Power can charge. For Chambers County households still absorbing rate increases from recent years, who sits on that commission matters.

The U.S. Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act this week with overwhelming bipartisan support. Alabama’s two senators were not on the same side.

Sen. Katie Britt voted yes. She called it an opportunity to “empower more Americans and Alabamians with the opportunity to own a home.” Sen. Tommy Tuberville was among a handful of Republican senators who voted no. His stated reason: the bill tilts toward urban areas at the expense of rural ones.

The legislation is designed to increase housing affordability, ease permitting restrictions, and expand access to homeownership. Chambers County is not a high-cost housing market, but affordability pressure is real in the Valley–Lanett corridor. Rural access to federal housing programs has been an ongoing concern across East Alabama.

Tuberville’s objection was geographic, not philosophical. With Tuberville now running for governor and Britt holding the Senate seat into the next term, the split reveals something about how each senator reads Alabama’s interests.

Four of Alabama’s seven congressional districts will hold a second primary on August 11.

After the U.S. Supreme Court cleared Alabama’s 2023 Republican-drawn congressional map to take effect, Gov. Ivey called a special primary for Districts 1, 2, 6, and 7. Candidates in those districts had run in the May 19 primary under a court-ordered map the Supreme Court later allowed to be set aside.

The decision drew a sharp dissent from the court’s three liberal justices. A lower court had previously found the 2023 map to be intentionally discriminatory, drawn to diminish the voting power of Black Alabamians. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority cleared it anyway.

Chambers County is in District 3 and has no race on August 11. But AL-7, the district most directly affected, has returned a Black Democrat to Congress in every election since 1992. That record is now at risk under the redrawn lines.

August 11 is also the qualifying deadline for independent candidates. The general election is November 3.

The Valley City Council approved a resolution this month to fund up to $1.5 million toward construction of the new Chambers County High School.

The school will consolidate Valley High and Lafayette High on a 73-acre site in Valley. Total cost is estimated at $85 million to $90 million, with the project primarily funded by the school district. A firm opening timeline has not yet been set.

Its construction ends a legal fight that began in the 1960s. A desegregation order governed Chambers County schools for more than 50 years. In June 2023, a federal judge approved the district’s consolidation plan. Groundbreaking was held in February 2024.

The new campus will be the first time all of Chambers County’s high school students share a single building. Valley High’s current facility is expected to become a middle school after the new campus opens.

All of Alabama’s primary races are settled. Chambers County voters will decide four contests in November.

U.S. Senate

Republican Rep. Barry Moore, backed by President Trump, defeated businessman Jared Hudson in the June 16 runoff. He faces Democratic attorney Everett Wess, who won his own runoff the same night. No Democrat has won a full Senate term in Alabama since 1992. Moore is the heavy favorite.

Governor

Tommy Tuberville won the Republican primary. He faces former Sen. Doug Jones in a November rematch of the 2020 Senate race. Alabama has not elected a Democratic governor since 1998.

Congressional District 3

Incumbent Mike Rogers faces Democrat Lee McInnis in November. McInnis won the Democratic primary uncontested. The district carries an R+23 lean by national metrics. Rogers has held the seat since 2003.

House District 38

Chambers County’s own state legislative race. The winner will represent Valley, Lanett, Lafayette, and surrounding communities at the statehouse.

Four races. One county. November 3.