Alabama Senate approves ‘Gulf of America’ bill as GOP shuts down debate

The Alabama Senate on Tuesday night passed a bill requiring Alabama governments and agencies to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”

HB 2, sponsored by Rep. David Standridge, R-Hayden, would require all state and local entities to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The vote was delayed by a Democratic filibuster before the Legislature’s week-long recess.

“That’s our beaches, our ports, our communities, our people. The United States doesn’t just border this gulf. We dominate its northern, eastern and northwestern shores,” said Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, who carried the bill in the Senate.

Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth refused to recognize Democrats who wanted to speak on the bill, as he had done on all other bills passed on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump said at a press conference prior to his inauguration last year that the Gulf of Mexico should be named the Gulf of America, a statement that sent Republicans around the country in a race to change the maps. The Trump administration later denied The Associated Press access to the White House press pool because the wire service would not change its style guide, leading to a lawsuit.

A similar bill filed at the end of the 2025 legislative session failed in a Senate committee on a tie vote before a hastily-called meeting of the same committee the next day. It did not receive a vote from the full Senate due to a filibuster on the last day of session.

According to the bill, the changes wouldn’t have to be made if it poses a “financial burden” on local or state entities. Public K-12 schools and colleges and universities are also not prohibited from using the term Gulf of Mexico during an academic instruction when it’s done for historical purposes.

Elliott said the change “simply acknowledges the truth” that the United States is the primary beneficiary of the body of water.

“We in America are the primary steward and beneficiary, strategically, and in terms of national security, the case is even stronger. The Gulf of America is a maritime choke point and a defensive buffer,” Elliott said.

The bill passed 26-5 after Republicans limited debate with a cloture petition, and was read at length at the request of Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey.

‘They filibuster their own bills’

Singleton said in an interview after the Senate adjourned that Republicans used the strategy of not letting Democrats speak and limiting debates with cloture petitions on bills that his caucus would not have filibustered.

“There were maybe only one or two bills that were on there that had some contention, and that’s probably where we would have been. We thought we had a deal with leadership that we talked about when we came back out,” Singleton said. “The calendar had changed. All the Democrat bills had been stripped from the calendar, and so it just put us in this posture again.”

There were nine bills on the chamber’s special order calendar, which sets the chamber’s agenda for the day. Democrats voted, together, against three bills on the special order. After every cloture petition, Singleton or another Democratic lawmaker requested for the bill to be read at length.

There are five days left in the 2026 legislative session. Singleton said to expect requests for bills, including the 121-page Education Trust Fund budget, to be read at length for the remainder of session.

“They chose the game, they set the rules today. So I’m just playing by their rules,” Singleton said. “They’re the supermajority. I don’t make the calendars. I just play by the rules that they give me to play with. That’s it. They set the tone.”