Jerry Carl

Carl was born in Mobile, Alabama, on June 17, 1958. He graduated from Sylacauga High School in 1977 and attended Lake City Community College, now Florida Gateway College, before returning to Mobile.[14] He worked for Alabama Power and as a salesman for several Mobile companies, and in 1989 he established Stat Medical, a healthcare equipment business.[14] According to his campaign website, Carl started his first company at age 25. He has since started more than ten companies, ranging from real estate to healthcare, timber and the manufacture of church furniture; Wikipedia lists Carl and Associates, a management group founded in 2003, and Cricket and Butterfly, LLC, a lumber and timber business.[1][15][14] His campaign website says he and his wife, Tina, have been married 44 years and have three children, and that he describes himself as an avid hunter.[15]

According to his campaign website, Carl ran for the Mobile County Commission out of frustration with the direction of Mobile's local government; Ballotpedia lists his service on the commission as beginning in 2012. He won that seat by defeating incumbent Mike Dean in the Republican primary, was re-elected in 2016, and was chosen commission president in 2019, serving until 2020. His campaign says he has eight years of local government experience and four at the federal level.[15][2][14] In 2020 he won the Republican runoff for Alabama's open 1st District seat, vacated by Bradley Byrne, over former state senator Bill Hightower, 52.3% to 47.7%, and then the general election over Democrat James Averhart with 64.4% of the vote. He was re-elected in 2022 with 83.6% against Libertarian Alexander Remrey.[1][14] In the House he served on the Armed Services and Natural Resources committees in the 117th Congress and on Appropriations and Natural Resources in the 118th.[1]

After a court-approved congressional map moved Rep. Barry Moore into the 1st District, Carl and Moore met in a March 5, 2024 Republican primary, which Moore won 51.7% to 48.3%.[2][1] Carl returned in 2026 and won the August 11 Republican primary for the open seat with 74.6% of the vote, ahead of Austin Sidwell, John Mills and Lucas Burger.[1] According to his campaign website, he campaigned as an ally of President Trump on immigration, gun rights and fiscal restraint.[1][2][3] He won the November 3, 2026 general election with 59.1% of the vote to Clyde Jones's 40.9%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[4]