Barry Moore (Alabama politician)

Felix Barry Moore (born September 26, 1966) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for Alabama's 2nd congressional district since 2021. The district is based in the state capital, Montgomery, and stretches into the Wiregrass. He represented the 91st district in the Alabama House of Representatives from 2010 to 2018.

Moore first ran for the U.S. Congress to represent Alabama's 2nd congressional district in 2018, challenging incumbent representative Martha Roby. He finished third in the Republican primary. After Roby's retirement in 2020, Moore launched a campaign for the open seat. He won the primary and defeated Democrat Phyllis Harvey-Hall in the general election. In 2024, following redistricting as a result of Allen v. Milligan, Moore was placed into Alabama's 1st congressional district and ran against fellow incumbent representative Jerry Carl in the Republican primary. Moore narrowly won nomination in the new district, unseating Carl.

Early life and education
Moore was born in Coffee County, Alabama, on September 26, 1966. He grew up on a farm in Coffee County, and attended Enterprise State Community College. He later attended Auburn University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural science in 1992. While attending Auburn, Moore was enlisted in the Alabama National Guard.

Early career
In 1998, Moore founded Barry Moore Industries, a waste hauling company.

Alabama House of Representatives
Moore entered politics in 2010 at the urging of then-chair of the Alabama Republican Party Mike Hubbard. Moore was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Terry Spicer.

In April 2014, Moore was arrested for felony perjury and lying to authorities during a grand jury investigation into Hubbard. Moore was acquitted of all charges.

2018
In 2018, Moore challenged incumbent U.S. Representative Martha Roby in the Republican primary for AL-02, placing third behind Roby and former U.S. Representative Bobby Bright.

2020
Moore again sought the nomination in 2020. The seat was open after Roby opted not to run for a sixth term. Moore placed second in the seven-way Republican primary, the real contest in the heavily Republican district, trailing Dothan businessman Jeff Coleman. He then defeated Coleman in the runoff, which had been delayed almost three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In that time, Coleman's campaign faltered, and Moore eventually won. He then defeated Democratic nominee Phyllis Harvey-Hall in the general election with 65.2% of the vote.

2022
Moore ran for reelection in 2022. In the Republican primary, Moore initially faced a challenge from Jeff Coleman, who announced another bid for the second congressional district. However, a federal panel ruled against Coleman's candidacy, as he qualified to run after the first deadline had passed, and the decision implementing a second deadline was reversed. This left Moore unopposed in the Republican primary. In the general election, Moore faced Democratic nominee Phyllis Harvey-Hall in a rematch; he was reelected to a second term with 69% of the vote.

2024
In 2024, redistricting as a result of Allen v. Milligan placed Moore into Alabama's 1st congressional district, which was represented by Jerry Carl, setting up a primary in which Moore and Carl were both incumbents pitted against each other in the 1st district. On October 30, 2023, Moore confirmed to 1819 News that he would run in the first congressional district, challenging Carl in the Republican primary.

In the Republican primary on March 5, 2024, Moore narrowly won the Republican nomination against Carl, despite 60% of the district’s population belonging to Carl’s old district.

Tenure
On January 6, 2021, Moore objected to the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results in Congress. On January 7, he was one of 147 Republican lawmakers who voted to overturn results in the election, immediately after the storming of the U.S. Capitol. On January 10, Moore drew criticism for two posts on his personal Twitter account, one of which echoed the false claim of "stealing an election on November 3rd." Moore also posted about the killing of Ashli Babbitt, saying that a black officer shooting a white female veteran "doesn't fit the narrative." Twitter temporarily suspended his account; in response, Moore deactivated the account, alleging censorship of conservative voices. His official government Twitter account was unaffected.

In February 2021, Moore voted against the American Rescue Plan, calling it a "blue state bailout". The same month, he co-signed Bob Good's Right To Earn A Living Act, which would make state and local governments that implement pandemic-related stay-at-home orders ineligible for funding through the Coronavirus Relief Fund.

In March 2021, during a House vote on a measure condemning the Myanmar coup d'état that overwhelmingly passed, Moore was one of 14 House Republicans to vote against it.

In June 2021, Moore was one of 21 House Republicans to vote against a resolution to give the Congressional Gold Medal to police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

In June 2021, Moore was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the AUMF against Iraq.

In July 2021, Moore voted against the bipartisan ALLIES Act, which would increase by 8,000 the number of special immigrant visas for allies of the U.S. military during its invasion of Afghanistan, while also reducing some application requirements that caused long application backlogs; the bill passed in the House 407–16. Later in August 2021, after the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan, Moore called the American withdrawal from Afghanistan "a painful betrayal of our Afghan allies".

As of January 2022, Moore had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 6% of the time.

In February 2023, Moore introduced a bill, co-sponsored by Andrew Clyde, Lauren Boebert, and George Santos, to designate the "AR-15-style rifle" the National Gun of the United States.

Committee assignments
For the 118th Congress:
 * Committee on Agriculture
 * Subcommittee on Forestry
 * Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit
 * Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
 * Committee on the Judiciary
 * Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance
 * Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement

Caucus memberships

 * Freedom Caucus
 * Congressional Coalition on Adoption

Political positions
Moore supported the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it "a huge victory for the pro-life movement and the Constitution."

Moore was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House. He was also one of three members of Alabama's House delegation to vote against the bill, the others being Dale Strong and Gary Palmer.

Personal life
Moore married Heather Hopper in 1992; they have four children together. The Moore family attend Hillcrest Baptist Church in Enterprise, Alabama.