Mo Brooks

Morris Jackson Brooks Jr. (born April 29, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for AL's 5th congressional district from 2011 to 2023.

His district was based in Huntsville and stretches across the northern fifth of the state.

A member of the Republican Party, Brooks was a founding member of the Freedom Caucus.

In 2022, Brooks retired from the U.S. House of Representatives to run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Richard Shelby.

Once a strong ally of former President Donald Trump, Brooks was initially supported by Trump, but Trump rescinded his endorsement of Brooks's candidacy in March 2022.

In May, Brooks came in second in the Republican primary, behind Katie Britt; he lost to Britt in the runoff.

Since then, Brooks has been an outspoken critic of Trump.

Brooks was born in 1954 in Charleston, South Carolina, and moved to Huntsville, Alabama, in 1963.

His mother, Betty J. (Noland) Brooks, taught economics and government for over 20 years at Lee High School, while he attended Grissom High School.

His father, Morris Jackson "Jack" Brooks Sr., was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and worked as an electrical engineer before retiring from Redstone Arsenal's Meteorology Center.

They still live in Madison County, Alabama.

Brooks graduated from Grissom High School in 1972.

He graduated from Duke University in three years with a double major in political science and economics, with highest honors in economics.

Brooks received his J.D. degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1978.

Brooks started his legal career with the Tuscaloosa County district attorney's office.

He left that office in 1980 to return to Huntsville as a law clerk for presiding circuit court Judge John David Snodgrass.

During every year except when he was serving as a prosecutor or judicial clerk, Brooks was a practicing lawyer.

Brooks was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1982 and reelected in 1983, 1986, and 1990.

While in the legislature, Brooks was elected Republican house caucus chairman three times.

In 1991, Brooks was appointed Madison County district attorney, after the incumbent, Robert E. Cramer, was elected to Congress.

In 1992, he ran for the office, but lost to Democrat Tim Morgan.

A Republican had not been elected to the office since the Reconstruction era.

In 1993, he became counsel to Leo and Associates, a business law firm with a national focus, founded by Karl W. Leo.

He became a partner in the firm, which was reorganized as Leo & Brooks, LLC.

He maintained a national practice that specialized in commercial litigation.

In 1995–96, Brooks was appointed state special assistant attorney general for Alabama attorney general Jeff Sessions.

From 1996 to 2002, he was special assistant attorney general for attorney general Bill Pryor.

In 1996, Brooks ran for the Madison County commission and unseated an eight-year incumbent Republican.

He was reelected to the commission in 2000, 2004, and 2008.

In 2006, Brooks unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Alabama, coming in third behind eventual nominee Luther Strange and former state treasurer George Wallace Jr..

Brooks won the Republican primary, receiving 51% of the vote, defeating incumbent (and former Democrat) Parker Griffith (33%) and conservative activist Les Phillip (16%).

The Republican National Committee named Brooks a "Young Gun" in 2010.

Larry Sabato, Charlie Cook, and Real Clear Politics rated the race "Likely Republican".

CQPolitics, Stuart Rothenberg, and the New York Times rated the race "Safe Republican".

Nate Silver in the FiveThirtyEight.com New York Times blog predicted that there was a 94.1% chance that Brooks would defeat Democratic nominee Steve Raby.

Brooks won the general election, 58%–42%.

He became the first freshman Republican to represent this district since Reconstruction.

In January 2012, Parker Griffith, having switched parties, filed for a rematch against Brooks in the Republican primary.

He said of the incumbent, "We'll contrast my time in Congress with my opponent's time in Congress. The distinction is clear. He has wandered away from many of the issues people want us to address".

Brooks had the support of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum political action committee.