Rodger Smitherman

On the November 2026 ballot

Running for State Senator · District 18 · Democratic

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The 30-second read · every claim links to its source

89 roll-call votes on record - 74 yes, 8 no; these state roll calls carry no party-by-party tally. state roll calls
Latest coverage: “Alabama lawmakers pass plan for new House primary as state pushes to redistrict” (CBS News Politics, May 9, 2026) - one of 2 stories across the spectrum (Left 0 · Center 1 · Right 1). coverage, lean labeled ↗
Serves as State Senator, District 18 (Alabama) since Nov 1995. github.com ↗

What we don’t cover yet 1 gaps

What we don’t cover yet

Campaign finance filings for this office aren’t wired in yet - when they’re sourced, they’ll appear here.

The record

official roll calls · every vote links to the bill

89

Roll-call votes on record.

89 votes · 74 yes · 8 not voting · 7 no. These roll calls don’t record a party-by-party tally, so there’s no party-alignment rate to show - the votes themselves are below. official roll calls · Apr 9, 2026

Votes by topic: top topics first, the rest behind filters

Employment10 votes · yes on 7, no on 0, 3 other

Education10 votes · yes on 6, no on 1, 3 other

Taxation & Revenue6 votes · yes on 4, no on 0, 2 other

State Government6 votes · yes on 5, no on 0, 1 other

Occupational Licensing Boards6 votes · yes on 6, no on 0

One vote can touch several topics.

LATEST: YESAlabama Clean Indoor Air Act, renamed Vivian Davis Figures Clean Indoor Air Act; vaping included as prohibited smoking in public places.SB 9 · Apr 9, 2026

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Personal finances

official financial-disclosure filings - originals one click away

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Official personal financial-disclosure records are available in the comparison experience, with each figure linked to its filing.

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Political placement

third-party academic estimates - never our verdict

Left–right estimates (academic)

Shor-McCarty · votesLiberal

More liberal than 91% of Alabama Senate members

Details

Score−0.84 on a −2.5 to +2.5 scale

BasisFrom roll-call votes

Party median0.32 more liberal than the Democratic median in this group (−0.53)

Compared with101 members of Alabama Senate members (1996–2022)

Covers1996–2022

● This person Democrats (38) Republicans (62)Thick bar: middle half · thin line: middle 80%

Shor, Boris. 2025. "Individual State Legislator Shor-McCarty Ideology Data, January 2025 Update." Harvard Dataverse, V1. Method: Shor, Boris, and Nolan McCarty. 2011. "The Ideological Mapping of American Legislatures." American Political Science Review 105(3). Shor-McCarty ↗

DIME CFscore · donorsCentrist

More liberal than 75% of 2022 Alabama Senate candidates

Details

Score−0.04 on a −2.5 to +2.5 scale

BasisFrom campaign donors

Party median0.25 more conservative than the Democratic median in this group (−0.29)

Compared with68 members of 2022 Alabama Senate candidates

Covers1998–2022

● This person Democrats (21) Republicans (43)Thick bar: middle half · thin line: middle 80%

Bonica, Adam. 2024. Database on Ideology, Money in Politics, and Elections: Public version 4.0. Stanford University Libraries. https://data.stanford.edu/dime DIME CFscore ↗

About these scores

These are third-party academic estimates of one left–right dimension, computed by researchers from roll-call votes or campaign donors. They are not Poliscope’s judgment. Each source uses its own scale, so compare people within a source rather than across sources.

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