Bradley Roberts Byrne (born February 16, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Alabama's 1st congressional district from 2014 to 2021. Elected as a member of the state Board of Education as a Democrat in 1994, he became a member of the Republican Party in 1997 and served in the Alabama Senate from 2003 to 2007, representing the state's 32nd district.
Byrne was chancellor of the Alabama Community College System from 2007 until he resigned in 2009 to run for the 2010 Republican nomination for governor of Alabama. In December 2013 he won a special election to represent the state's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. Byrne ran in the Republican primary for the 2020 United States Senate election in Alabama but was defeated in the first round of the primary by Tommy Tuberville and Jeff Sessions.
Early life and education
Bradley Roberts Byrne was born on February 16, 1955, in Mobile, Alabama. He was one of three children. He was raised in Baldwin County, Alabama. He attended UMS-Wright Preparatory School in Mobile, graduating in 1973. Byrne graduated from Duke University in 1977. At Duke, he became a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. In 1980, he graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law. He was classmates with Mo Brooks. After graduation, he became a private practice lawyer.
Political background Byrne's first run for elective office, in 1994, was a success when he was elected to the Alabama State Board of Education as a Democrat. During his term on the Board of Education, Byrne supported a science curriculum that was opposed by many religious leaders in Alabama. He later voted with the Board to support a compromise that said, "Explanations of the origin of life and major groups of plants and animals, including humans, shall be treated as theory and not as fact. When attempting to apply scientific knowledge to world problems, no social agenda shall be promoted." In 1996 Byrne voted with the majority of board members to reject $18 million in federal education funds because it was feared the money would allow greater federal control of schools. The vote was seen as a nod to the growing conservative influence in his south Alabama district. Byrne later changed his mind and convinced the Board to allow the money.
In 1997 Byrne left the Democratic Party and became a Republican.
In 2002 Byrne ran for an Alabama State Senate seat, representing part of Baldwin County. He won with 91% of the vote over his Democratic challenger.
Chancellor of Alabama's Community College System In May 2007 Byrne took the position of community college chancellor and oversaw a controversial reordering of much of the system. Bishop State Community College in Mobile was the target of investigators who found both financial and academic issues at the school in 2006 and 2007. Byrne ordered an audit of the school, which demonstrated many deficiencies. At the time, about two dozen people were charged with criminal fraud and theft charges. A total of 27 were charged before the probe ended in May 2007.
Byrne also worked with Alabama Attorney General Troy King to recover money stolen from the community college system. He resigned as Chancellor on August 31, 2009.
2010 gubernatorial campaign
During the campaign, he was accused by his opponents in the Republican primary of supporting evolution and of doubting that the Bible was infallible. Byrne responded, "as a Christian and as a public servant, I have never wavered in my belief that this world and everything in it is a masterpiece created by the hands of God ... As a member of the Alabama Board of Education, the record clearly shows that I fought to ensure the teaching of creationism in our school text books. Those who attack me have distorted, twisted and misrepresented my comments and are spewing utter lies to the people of this state." He also added that he believed "every single word" of the Bible was true.
Post-election activity Following the runoff, Byrne went back to practicing business law, joining the law firm Jones Walker on August 16, 2010.
Reform Alabama On February 23, 2011, Byrne announced he was partnering with other prominent Alabamians to create a nonprofit organization that would push for reforms in state government. Named Reform Alabama, the organization actively supported legislation in the 2011 Alabama Regular Legislative Session.
Alabama Supreme Court campaign In 2011, Byrne considered running for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in the 2012 election, but ultimately did not enter the race.
United States House of Representatives
Elections
2013 special election
On May 23, 2013, U.S. Representative Jo Bonner announced that he would resign, effective August 15, 2013.
Byrne finished first in the Republican primary and faced Tea Party candidate Dean Young in the runoff election. Byrne won the runoff, but Young refused to endorse him, which led to rumors of a rift within the Republican Party. Byrne subsequently gained the endorsement of Alabama Patriots, a Tea Party-affiliated organization. Byrne faced Democratic Party nominee Burton LeFlore on December 17, 2013. Byrne won the election with 71% of the vote. At the time of his election, Byrne was only the sixth person to represent this Mobile-based district since 1919, continuing an unbroken run of Republican control in the district dating back to 1965.
2014
Byrne was originally expected to be running for reelection unopposed, but Burton LeFlore, his Democratic opponent in the 2013 special election, qualified. Byrne was reelected with 68% of the vote. The district has a PVI of R+15.
2016
Byrne won the Republican primary with 60.1% over his 2013 challenger Young. He was unopposed in the general election.
2018
Byrne was unopposed in the primary election. He won the general election by 63.15% to 36.78% over Democrat Robert Kennedy, Jr.
Tenure and political positions As of the end of 2019, Byrne had voted in line with President Donald Trump's position 96.8% of the time,Tracking Congress in the Age of Trump: Bradley Byrne, Republican representative for Alabama’s 1st District, FiveThirtyEight (last accessed January 4, 2020). in line with the majority of House Republicans 91.9–98.4% of the time, and against the majority of House Republicans 1.6%–8.1% of the time. In 2019, David M. McIntosh, of the conservative lobby organization Club for Growth, called Byrne "not a conservative" and a "fake politician."
Abortion
Byrne is pro-life. In 2011, he co-sponsored the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, which would have banned abortions based on race or sex. Two years later, in 2013, he co-sponsored the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which would have prohibited federal funds supporting family planning organizations that provide abortions, with exceptions for rape, incest, or if the mother's life is at risk. Byrne also co-sponsored an amendment to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution that would categorize fetuses as human beings.
Civil rights In 2019 Byrne voted against the Equality Act, a bill that would expand the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In House debates on the legislation, Byrne criticized the bill, calling it "radical" and "deeply troubling."
Drugs
Byrne was given a "D" rating from NORML for his pro-cannabis stance. NORML describes him as "hard on drugs." Byrne supports the federal government preventing states from legalizing medical marijuana. In 2019, he voted against the SAFE Banking Act.
Environment
In 2014, Byrne signed the Lawful Ivory Protection Act.
Foreign policy In October 2019 Byrne and Mo Brooks were the only Republican members of the Alabama House delegation to vote against a resolution condemning Trump for removing U.S. military forces from Syria, which had greatly endangered the Kurdish resistance to the Islamic State in Syria (ISIS).All but two Alabama Republican congressmen vote to condemn Trump’s Syria exit, AL.com, Eddie Burkhalter, October 17, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
In 2017, Byrne voted in favor of legislation imposing additional sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea, which passed on a 419–3 vote. In 2019, however, Byrne voted against a measure disapproving of the Trump administration's plan to lift sanctions imposed against three Russian firms.
In 2019, Byrne voted against measures to halt U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and also voted against legislation to end U.S. military aid to Saudi Arabia in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.
Guns and criminal justice
Byrne has a history of supporting gun rights. He voted against universal background check legislation for gun sales, and against a measure to grant law enforcement additional time to run background checks for gun sales. In 2015, Byrne co-sponsored legislature to allow cross-state concealed carry. In 2019, he hosted a town hall meeting at a gun store, three days after the Dayton mass shooting, which killed 9 people. During the meeting, Byrne said that red flag laws violate the Second Amendment and are not effective.
Byrne voted against the 2018 First Step Act, a criminal justice reform measure. The National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) gave Byrne a 38% rating, describing him as having a "police-the-police stance" for his police-related legislation support.
Health care In 2015, Byrne was the chief sponsor of Republican legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act.Robert Pear, House G.O.P. Again Votes to Repeal Health Care Law, The New York Times (February 3, 2015).Brendan Kirby, House votes in favor of Congressman Byrne's bill to repeal Obamacare, AL.com (January 13, 2019, updated February 3, 2015). In 2017, he promoted Republican proposals to dismantle the ACA,John Sharp, Rep. Bradley Byrne: Most of my constituents on Affordable Care Act 'don't like it', AL.com (January 13, 2019). and voted for a January 2017 budget resolution to repeal the ACA. Byrne also voted for the American Health Care Act, the Republican repeal-and-replace legislation, in May 2017.
Homeland security
In 2015, Byrne co-sponsored a bill that would have limited transfer of Guantanamo prisoners to the United States or other countries.
Immigration
In 2015, Byrne sponsored bills to ban the admission of any Syrian people into the United States. Byrne supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order temporarily banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.
During the federal government shutdown of 2018–19, Byrne voted against proposals to fund the government without appropriations for a border wall. He voted against legislation that sought to terminate an emergency declaration that diverted funds to the border wall and voted to sustain Trump's veto of the legislation.
Roy Moore endorsement