2010 election
In 2010,Williams,described by The Gadsden Times as a "political newcomer" at the time,ran for the Alabama Senate's 10th district as a Republican. [4] The district included Williams' home county of Etowah County,as well as segments of Cherokee County. After defeating Paul Peloquin in the primary,Williams advanced to challenge incumbent Democratic state senator Larry Means in the general election,stating that he would "promote fiscal conservatism and limit government intervention in daily lives." [4] According to Mike Hubbard,one state senator said that Means was so impressed with Williams,he would have voted for Williams were he not running against him. Williams met with politicians John Ross and J. T. Waggoner to discuss his campaign;with the assistance of a strategic team that included Hubbard (a future Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives) and consultant Tim Howe,Williams worked on finding ways to introduce himself to voters.
Williams' campaign received funding from state senator Del Marsh and,over time,increased Williams' name recognition with the district's voters. However,a commissioned poll during the general election showed that Williams was struggling to narrow the gap between himself and Means. As a result,Marsh told Williams that he was unable to continue funding the campaign,with other closer,higher-profile races on the line. A month before the general election,Means was indicted in a corruption case that alleged he was involved in "a vote-buying scheme to legalize electronic gambling in Alabama." The sudden negative attention drawn towards Means led Marsh to re-establish funding for Williams' campaign. Williams ultimately defeated Means and was elected to the state Senate. After the election,Means was acquitted of his corruption charges,and said that the indictment was a major factor in his loss to Williams. [11]
Tenure
After his inauguration,Williams supported a bill in 2011 that would remove racist language in the Alabama state constitution,including references to segregation and poll taxes. [12] In 2012,he defended a controversial immigration bill and criticized Zayne Smith,the director of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice,for referring to Alabama as a "hateful state" because of the bill,claiming she was misrepresenting the state of Alabama. [13] Williams authored SB-117,a bill that became law creating the position of an information technology secretary to restructure the state's IT functions,in 2013. [14]
In the 2014 election cycle,Williams faced a rematch against Means,who was seeking to reclaim his old Senate seat. During the campaign,Means accused Williams of lying about voting to reduce his own salary,which The Gadsden Times said was a false accusation and that "Means' accusations bounce off Williams and splatter all over Means." [15] Williams ultimately prevailed against Means in the general election,by a margin of four percentage points. [16]
An outspoken opponent of abortion, [17] Williams first mounted an effort to define life as beginning at fertilization,and to classify abortion under the same laws as murder,in 2011. To this end,he proposed a bill that passed in the Senate,but died in the Alabama House of Representatives on the last day of the session. [18] Williams voted for stricter regulations on abortion clinics in 2013. [19] In 2016,Williams sponsored SB363,a bill outlawing dismemberment abortions,which was later passed in both the state Senate and House of Representatives. [20] The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit over the passing of SB363,which Williams criticized,calling it a "misguided legal challenge." [17] The next year,Williams also supported a bill for a state constitutional amendment declaring the right to life for unborn children. [21]
In January 2016,the Alabama Political Reporter published a story that claimed Williams had retained 43 consulting clients with his law firm on an ethics filing in 2014. [22] Williams denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the blogger who wrote the report,Bill Britt,had made unfounded attacks against his character. He also asked the Alabama Ethics Commission to review his client list. [8] The Alabama Political Reporter reported in June 2016 that the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency had opened a criminal investigation into Williams, [23] which he had denied. [24] In July 2018,former Governor Robert J. Bentley gave testimony that affirmed Williams was under investigation at the time. Williams was eventually cleared of wrongdoing by the Alabama Ethics Commission. [25]
Williams was interviewed by then-Governor Robert Bentley for the United States Senate seat vacated by the resignation of Jeff Sessions in 2016,but was ultimately not selected. [26] Williams was also considered for the position of Attorney General of Alabama in 2017,as the incumbent Luther Strange resigned to be appointed to the aforementioned U.S. Senate seat. [27] Although Williams was interviewed,he was also not chosen for this office. [28] In January 2017,Williams filed the Alabama Privacy Act,described as a "bathroom bill" by Alabama Political Reporter. [29] Williams served in the Alabama State Legislature at the same time as Representative Phil Williams,both Republicans who coincidentally shared the same name. [30] The two disagreed on HB-317,a 2018 bill exempting "economic development professionals" from requiring registration as lobbyists;Senator Williams sponsored the bill in the Alabama Senate,while Representative Williams opposed it in the Alabama House of Representatives. [31]
In May 2017,Williams announced that he would not seek re-election in 2018,and would be stepping away from seeking public office in the future. [3] According to Williams,this was due to his support for term limits. [2] He was succeeded by Andrew Jones. [32] 1819 News described Williams as "one of the most conservative members of the Senate" during his tenure,based on his efforts to promote school choice and tough-on-crime reforms. [2]
United States 
Lieutenant colonel