The Maverick vs. The Machine: Montgomery’s War to Stop Mo Brooks ​

By Christopher M Peeks January 29, 2029

​The Alabama political season has just kicked off, and things are heating up like a cast-iron frying pan on a stovetop oven with the temperature on high.

​The Return of the Maverick

​Last Friday on qualifying day, after previously saying he would not be a candidate for office in the 2026 elections, former Fifth District Congressman Mo Brooks shocked politicos when he announced he planned to challenge incumbent James Lomax for a legislative seat he previously represented from 1982 to 1991 in the GOP Primary. This followed a group of citizens—not special interest political action committees—stepping up to fund Brooks’s campaign.

​Montgomery Strikes Back

​Lomax and the powers that be, obviously troubled by the no-nonsense, shoot-straight-from-the-hip public servant returning to the Alabama legislature, wasted no time coming at Brooks, attacking as viciously as a copperhead biting in August. On qualifying day, Lomax fired the first salvo, calling Brooks a “political opportunist who has spent over 40 years chasing public office for his own ego, not for the people of Alabama.”

​“From his embarrassing failures as a defeated District Attorney to his do-nothing stints in the Alabama House, Madison County Commission, and U.S. Congress, Brooks has proven time and again that he’s nothing more than an ineffective placeholder,” Lomax said. “He’s collected taxpayer-funded paychecks for longer than I’ve been alive, all while achieving nothing for hardworking Alabamians. Now, after an embarrassing crash out in Congress and turning into a bitter commentator for the liberal media, he’s crawling back to the same scam he’s peddled for the last four decades.”

​The 15% Lie: Fact-Checking the Establishment

​Days later, Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter chimed in with a scathing assessment of Brooks, claiming his congressional approval rating was 15% while the Legislature sits at 68%.

​For the record, I do not know where the Speaker came up with that 15% approval rating, because there is nothing I can find that can back him up on this. In fact, in Brooks’s last campaign for re-election in 2020, he won nearly 96% of the vote. Ledbetter does not want Brooks in the legislature because this Maverick is not going to play ball and will vote against things that go against his principles. This is sending alarm bells through the legislative leadership; Brooks would turn over the money tables in that den of thieves.

​Brooks Fires Back at Speaker Ledbetter

​When asked for a comment, a bare-knuckle brawler whose blood was up came out swinging at Ledbetter. Brooks said he asks anyone with "a brain larger than the size of a pea" to wonder why, if he is so ineffectual, he manages to scare the crap out of Speaker Ledbetter. Making it clear they were going to be in a 15-round heavyweight match, Brooks proclaimed: “Speaker Ledbetter needs to know that I’m not a pushover, that I’ve fought toe-to-toe against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and, intellectually, he could not hold her pantyhose.”

​The High-Stakes Battle for HD20

​GOP insiders, who spoke to me on a condition of anonymity, said they were prepared to pour $1 million into this race to try to stop Brooks and that Lomax is actively seeking Trump to endorse him in his re-election bid.

​That does not scare Brooks in the least, and he will not back down from a fight. This is shaping up to be one of the most intense elections in the midterms here in Alabama, and expect the gloves to come off. This race could get downright nasty. Even if $1 million is put in to try to stop Brooks’s insurgency campaign, his $100,000 is enough to get his message out. And even if Lomax gets the Trump endorsement, we have seen that Trump is only batting about 50/50 with his endorsements lately

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​The GOP Primary will be held next May 19th.