Last Tuesday Republicans won BIG. REALLY BIG! In the North. In the South.  In the East. And, yes, in the West. The country turned red all over last week. There were even bright spots in ultra-liberal California, where Republicans picked up three congressional seats.

Speaking of the west, in Sen. Harry Reid’s home state of Nevada, Republican Governor Brian Sandoval won re-election with over 70 percent of the vote. Just wait until 2016. Don’t expect Sen. Reid to run for re-election, unless he wants to get the biggest whipping of his life. Gov. Sandoval will likely run for Reid’s seat and, unless his popularity tanks, he will be the next senator from Nevada.

Most of the excitement for Republicans has been focused on taking control of the U.S. Senate, but not to be overlooked is the fact that Republicans now hold 31 governor’s offices, and in some of the most unlikely places! Three of the pick ups came as a big surprise to Democrats (and some Republicans) when voters said they prefer Republican governors in Massachusetts, Maryland and Illinois – home of Barack Obama!

Nationally, Republicans also won a record number of state legislative seats. Republicans now control at least at two-thirds of state legislative chambers nationwide. Republicans also have total control of state government (like in Alabama) in 25 states, where they have the governor’s office, State House and State Senate. In comparison, Democrats have only seven states where they control the governor’s office, House and Senate, which is the lowest number since the Civil War.

>>>Here in Alabama, we continued to add to our majorities in the House and Senate, where we now hold 70 of the 105 seats in the House and 26 of the 35 seats in the Senate. Just like we did in 2012, Republicans gained big victories at the local level where the Democrats have dominated for over 100 years.

ALGOP targeted northwest Alabama and northeast Alabama, these two areas have been predominately Democrat. In 2012, we began taking our conservative message to these areas and as a result we elected local Republicans in northwest counties like Colbert, Lauderdale and Franklin. Ditto for northeast Alabama, where we elected Republicans in once solidly-Democrat Jackson and DeKalb Counties.

Based on our successes in northwest and northeast Alabama in 2012, we decided to put even more effort into electing Republicans in these two corners of our state. The result was phenomenal. In northwest Alabama, we elected two senators (Drs. Larry Stutts and Tim Melson), two House members (Lynn Greer and Phillip Pettus), one Sheriff (Rick Singleton in Lauderdale County) and one Revenue Commissioner (Tommy Oswalt in Colbert County) in historic wins. And, in northeast Alabama we elected one senator (Steve Livingston) and one House member (Tommy Hanes).

We also recorded other first-time wins at the local level including:

• Greg Albritton became the first Republican elected to the Senate from Conecuh County.
• Bob Fincher became the first Republican elected to the House from Randolph County.
• Kyle South became the first Republican elected to the House from Fayette County.
• Chris Sells became the first Republican elected to the House from Butler County.
• Wes Mobley became the first Republican elected District Judge in Cherokee County.
• Dustin St. Clair became the first Republican elected Revenue Commissioner in Cherokee County.
• Mickey Powell became the first Republican elected Sheriff in Crenshaw County.
• Tyler Wilks became the first Republican elected Revenue Commissioner in DeKalb County.
• Veronica Stancil became the first Republican elected Revenue Commissioner in Franklin County.
• Jim Burkhalter became the first Republican elected Superintendent of Education in Fayette County.
• Jim Underwood became the first Republican elected Sheriff of Walker County.

A special recognition goes to Jim Emerson, who became the first Republican ever elected in Wilcox County. They said it couldn’t be done, but Jim Emerson didn’t let that slow him down. We are proud to have played a part in this historic election in Wilcox County.

These victories could not have happened without the outstanding candidates who worked so hard to win their races. Thanks to the local Republican parties and their grassroots workers for getting us across the finish line.

As they say, “the best is yet to come”. We look forward to building upon the successes of 2012 and 2014. The future is indeed bright for Alabama and the Republican Party. Alabamians have shown they are ready for real change and conservative leadership, and that is what we have given them.

By Bill Armistead, Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party