Republicans Bryan Brinyark, Brad Cox Confirm Bids For House District 16 Seat

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Two Republican candidates have revealed plans to run for the soon-to-be-vacated House District 16 seat, which covers all of Fayette County, a portion of northern Tuscaloosa County and a part of western Jefferson County.

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Northport attorney Bryan Brinkyark and Fayette County Commissioner Brad Cox are the first two candidates to confirm their bids for the seat to Tuscaloosa Patch, as qualifying has yet to officially open for the upcoming special election.

As Patch previously reported, State Rep. Kyle South, a Republican from Fayette, will step down from his seat at the end of the current legislative session to become the next president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama.

After South officially resigns from the legislature, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey will then set the date for the special election to fill the seat. Qualifying to appear on the special election ballot will officially begin once the date of the special election is set.

The winner will then serve out the remainder of South's unexpired term, which will be up again for election in November 2026.

THE CANDIDATES

Brinyark is a 1990 graduate of the University of Alabama and received his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1993.

He currently serves as a member of the Tuscaloosa County Bar Association Grievance Committee, the Alabama Black Belt Action Commission and the Alabama Judicial Study Commission.

Brinyark also serves as a reserve municipal court judge for the City of Tuscaloosa and as the municipal court judge for the cities of Brent and Centreville, along with the Town of Woodstock. In 2014, he launched Brinkyark & Fredrick, P.C., which specializes in representing divorce clients and mediating divorce cases in west Alabama.

"I love our part of the state and have gotten to a point in my life and career that I believe I can help by serving in Statehouse," Brinkyark told Patch. "The more I see happening in Montgomery has convinced me that we need more people with common sense and conservative values down there. My 30 years as an attorney has given me experience that should be able to help in the legislature."

Brad Cox currently serves as the District 1 County Commissioner in Fayette County and is employed by Alabama One Credit Union as a business development officer.

Cox also formerly served as the agriculture teacher and FFA Advisor at Fayette County High School. He was first appointed to the County Commission in 2021 by Governor Kay Ivey to the Commission and ran unopposed the last election cycle.

Cox then ran unopposed the last election cycle and secured a full term on the Commission. He also said he is involved in numerous organizations in Fayette County and places a high value on community engagement and civic responsibility.

“I am proud of the tremendous strides we have made within our county government over the last two years and I believe I can take those same common-sense, conservative principles to Montgomery," Cox told Patch.

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