State Rep. Corey Harbison (R-Good Hope) announced his resignation from the Alabama House of Representatives on Tuesday after spending over a decade in the legislature.
The House Public Information Officer provided Harbison’s resignation letter on Wednesday morning. The letter’s terse message read: “Please accept this letter as formal notification of my resignation from Alabama House District 12.”
Montgomery lawmakers have known about Harbison’s resignation for some time. At least one Democratic lawmaker noted his scant presence in the House and criticized House leadership for allowing members to vote on Harbison’s machine.
Harbison confirmed his resignation plans to 1819 News one month ago, saying he was leaving to spend more time with his growing family.
Harbison, 38, was first elected to the House District 12 seat in November 2014, when he defeated then-incumbent Mac Buttram. Prior to that, Harbison was serving his second term as mayor of Good Hope.
Harbison currently works for the city and plans to continue to do so after he leaves the legislature so that he can spend more time with his wife and three young children.
Harbison told 1819 News that he and his wife had their first two children via in vitro fertilization (IVF) before his wife conceived without IVF, much to their mutual surprise.
"I was elected in 2014," Harbison said. "I was married, but I didn't have any kids. The truth is, when I ran for that third term, we had no clue. We weren't even trying to. Then my wife got pregnant. That was something that we hadn't planned for. "
He continued, "I want to be a daddy. I want to be at home with my kids. My son is in first grade; he wants to play football and, T-ball and basketball. I'll be honest, I appreciate the people that elected me to serve, but family is more important to me. I just can't juggle it like I need to. I can work the phone all day when people call me and want help. I love helping people. But when it comes to being in Montgomery, it's a task to juggle that and being a dad, too. So I'm just going to go ahead and get out."
Now that his resignation is official, Gov. Kay Ivey will have to set a special election to fill his seat. This would be the second special election for an outgoing House member after now-former State Rep. Randall Shedd (R-Fairview) departed to join the new State Sen. Pro-Tem Garlan Gudger's (R-Cullman) staff.
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