2026 Alabama lieutenant gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2026 United States lieutenant gubernatorial elections.

The 2026 Alabama lieutenant gubernatorial election will take place on November 3, 2026 to elect the next Lieutenant Governor of Alabama. The primary election will be held on May 19, 2026. Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth is term-limited and ineligible to seek a third full consecutive term.

2026 Alabama lieutenant gubernatorial election

← 2022 November 3, 2026 2030 →

Party Republican Democratic

Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Wes Allen, Secretary of State (2023–present)^[1]
• Patrick Bishop, Cullman County Deputy^[2]
• George Childress, community advocate^[3]
• Dean Odle, pastor and candidate for governor in 2022^[4]
• Rick Pate, Agriculture Commissioner of Alabama (2019–present)^[5]
• Nicole Wadsworth, economist and wife of state representative Tim Wadsworth^[6]

Publicly expressed interest

• John Wahl, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party (2021–present)^[7]

Declined

• Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, president of the Alabama Public Service Commission (2010–2025) and candidate for lieutenant governor in 2018^[8] (appointed as state director for rural development at U.S. Department of Agriculture)^[9]
• Steve Marshall, Attorney General (2017–present) (running for U.S. Senate)^[10]

Endorsements

Wes Allen

State legislators

• 39 state representatives, including majority leader Scott Stadthagen^[11]

Rick Pate

Organizations

• Alabama Associated General Contractors^[12]

Fundraising

Republican campaign finance reports as of July 31, 2025
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Wes Allen (R)	$403,723.17	$24,004.07	$389,719.10
Patrick Bishop (R)	$3,717.98	$1,330.00	$849.71
Dean Odle (R)	$5,526.36	$0.00	$12,573.36
Rick Pate (R)	$270,567.85	$22,975.59	$347,592.26
Nicole Wadsworth (R)	$56,859.46	$17,494.48	$143,195.52
Source: Alabama Secretary of State[13]

Campaign

Nicole Wadsworth's campaign was the first to attract media attention following a request that was sent out to news organizations, in which her campaign requested that she be called "Dr. Nicole Wadsworth." The AP Stylebook, which many organizations use to dictate how to write news articles, says that only medical doctors should be referred to as such.^[14][15] The next week, her campaign announced that they had made an error listing her credentials, and she had not received as PhD from the University of Alabama, but instead from the North Central Theological Seminary.^[16][17] That school had not been accredited by any organizations recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.^[18] Her entire campaign staff resigned following the report.^[19] Later in June, her lawyers requested that 1819 News take down all stories relating to her academic credentials.^[20]

Wes Allen has campaigned on his record as Secretary of State, especially his efforts to purge voter rolls.^[21]