Montgomery, AL – Many Alabama legislators have tried to be elected governor, but Republican state Rep. Robert Bentley is the first to succeed in more than a century.
State research archivist Norwood Kerr says the last one was Thomas Seay, who was president of the Alabama Senate when he was elected governor in 1886.
Another president of the Senate, William D. Jelks, moved up to governor because of the death of Gov. William Samford in 1901 and then after 18 months he won a full term as governor. But he didn't get elected straight from the Legislature.
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