David Faulkner

David Lawrence Faulkner (born 1968) is a lawyer from Mountain Brook, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, who has since 2014 represented District 46 in the Alabama House of Representatives. A Republican, his district is entirely within populous Jefferson County in the northern portion of the state.

Faulkner graduated from the University of Alabama in 1990 and its law school in 1994, both located in Tuscaloosa. He is a partner in the law firm of Christian & Small, with whom he has been affiliated since 2000. A former member of Law School Republicans, Faulkner attended the Republican National Conventions in 1988, 1992, and 1996. He is a vestryman, Sunday School teacher, and eucharist minister at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Mountain Brook. He and his wife, Nancy, have three children.^[1]

In 2014, when the incumbent Republican Representative Paul DeMarco declined to seek reelection, Faulkner entered the primary for the Republican nomination in House District 46. He faced intra-party rivals Steve French, Pamela Blackmore-Jenkins, and Justin Barkley. Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters - Faulkner and French - were slated for a runoff election. However, French, who polled 26.3 percent of the vote in the primary, compared to Faulkner's 45.4 percent, withdrew his candidacy. Faulkner was hence left unopposed both in the runoff and in the November 4 general election.^[2]

Faulkner is the vice chairman of the House Insurance Committee and sits on these panels as well: (1) Financial Services, (2) Jefferson County Legislation, and (3) Judiciary.^[1] In 2015, Representative Faulkner voted to for the use of electrocution in executions. He did not vote on the requirement that animal shelters prepare monthly reports. He backed legislation calling for the establishment of public charter schools in Alabama, a measure which passed the House, 58-41. He opposed the bill to permit the home schooled to participate in public school athletic events, a measure nevertheless approved by the full House, 52-43. He voted to increase the cigarette tax, which nevertheless passed the House, 52-46. In 2016, Faulkner supported legislation to forbid the sale of fetal tissue or to permit its use in research, and he opposed dilation abortions in Alabama. He backed additional funding for new prison facilities, a measure which passed the House, 52-33. In 2017, Faulkner voted to authorize midwives to practice in his state, a measure which won House approval, 84-11. He voted to reduce the time for appeals from inmates on death row. He voted to prohibit alteration or removal of historic monuments, which passed 72-29. He voted to prohibit judicial override of sentencing guidelines, which passed the House, 78-19.^[3]

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