John Wahl (born 1986)[1][2] is an American political strategist and butterfly breeder who is the incumbent chair of the Alabama Republican Party, serving since 2021.
[4] When Moore sought to regain his seat as Chief Justice of Alabama in 2012, Wahl worked as the grassroots coordinator for that campaign.
Following the 2016 election cycle, Wahl was chosen as the vice chairman for the Alabama Republican Party's division for the 5th congressional district.
[3] Wahl said that, as party chair, he would focus on low taxes, secure borders and elections, as well as a strong military for his main agenda points.
[12][13] During his first term as party chair, Wahl oversaw the Alabama Republican Party's launching of a new minority outreach team,[14] as well as the "Operation Restore America" campaign, a group of volunteers assembled to assist with national and other out-of-state elections in 2021 and 2022, including the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election, which was won by Republican Glenn Youngkin.
The conflict eventually led to a Supreme Court case, Allen v. Milligan, in which Republicans were initially granted a stay for 2022, but the district map was overturned in 2023.
[17][18][19][20] Wahl has also been an advocate for closed primaries[21] (which the party approved in August 2022),[22] school choice, and adoption reform in Alabama.
[24] In fall 2022, the opinion column of journalist Kyle Whitmire published a series of stories reporting on Wahl's Anabaptist extended family members, who objected to voter ID on religious grounds, including calling facial recognition programs "the mark of the beast".