Jerry Carl

The Associated Press projected on November 3, 2026, that Republican Jerry Carl won the election in Alabama's 1st Congressional District. The AP call is a media projection, and none of the reviewed sources show that the result has been certified.

The U.S. House Office of the Historian lists Carl's earlier House service as January 3, 2021, to January 3, 2025. That four-year tenure ended after he lost the 2024 nomination, so Carl is a returning member of the House. For other House contests, see the U.S. House hub.

Jerry Carl was born June 17, 1958, in Mobile, Alabama, according to the House historian. He graduated from Sylacauga High School in 1977 and attended Lake City Community College in Florida, and the historian lists no earned degree.

The House historian describes Carl's work before public office as business owner, entrepreneur and sales representative. Carl's campaign biography, published by Jerry Carl for Congress, says he started his first company at age 25. The biography credits him with more than 10 businesses in fields including real estate, health care, timber and church furniture.

Carl served on the Mobile County Commission from 2012 to 2020 and was its president from 2015 to 2016 and from 2019 to 2020, according to the House historian.

Carl's campaign biography makes two claims about his record. It says he did not take the county salary for his first two years and that he voted against tax increases. Both statements come from Carl's campaign, and the reviewed sources include no commission vote records that would confirm them.

The floor votes and the underwater forest bill described below come from Carl's 2021 to 2025 House tenure. Together they form a federal record that can be checked against official House documents, separate from his campaign statements.

Jerry Carl's immigration record combines a 2023 House vote for border legislation with 2026 campaign statements on enforcement and legal immigration.

On May 11, 2023, Carl voted yea on passage of H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, according to the Office of the Clerk record for roll call 209. The House passed the bill 219 to 213, with 3 members not voting, a six-vote margin. The roll call records House passage only and does not by itself show the bill becoming law.

Carl's campaign issues page, checked on November 4, 2026, lists support for a border wall, border enforcement and Donald Trump's agenda.

In a March 22, 2026, interview report by Daniel Taylor of 1819 News, Carl condemned illegal immigration. He also said Washington should fix the legal immigration system so people can come in the proper way. Carl pointed to a labor shortage in Mobile, including among roofers, and said the labor force needs to be restored.

In the same report, Carl rejected an open border and said the priorities should be removing bad actors and allowing legal reentry.

Jerry Carl's House record includes an aye vote on the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act and a nay vote on a 2021 infrastructure bill.

On May 31, 2023, Carl voted aye on H.R. 3746, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, in roll call 243. The bill passed 314 to 117, with 4 not voting. Republicans split 149 aye to 71 no, and Democrats split 165 aye to 46 no.

Carl's aye places him among the 149 Republicans who backed H.R. 3746. A single vote does not describe his full spending record or show any deficit savings that resulted.

On November 5, 2021, Carl voted nay on a motion to concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 3684, the INVEST in America Act, in roll call 369. The motion passed 228 to 206. The roll call covers that bill only and does not state Carl's view of individual infrastructure projects or his 2026 position.

Carl is listed as not voting on August 12, 2022, on a motion to concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 5376, according to roll call 420. The House tally was 220 to 207, with 4 not voting. A not-voting entry differs from a no vote, and the record gives no reason for his absence.

Carl's 2026 campaign issues page backs a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. The page also calls for withholding congressional pay until the budget is balanced, which is a campaign proposal with no bill attached in the reviewed sources.

Carl was one of four lawmakers named on an offshore energy amendment to the Lower Energy Costs Act, which the House passed in March 2023.

On March 30, 2023, the official office of Representative Mike Ezell reported that the House passed H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act. The release says the bill included an amendment from Ezell, Garret Graves, Dan Crenshaw and Jerry Carl supporting energy production off the Mississippi coast.

According to the Ezell release, H.R. 1 would increase oil, gas and critical mineral production through regulatory and permitting changes. The release describes House passage only and does not establish that H.R. 1 became law. Statements in the release about energy costs are the Ezell office's own political claims.

Carl introduced H.R. 897, the Alabama Underwater Forest National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act, which the House passed on July 8, 2024. A release that day from the House Committee on Natural Resources said the bill would protect an underwater forest near Gulf Shores. The committee said the measure would designate a sanctuary while enhancing Gulf industries.

The bill text on GovInfo shows H.R. 897 was referred in the Senate on July 9, 2024. The text proposes protecting an ancient cypress forest off the Alabama coast. It would prohibit cutting or removing the forest, subsea salvage, dredging, explosives, drilling and cabling.

Exceptions in the text cover fishing, diving and mooring, public vessels, defense, law enforcement, emergencies, artificial reefs and existing authorized oil and gas operations. The bill would also direct the Commerce Secretary to prepare a management plan with public participation, research, monitoring and state advisory representation.

The sanctuary provisions are proposals in a House-passed bill. The reviewed sources do not show H.R. 897 being enacted or a sanctuary being created.

Carl voted yes on objections to the electoral votes of Arizona and Pennsylvania in January 2021, within a week of joining the House.

The Arizona vote, roll call 10, took place at 11:08 p.m. on January 6, 2021. Carl voted yea, and the objection failed 121 to 303, with 7 not voting.

The Pennsylvania vote, roll call 11, took place at 3:08 a.m. on January 7, 2021, a separate calendar date from the Arizona vote. Carl voted yea again, and the objection failed 138 to 282, with 11 not voting.

The two roll calls record how Carl voted. They contain no statement of his reasons and do not establish any personal wrongdoing.

Carl's campaign biography describes him as a Christian who believes life begins at conception and opposes abortion.

Carl's campaign issues page says he opposes taxpayer-funded abortion and supported overturning Roe v. Wade. On guns, the page reports a 100 percent rating from Gun Owners of America and an earlier endorsement from the political fund of the National Rifle Association (NRA). Those ratings and the endorsement are reported by Carl's campaign.

The same issues page lists support for parents' control over education, veterans' access to health care, police funding, Israel, and farming and forestry. It also lists opposition to Iran and China.

Every item in this section is a 2026 campaign position. The reviewed sources do not tie these positions to bills Carl has introduced.

Carl's campaign issues page, as checked on November 4, 2026, lists no artificial intelligence (AI) policy, and none of the House votes or bills cited above address AI. Carl's views on AI regulation and the AI industry are therefore unknown from these sources. For other Alabama races, open the federal election directory or the federal races hub.