Alabama New Members 2023

Sen.-elect Katie Britt (R-Ala.)

DATE OF BIRTH: Feb. 2, 1982
RESIDENCE: Montgomery, Ala.
OCCUPATION: attorney, businesswoman
EDUCATION: B.S., J.D., University of Alabama
FAMILY: husband, Wesley Britt; two children

• Republican Katie Britt, an attorney and former Senate aide with deep ties to business, is heading to Washington after winning Alabama’s open Senate seat.

Britt, Alabama’s first Republican female senator, handily beat out Democratic opponent, church pastor and politician Will Boyd to win the deep-red state. She will fill the seat to be vacated by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), her onetime boss, who announced his retirement in February 2021 after six terms in the chamber. 

Britt, 40, won the GOP nomination after a particularly cutthroat and expensive primary by portraying herself as part of the next generation of Republican leaders. She defeated six-term Rep. Mo Brooks in a primary runoff. 

Britt began her political career in Shelby’s office prior to attending law school, returning from 2016 to 2018 as his chief of staff.

She is the youngest Republican woman ever elected as U.S. senator.

— Ellen Mitchell

Rep.-elect Dale Strong (R-Ala.-5)

DATE OF BIRTH: May 8, 1970
RESIDENCE: Madison, Ala.
OCCUPATION: Madison County Commission chairman
EDUCATION: B.S., Athens State University
FAMILY: wife, Laura Strong; two children

• Dale Strong has been elected to represent Alabama’s 5th Congressional District. He takes the vacated seat of Republican Rep. Mo Brooks, who served the district for more than a decade before launching an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate in 2022.

In 1996, Strong was elected as commissioner for District 4 on the Madison County Commission, becoming the youngest Republican elected official in Alabama. Since 2012, he has served as the chairman of the Madison County Commission. He is also a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician.

Strong is a self-described “pro-life Christian who will stand up for the unborn and fight for our Christian values.” A lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, Strong is also a staunch proponent of the Second Amendment. 

He is a firm supporter of former President Trump and his policies, including building a wall at the southern border.

— Cheyanne Daniels