Morris Jackson Brooks Jr. (born April 29, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2023. His district was based in Huntsville and stretches across the northern fifth of the state. A member of the Republican Party, Brooks was a founding member of the Freedom Caucus.
In 2022, Brooks retired from the U.S. House of Representatives to run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Richard Shelby. Once a strong ally of President Donald Trump, Brooks was initially supported by Trump, but Trump rescinded his endorsement of Brooks candidacy in March 2022, claiming Brooks had "gone woke", after he made statements regarding moving past disproven claims of fraud about the 2020 election. In May, Brooks came in second in the Republican primary, behind Katie Britt, losing to her in the runoff. Since then, Brooks has been an outspoken critic of Trump.
He was a candidate in the 2026 election for the 20th Alabama House of Representatives district, but lost to incumbent representative James Lomax in the Republican primary.
Early life, education, and legal career Brooks was born in 1954 in Charleston, South Carolina, and moved to Huntsville, Alabama, in 1963. His mother, Betty J. (Noland) Brooks, taught economics and government for over 20 years at Lee High School, while he attended Grissom High School. His father, Morris Jackson "Jack" Brooks Sr., was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and worked as an electrical engineer before retiring from Redstone Arsenal's Meteorology Center. They still live in Madison County, Alabama.
Brooks graduated from Grissom High School in 1972. He graduated from Duke University in three years with a double major in political science and economics, with highest honors in economics. Brooks received his J.D. degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1978.
Brooks started his legal career with the Tuscaloosa County district attorney's office. He left that office in 1980 to return to Huntsville as a law clerk for presiding circuit court Judge John David Snodgrass. During every year except when he was serving as a prosecutor or judicial clerk, Brooks was a practicing lawyer. In 1993, he became counsel to Leo and Associates, a business law firm with a national focus, founded by Karl W. Leo. He became a partner in the firm, which was reorganized as Leo & Brooks, LLC. He maintained a national practice that specialized in commercial litigation.Martindale-Hubbell law directory and Karl W. Leo
Early political career Brooks was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1982 and reelected in 1983, 1986, and 1990. While in the legislature, Brooks was elected Republican house caucus chairman three times.
In 1991, Brooks was appointed Madison County district attorney, after the incumbent, Robert E. Cramer, was elected to Congress. In 1992, he ran for the office, but lost to Democrat Tim Morgan. A Republican had not been elected to the office since the Reconstruction era.
In 1995–96, Brooks was appointed state special assistant attorney general for Alabama attorney general Jeff Sessions. From 1996 to 2002, he was special assistant attorney general for attorney general Bill Pryor.
In 1996, Brooks ran for the Madison County commission and unseated an eight-year incumbent Republican. He was reelected to the commission in 2000, 2004, and 2008.
In 2006, Brooks unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Alabama, coming in third behind eventual nominee Luther Strange and former state treasurer George Wallace Jr.
U.S. House of Representatives Elections 2010
Brooks won the Republican primary, receiving 51% of the vote, defeating incumbent (and former Democrat) Parker Griffith (33%) and conservative activist Les Phillip (16%).
The Republican National Committee named Brooks a "Young Gun" in 2010. Larry Sabato, Charlie Cook, and Real Clear Politics rated the race "Likely Republican". CQPolitics, Stuart Rothenberg, and the New York Times rated the race "Safe Republican". Nate Silver in the FiveThirtyEight.com New York Times blog predicted that there was a 94.1% chance that Brooks would defeat Democratic nominee Steve Raby.
Brooks won the general election, 58%–42%. He became the first freshman Republican to represent this district since Reconstruction.
2012
In January 2012, Parker Griffith, having switched parties, filed for a rematch against Brooks in the Republican primary. He said of the incumbent, "We'll contrast my time in Congress with my opponent's time in Congress. The distinction is clear. He has wandered away from many of the issues people want us to address". Brooks had the support of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum political action committee. He defeated Griffith in the rematch, 71%–29%. Brooks won all five counties.
2014
In the November 4, 2014, general election, Brooks faced independent candidate Mark Bray and won by a margin of 115,338 (74.4%) to 39,005 (25.2%).
2016
In the November 8, 2016, general election, Brooks faced Democratic nominee Will Boyd Jr. and won by a margin of 205,647 (66.7%) to 102,234 (33.2%).
2017
On May 15, 2017, Brooks announced his candidacy in the 2017 United States Senate special election. He ran against Luther Strange, a Republican appointed to the Senate by former Alabama Governor Robert Bentley after Senator Jeff Sessions was appointed U.S. attorney general.
Brooks was endorsed by talk-radio host Mark Levin, radio host Laura Ingraham, radio and television host Sean Hannity, and Congressman Mike Rogers.
In an interview with Yellowhammer News, Brooks touted his conservative record, saying that during the previous session of Congress, Heritage Action ranked him one of the Top Ten Best Congressmen on issues involving the "principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense". The American Conservative Union ranked his record in the top 20% of all Congressmen, with an overall A grade during the last session of Congress, on issues relating to "liberty, personal responsibility, traditional value, and a strong national defense". The National Taxpayers Union ranked his record at the top of the Alabama Congressional delegation, tied with Byrne and Gary Palmer, on issues relating to "tax relief and reform, lower and less wasteful spending, individual liberty, and free enterprise". The Club for Growth ranked his record in the top 20% of all Congressmen on "economic policies that strengthen our nation's economy and shrink the size of the federal government". He was the Tea Party movement's preferred candidate.
Bentley initially decided to align the special election with the 2018 general election, but Kay Ivey, his successor, moved the date up to December 12, 2017, scheduling the primary for August 15 and primary runoff for September 26. In the Republican primary, Brooks lost to Strange and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who advanced to the runoff. In his concession speech, he announced his reelection campaign for his congressional seat in 2018. He also "spoke more favorably of Moore and the race that he ran rather than Strange", but did not endorse a candidate.
Brooks declared he intended to vote for Moore on November 11, days after The Washington Post published a story alleging sexual abuse by Moore. In a text message to al.com on November 13, Brooks said, "Socialist Democrat Doug Jones will vote wrong. Roy Moore will vote right. Hence, I will vote for Roy Moore". He continued by invoking the Duke University lacrosse rape case, a story that he claimed to "vividly remember" because he had graduated from the university. Brooks then said:
As an attorney, I know accusations are easy. Proving them to the satisfaction of a judge, a jury, or here, voters, is another thing. I do not know enough of the evidence to know with confidence what the true facts are ... I do believe this, there are millions of people in America who would lie in a heartbeat if it meant adding another Democrat to the Senate.
Brooks was also critical of The Washington Post in a statement to The Decatur Daily, saying:
My view of The Washington Post is that they are part of the communications wing of the Democratic Party. They are hyper-partisan to the point that they are more than willing to lie to advance their left wing, amoral, socialist agenda. I've seen them do it firsthand of my own personal knowledge.
2018
In the November 6, 2018, general election, Brooks faced Democratic nominee Peter Joffrion and won by a margin of 159,063 (61%) to 101,388 (38.9%).
2020
In the November 3, 2020, general election, Brooks was reelected without major party opposition, as the ballot was uncontested.
Tenure
In February 2018, Brooks delivered a House floor speech and later released a statement through his office announcing his opposition to the spending bill that would ward off another United States federal government shutdown, saying the bill would do more harm than good by granting more funds than the United States could afford.
In April 2018, after Trump ordered missile strikes against Syria, Brooks confirmed that he was in favor of the strikes but would prefer the president "consult with Congress and obtain an unambiguous Authorization for the Use of Military Force from Congress before engaging in acts of war against a foreign nation" and said there was evidence the Assad regime had used chemical agents.
In July 2018, Brooks announced his support for Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court, saying Kavanaugh was an excellent choice who "has an established record of upholding the Constitution and federal law without inserting his personal political views into his decisions. As such, I look forward to his quick confirmation by the Senate". "In my view, America is burdened with too many liberal, activist federal justices and judges who fail to abide by their role as limited by the Constitution, and I am pleased President Trump nominated a judge who understands the importance of limiting his role to that intended by America's founding fathers".Alabama senators weigh in on Kavanaugh, Tuscaloosa News, Ken Roberts, July 10, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
In July 2018, Brooks announced his support for Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan amid allegations of ignoring claims of sexual abuse of athletes by a team doctor while Jordan was serving as a wrestling coach at The Ohio State University (OSU). In his statement, Brooks recounted his seven years working alongside Jordan and said Jordan had proved to him during that time that were he aware of the claims, he "would have done everything in his power to stop the inappropriate conduct". OSU opened an investigation in April 2018 that looked into allegations of sexual misconduct by the former wrestling team's physician, Richard Strauss, who was the physician when Jordan was an assistant coach. At least eight former wrestlers said that Jordan had been aware of, but did not respond to, allegations of sexual misconduct by Strauss.