Gov. Kay Ivey moved the U.S. Senate seat special election from November 6, 2018, to December 12, 2017. The special election is needed to fill the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by U.S. Attorney Gen. Jeff Sessions.

Former Gov. Robert Bentley appointed Luther Strange to fill the vacancy and scheduled the election for 2018, allowing Strange to serve as an incumbent for 22 months.

Ivey changed the date of the election to better follow Alabama law, which clearly states a special election may only be delayed until the next regular election if the senate vacancy occurred within four months of the next regular election.

The special primary will now be held on August 15, 2017, with a special runoff on September 26, 2017. The special general is scheduled for December 12, 2017.

On April 10, 2017, Gov. Robert Bentley resigned as the 53rd governor of Alabama.

The resignation follows the Alabama Ethics Commission finding probable cause he violated state ethics laws.

Kay Ivey was sworn in as the 54th governor of Alabama immediately following Bentley’s resignation. Ivey is the second woman to serve as governor of Alabama.

The Alabama Ethics Commission found probable cause to believe Gov. Robert Bentley committed violations of both the Alabama Ethics Act and the Fair Campaign Practices Act.

The investigation is related to Bentley’s relationship with Rebekah Mason, a former political adviser.

The matter has been referred to the Montgomery County District Attorney for further review and potential prosecution.

Gov. Robert Bentley has announced a special legislative session will convene August 15, 2016.

The primary focus of the session will be a constitutional amendment allowing a statewide lottery.

Bentley believes the lottery will solve the state’s financial problems.

On September 16, the Alabama Legislature adjourned its special session sine die after achieving a budget for the state. The special session, which was called by Gov. Robert Bentley to address the Alabama general fund budget shortfall, began on September 8. Bentley said he expects to sign the budget legislation into law, according the Montgomery Advertiser.

Gov. Robert Bentley has called a special legislative session to begin September 8, 2015.

The session has been called to address the $200 million general fund budget shortfall.

The governor has proposed three measures to reform the budget, including transferring money from the educational trust fund to the general fund and removing earmarks currently placed on certain state taxes. He has also proposed increasing the cigarette tax and amending the business privilege tax.

The Alabama Legislature adjourned sine die Thursday, June 4, 2015. However, Gov. Robert Bentley is likely to call a special session because there is no state budget in place for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2015.

The state Senate approved a budget but Bentley termed the Senate’s plan ‘unworkable’ and thus vetoed it. The House overrode the veto, but the Senate had adjourned for the summer before an override vote could be taken.

Alabama Governor-elect Robert Bentley wasted no time in declaring ethics reform a top priority when he assumes office in 2011. Bentley stated his preference is to hold a special session of the state legislature within the regular session, scheduled to convene in February, because it would save the taxpayers money.

Bentley’s goals for the special session include increased frequency of reporting political contributions and online publishing of the contributions. The promises of sweeping ethics reform come on the heels of a scandal in which state senators and lobbyists have been charged with bribery and corruption in connection with pending gambling legislation.

This photo of Robert Bentley is is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license by Zwilson14.