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None of the 19 sororities at the University of Alabama were interested in having a male student named Grant Sikes join them this year. The student, who uses “she/her” pronouns, called the decisions “extremely upsetting” and “sad” in a TikTok video, where Sikes had been documenting the sorority application journey. Sikes wrote a note on Instagram: First and foremost, I would like to thank my family, friends and everyone who has come along during this journey with me. From the thousands of messages to meeting the funniest people, I had the best time. Unfortunately this chapter is closed. This recruitment...

All sorority chapters at the University of Alabama rejected a biological man who identifies as a woman during their notorious recruitment process, according to a video and statement from transgender woman Grant Sikes. Sikes, a biological man, posted to Instagram stating that all of the almost 20 sorority chapters at the University of Alabama unanimously cut the transgender woman. “Unfortunately, this chapter is closed. This recruitment journey is over for me,” Sikes said on Instagram.

A federal jury has found that a Democratic super political action committee (PAC) defamed Roy Moore, a former Republican sheriff and U.S. Senate candidate, in a television ad during his failed 2017 U.S. Senate bid in Alabama.The Senate Majority PAC made a false statement about Moore that was defamatory, the verdict, returned on Aug. 12, states. The PAC also published the statement despite knowing it was false or acting “with reckless regard” as to whether the statement was false, the jury said.Jurors also found that the Senate Majority PAC invaded Moore’s privacy.They awarded Moore $8.2 million.“I feel this is vindication...

The governing body of the ALGOP voted Saturday to approve a resolution calling for the Legislature to require voters to register with a party before they can vote in that party's primary. The resolution passed with 81% of the vote. The vote after an eventful primary season, which saw close calls and ballot errors. The vote does not bind the House and Senate, and the party left the details to the Legislature to figure out. "The direct implementation would be left to the legislation," said John Wahl, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. Alabama is one of 15 states with...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) – Emily Valdez had fallen in love: with her fiancé, of course, but with a wedding venue, too. She’d scoured the internet looking at photos and reading reviews. Eventually, she’d found it – a venue that fit her family’s needs – a place she’d be proud to make a lifelong commitment to her partner. She scheduled and attended a tour, and she loved the venue even more. Then, Swann Lake Stables provided Valdez with a contract to sign. On its last page, just before the signature line, was a provision Emily Valdez said she was shocked to...

A $20 million proposal to put an abortion clinic off the coast of Alabama in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico will not work, according to former U.S. Attorney Jay Town. During an interview with Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show" on Monday, the former U.S. Attorney for Alabama's Northern District said although the act of abortion, prohibited in Alabama by the 2019 Human Life Protection Act, would be committed in federal waters, the host vessel would still be governed by law from the state of which it had departed. According to Town, the gesture proposed...

Five years ago, Alabama native Frank Campus stood up before the Florida Constitutional Revision Commission and spoke out in support of the Sunshine State moving from “closed” to “open” primary elections. “When I was in Alabama, on the day of the election, you declare if you’re a Democrat or a Republican and you get to vote,” Campus said about Alabama, adding that he was shocked to learn in Florida that he needed to be registered with a political party in order to participate in their primary. Then, to laughter, he added, “You all don’t let Alabama be a better state...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A coalition of advocacy groups is opposing Alabama’s plan to sell $725 million in bonds to finance construction of two new supersize prisons. The Communities Not Prisons coalition, a group formed to oppose the construction, and other organizations issued statements Monday opposing the looming bond sale. The bonds would have a 2052 maturity date. “It means that this is a project to marry our state to mass incarceration for the better part of this century. It means that Alabamians, and Black Alabamians in particular, will continue to be incarcerated and brutalized by the Alabama Department of...

(WHNT) — Expecting mothers seeking abortion might be forced to pursue other options after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark cases legalizing abortion nationwide. Adoption has always been an option, but with the possibility of too many children and not enough homes to care for them, how will adoption agencies adapt to this shift in society? News 19 spoke with local family service and adoption providers to learn how they plan to continue helping future mothers who might not be in a stable situation to care for a baby. Herbie Newell, the president and...

A Montgomery federal judge on Friday lifted the injunction preventing Alabama’s 2019 abortion ban from going into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, meaning abortions are now illegal in Alabama except in cases where the life of the mother is in danger. U.S. District Court Judge Myron Thompson’s order in Montgomery federal court said that the legal underpinning for the injunction “no longer exists” after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, the defendant in the legal challenge to the Alabama law, was granted his...

Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R) took to the nationally syndicated "Rick & Bubba Show" to commemorate the upcoming 50th anniversary of Title IX, which he credits for the expansion of female sports at the grade school through collegiate levels. Alabama's junior U.S. Senator warned the Biden administration was poised to water down Title IX in the name of promoting transgender athletes, which he argued would be detrimental to women's sports. However, Tuberville also said the NCAA, the governing body of collegiate sports, could show leadership in preserving Title IX as it is currently constituted, but will not.

Rep. Mo Brooks, a one-time ally of former President Donald Trump, said he's willing to testify before the January 6 panel investigating the Capitol riot if subpoenaed. Thompson told The Hill that Brooks wasn't served his earlier subpoena because he had been on the campaign trail. Until this point, Brooks has not cooperated with the January 6 panel, having rejected a letter from the committee in May that called for him to testify. In July 2021, Brooks told a reporter that he wore body armor to the pro-Trump rally at the Ellipse just before the January 6 Capitol riot. At...

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), projected to lose Alabama’s GOP Senate primary runoff against rival Katie Britt after a full slap in the face from ex-President Donald Trump, concluded his rocky campaign with some bitter words in his concession speech on Tuesday night. “The voters have spoken,” but “they might not have spoken wisely,” Brooks complained to supporters at his election night party, per the Washington Post. The ultra-MAGA congressman took a shot at Britt, who won a last-minute endorsement from Trump, and her apparent lack of MAGA-ness. “It’s always appropriate to congratulate the winners, and some of these winners might...

Thomasville attorney Chris West won the Republican nomination in Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, defeating former U.S. Army captain and Yale Law student Jeremy Hunt in Tuesday’s runoff election. With an estimated 98% of the vote in, West leads Hunt 14,608-13,853. Hunt conceded just before 10:20 p.m. but did not mention West by name in his speech. West, 38, won despite finishing second in the May primary and being outspent by nearly 10-1 by Hunt. Hunt, 28, finished first in May’s primary with 37% of the total ballots cast and was the favored candidate of several national Republican politicians, carrying endorsements...

The state of Alabama held a Primary Runoff Election on June 21, 2022. Here’s a real-time update on the results of the election races as News 19 receives them. You can search the list below or scroll to find the race you are looking for. If you’re wondering why a race may not be on this list, it’s possible there was not a runoff for it. You can view the May 24, 2022 results primary election results here.

The anecdotal evidence of Democrat crossover voting in last month's State Senate District 27 Republican primary that resulted in a one-vote loss for incumbent State Sen. Tom Whatley (R-Auburn) to Auburn City Councilman Jay Hovey continues to accumulate. In an op-ed published in Monday's edition of The New York Times, Auburn University creative writing professor Anton DiSclafani took credit for Whatley's single-vote loss. "I'm a left-leaning Democrat, but on May 24, I voted on the Republican ballot in Alabama's primary election," DiSclafani wrote.

Mo Brooks opposed the Biden-Pelosi Defense Bill Katie Britt supports. Here’s what Britt’s endorsing: Red Flag Gun Confiscation, Critical Race Theory, taxpayer paid sex change operations, renaming bases and even drafting women. Katie Britt’s a woke moderate who supported Doug Jones over Roy Moore, while sitting silently as Britt Demolition took down Birmingham’s Confederate Monument. Katie Britt. Too Weak. Too Woke. Wrong. For Alabama.

With less than 24 hours until Republican voters go to select their choice for who will represent the GOP in November's U.S. Senate election, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) is calling for his opponent, former Business Council of Alabama head Katie Britt, to be disqualified for what he claimed as supporting Doug Jones in his 2017 U.S. Senate bid against then-Republican candidate Roy Moore. Brooks' overtures about the 2017 election have been a fixture on the campaign trail during this 2022 cycle. However, on Monday's broadcast of Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," Brooks called the Alabama...

Alabama voters Tuesday will choose party nominees for offices up and down the ballot, ending a primary campaign largely focused on culture war issues and personal backgrounds. State Republicans will choose their nominees for U.S. Senate, secretary of state, state auditor and the Alabama Public Service Commission. Democrats will choose a nominee for governor. One would need an electron microscope to determine ideological differences between the candidates. The campaigns and arguments have centered around personal qualities and qualifications. If traditional trends hold, it will likely be a small group of Alabamians who make the decisions about the next round of...

People can make fun of us all they want about the unusual food combinations that Southerners grow up eating and never stop loving. A peanut butter-and-mayonnaise sandwich? Pass the chips. Pineapple-and-cheese casserole? We'll take seconds. Salt on watermelon? Duh. However, the most classic combination barely needs an introduction: peanuts and Coca-Cola. These two very different items, in fact, are not just a snack and refreshment to be enjoyed separately at the same time, but a dynamic duo to be guzzled straight out of a cold glass bottle. Together.