State Rep. Napoleon Bracy Jr. has been elected co-chair of the Mobile County Delegation, the group of state legislators who represent Mobile County in the Alabama House of Representatives and Senate. Bracy, a Democrat from Prichard, will share leadership of the delegation with Rep. Victor Gaston, a Republican from Mobile, giving the county’s legislative representatives bipartisan leadership heading into the new session in Montgomery.
“I’m honored to serve the delegation and citizens of Mobile County in this key role,” Bracy said after the vote. “When we work together as a cohesive delegation, we are most effective for our citizens. I appreciate my colleagues’ confidence in me and look forward to helping guide our area’s legislative priorities to ensure our communities are well represented in Montgomery.”
The county legislative delegation typically meets ahead of and during each legislative session to coordinate on local bills, county funding requests and other matters that affect Mobile County specifically before those measures head to the full Legislature. Having co-chairs from both major parties is intended to help the delegation build consensus among its members, who represent a politically diverse cross-section of the county, from urban Mobile and Prichard to more rural and suburban districts.
Bracy is a lifelong resident of Prichard and was serving his third term in the Alabama House of Representatives at the time of his election as co-chair. He has represented House District 98, which includes parts of Prichard and Mobile, and has been active on issues including economic development, criminal justice and education funding during his time in the Legislature.
Gaston, his co-chair, is a longtime member of the House who has represented Mobile-area constituents for decades and has previously held other leadership posts within the delegation and the broader Alabama House. Their joint leadership of the Mobile County Delegation comes as lawmakers prepare for a new legislative session in Montgomery, where local governments across Alabama routinely look to their county delegations to shepherd community-specific legislation through the State House.
Local officials in Mobile County often work closely with the delegation on requests ranging from infrastructure funding to changes in local law, making the group’s leadership an important point of contact for city councils, the Mobile County Commission and other local governing bodies throughout the year.