About Adline
Adline Clarke has served District 97 in the Alabama House for 12 years. She was named one of 30 “Women Who Shape Alabama” by Birmingham Magazine in 2019, an honor received for introducing legislation and working diligently to get Alabama’s Equal Pay Act passed by the Alabama Legislature in 2019.
She has worked as a newspaper journalist, public administrator and entrepreneur. She formerly owned and operated an African-American bookstore and a staffing service.
She graduated from Davidson High School and Spring Hill College, where she received a degree in Communication Arts. She worked for the Mobile Press-Register as a reporter and editor for 15 years before resigning as its first female City Editor to start a business.
Among the bills that Representative Clarke introduced that became law are Alabama’s Equal Pay Act, a bill establishing penalties for crimes against election officials, a bill that requires health care professionals and medical facilities to report gunshot wounds and certain other injuries to law enforcement, and a bill that created the Africatown Redevelopment Corp. to revitalize housing in historic Africatown and bring commerce back to this historic community.
Due to her strong advocacy for voting rights, the Alabama Voting Rights Coalition tapped Representative Clarke to carry a bill in 2025 and 2026 that would create the proposed Alabama Voting Rights Act. The Act would expand voting access for Alabamians by establishing same day voter registration and providing automatic voting rights restoration for ex-felons who have successfully completed probation or parole. Representative Clarke has also introduced early voting and absentee ballot delivery bills. She has co-sponsored and/or supported efforts to provide for automatic voter registration, same day voter registration, guaranteed absentee voting, and curing defective absentee ballot affidavits.
Clarke is a life-long member of St. James Major Catholic Church. She received a Humanitarian Award from both the Drexel Society and the Mobile Area Inter-Parish Council of the Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile. Her other awards and honors include an advocacy award from the Alabama Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, Alabama House Democratic Caucus Legislator of the Year Award, NAACP’s Esther Lynn Mitchell Freedom Fighters Award, and Boys & Girls Clubs of South Alabama’s Women & Youth Award. She was a two-time Eagle Award recipient of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and was also recognized as a business owner by the local chapters of AKA Sorority and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. The Mobile chapters of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority recognized her for community service.
