Alabama are you The Trees Voting for the Axe Because It has a Wooden Handle?
Republicans have held Alabama’s governor’s office for 23 straight years and controlled every branch of Alabama’s government since 2010. By nearly every measure, life has only gotten worse. Now they’re asking you to reelect them to fix the mess they made.
ECONOMY
#1 in America for personal bankruptcies: 405 filings per 100,000 residents, 22 percent worse than the next worst state
No state minimum wage at all, and the legislature passed a law blocking Birmingham from raising its own, signed by Republican Governor Robert Bentley
4th lowest labor force participation in America, now 56.8 percent
More than 760,000 residents, including about 227,000 children, living below the poverty line, the 7th poorest state in the nation
4th highest child poverty rate, 20.4 percent
Homeowners insurance running roughly 40 percent above the national average
Median household income of 66,659 dollars, 7th lowest, against 81,604 nationally
3rd lowest income per person and 46th in economic output per person
45 percent of households cannot afford basics like rent, food, child care, and health care
Women earn 78 cents for every dollar men earn, the 10th largest gap in America
4th lowest average credit score
Still taxes groceries. The state rate is 2 percent, but with local taxes families can pay about 9 percent
12th most unfair tax system in America: the poorest fifth pay 11.9 percent of their income, and the richest 1 percent pay 5.4 percent
A family of four starts owing state income tax at just 13,500 dollars, and there is no state tax credit for working families
Payday lenders can legally charge about 456 percent a year in interest
11th most dependent state on federal money
Unemployment rose from 2.8 to 3.4 percent in a year, and about 30,400 fewer Alabamians are working
Children as young as 12 were found working at a Hyundai supplier plant, and the U.S. Labor Department’s lawsuit against Hyundai is still in court
Governor Kay Ivey on the Mercedes union vote: “Alabama is not Michigan, and we are not the Sweet Home to the UAW”
Alabama Power bills rose 23 percent from 2020 to 2025. The Public Service Commission approved every increase, and most of the money behind two of its commissioners came from utility-funded PACs
EDUCATION
Only 29.9 percent of adults hold a bachelor’s degree, 43rd in America
48th in 8th grade math and 45th in 8th grade reading, with 4th grade reading proficiency stuck at 28 percent
Half of 8th graders score below basic in math. Only 18 percent are proficient in math and 21 percent in reading
Alabama 8th graders just posted the lowest reading score in state history, and 8th grade math has fallen back to where it was in 2003
39th in school spending per student and 35th in teacher pay, 64,466 dollars against 76,552 nationally
3,413 teacher shortages, up 23 percent in one year
Republicans’ CHOOSE Act voucher program: about 75 percent of awards went to kids already in private school or homeschool. Only 13 percent came from public schools
Republican lawmakers banned diversity programs at public universities, schools, and state agencies, and universities closed their offices
The state library board cut ties with the American Library Association and forced libraries to restrict books for minors, and the Fairhope library lost its state aid
The share of high school graduates going to college fell from about 65 percent to 57 percent
CHILDREN
42nd in child well-being in the 2026 KIDS COUNT report, and 46th for family and community
Among the worst five states for child and teen deaths, low birthweight babies and single-parent families
3rd highest child gun death rate among states ranked. Guns were the leading cause of death for Alabama children in 2024
Governor Kay Ivey’s administration refused federal summer food money in 2024, leaving about 545,000 kids and 65 million dollars on the table before reversing course in 2025
24.4 percent of children do not always have enough to eat
More than half of children under 6 live in a child care desert
Still allows 16-year-olds to marry with a parent’s consent
HEALTHCARE
One of just 10 states still refusing Medicaid expansion, leaving 147,000 uninsured adults who would qualify and 86,000 with no path to coverage at all
More than half of Alabama’s rural hospitals at risk of closing, with 17 at immediate risk
52 percent of rural hospitals in the non-expansion states operating in the red. In Alabama it is 67.6 percent, the 2nd highest in America
9 rural hospitals have closed since 2010, and 5 more stopped providing inpatient care
2nd highest opioid prescribing rate in America, roughly double the national average
Kicked 216,446 people off Medicaid, 86 percent for paperwork reasons
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act cuts about 4.2 billion dollars in federal Medicaid money from Alabama and could leave 50,000 more uninsured, or 150,000 counting expired insurance tax credits
Last in America for mental health providers and access to mental health care, 48th overall in Mental Health America’s rankings
49th for dentists and 44th for primary care doctors
41st on the Commonwealth Fund health scorecard and 47th in America’s Health Rankings
HEALTH OUTCOMES
Infant mortality at 7.1 per 1,000 births versus 5.5 nationally, with Black infants dying at 2.2 times the white rate
Life expectancy of 73.8 years, 5th lowest, nearly 4 years below the national average
3rd highest heart disease deaths, 5th highest stroke deaths, and adult obesity at 39.7 percent, the highest of any state reporting
2nd highest rate of high blood pressure and 3rd highest diabetes
Among the 10 worst death rates for kidney disease, Alzheimer’s, flu, and lung disease
46th for premature death
Maternal deaths at 35.1 per 100,000 births against 23.5 nationally. The state found 78 percent of pregnancy-related deaths were preventable
4th highest premature birth rate and an F from the March of Dimes. 4th highest low birthweight rate
About 1 in 3 counties are maternity care deserts, and several hospitals stopped delivering babies in 2023 and 2024
4th highest chlamydia rate and 5th highest syphilis rate
45th for childhood immunizations
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
A near-total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest
The Republican Alabama Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that frozen embryos are children, and IVF clinics shut their doors until lawmakers rushed out a fix
Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall threatened to prosecute people who help women travel for abortions, and a federal judge ruled the threats unconstitutional
JUSTICE
A prison death rate of 957 per 100,000 in 2025, nearly three times the most recent national average for state prisons, with at least 202 people dying behind bars
Sued twice by the U.S. Justice Department over unconstitutional prison conditions, for Tutwiler women’s prison in 2015 and for the entire men’s prison system in 2020. Trial is set for November 2026
17.4 prisoners for every correctional officer, and prisons hold about 20,800 people in space built for 12,115
78 people killed inside Alabama prisons from 2019 to 2024
A 1.25 billion dollar mega prison, built partly with 400 million dollars in federal COVID relief money
The parole board grants parole in about 17 percent of cases
Prisoners sued Governor Kay Ivey in 2023, saying they are forced to work for private companies, including fast food restaurants
5th highest incarceration rate, higher than any independent democracy on Earth
4th highest gun death rate in America at 23.7 per 100,000, with no permit needed to carry a gun since 2023
3rd highest homicide rate in America
5th highest traffic death rate
Carried out the world’s first nitrogen gas execution in 2024, and in 2026 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to let Alabama gas another man
One of only two states that allow a death sentence without a unanimous jury
ENVIRONMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Home to the Lowndes County raw sewage crisis, where up to 80 percent of residents lack working sewage systems
Trump’s Justice Department terminated the Lowndes County settlement in April 2025, calling it an illegal DEI policy
Trump’s EPA now wants to approve the same coal ash plan it rejected in 2024, while Alabama Power’s Plant Barry holds more than 21 million tons of coal ash in an unlined pit on the Mobile River
Republican lawmakers passed a 2026 law barring state environmental rules stricter than federal ones
Alabama was the last state in America to create a dam safety program, in 2026, and private dams are exempt
Wastewater systems graded D, with 24.1 billion dollars in needs
RANKINGS
43rd in the U.S. News Best States 2026 ranking
41st in WalletHub’s Best States to Live In, 46th for education and health and 42nd for the economy
CNBC gave Alabama a D-minus for quality of life