MOBILE — Ken Kvalheim has been active in the Mobile County Republican Party since 1983 but has never held a leadership position. That all changed Monday when he was unanimously elected chairman of the Mobile County Republican Executive Committee (MCREC).
Kvalheim is the Manager of Grants for the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office. He is a former vice president of the Mitchell Company and president of the University of South Alabama National Alumni Association. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the USA.
He replaces retiring Tricia Strange, who was chair for four years.
Kvalheim will have to replenish GOP funds spent in last year’s elections. He is also looking forward to state elections in 2026, when the governor’s office will be an open seat. Governor Kay Ivey is term-limited and cannot run again. All state constitutional offices are up for election in 2026.
Other officers elected on Monday were Vice Chairman Stuart Lang, Secretary Jo O’Brien and Treasurer Butch Blum, according to a release sent out by the MCREC.
A packed house at the Southwest Mobile Chamber of Commerce in Tillman’s Corner elected new officers who will serve during the first two years of the upcoming Trump administration.
Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis gave a brief farewell address with eleven days remaining in office. He retired and will be replaced by his 13-year chief clerk, Mark Erwin. Davis said Erwin is much more prepared to take office than Davis was when he went in in 2000.
Erwin is also a former Mobile County Republican Party chairman.
The GOP committee meets quarterly.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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