Follow the Money: The People Behind the Party - The Reed Phillips Connection

Part Three of The Limestone Lowdown’s investigation into Alabama Senate District 10

By Jarrod Schulte                        

First, we followed the ballot.

Then, we followed the money.

Now, we’re following the relationships.

In Part One, we examined how Jesse Battles went from qualifying as a Republican candidate for Alabama Senate District 10 to being removed from the Republican primary ballot and returning to the November election as an independent.

In Part Two, we examined the financial differences between incumbent Republican Senator Andrew Jones and independent challenger Jesse Battles.

But while reviewing the campaign finance records, one company kept appearing: BullsEye Public Affairs.

And what began as a review of payments from one candidate’s campaign led us to something broader: a consulting firm receiving payments from both Andrew Jones’s campaign and the Alabama Republican Party.

Then there’s Reed Phillips. A former ALGOP executive director who left the party to join BullsEye, only to return months later as ALGOP treasurer and a member of its Steering Committee.

So we started asking questions. And the public records gave us plenty to examine.

A Relationship Dating Back to 2018

According to campaign expenditure records reviewed by The Limestone Lowdown, Andrew Jones’s campaign has reported payments to BullsEye Public Affairs dating back to 2018. This wasn’t a relationship that began during the current election cycle.

Among the payments identified in the records are a $10,653.38 expenditure dated December 30, 2024, a $6,000 expenditure dated September 15, 2025, and a $15,762.18 expenditure dated December 23, 2025.

A historical campaign finance listing from Transparency USA reports approximately $222,654 in expenditures from Jones’s campaign to BullsEye over multiple election cycles. That figure is a historical summary, not simply spending in the 2026 race.

Political campaigns routinely hire consulting firms for advertising, communications, voter outreach, and strategy. There is nothing inherently improper about these payments. But Jones wasn’t the only organization paying BullsEye.

Exhibit 1. Alabama FCPA search results showing Jones campaign payments in 2025 and an ALGOP expenditure dated April 14, 2026. The first date column reflects reporting dates; the later date column reflects expenditure dates.

The Alabama Republican Party Was Paying BullsEye, Too

According to Alabama Secretary of State Fair Campaign Practices Act (FCPA) expenditure records reviewed by The Limestone Lowdown, the Alabama Republican Executive Committee reported at least six payments to BullsEye Public Affairs between August and November 2024. Those six expenditures totaled $128,302.67.

The reported purposes included political mailers and digital advertising. Among the transactions identified were October 31, 2024 payments of $26,782.90 for digital advertising and $31,980.28 for mailers, and a November 1, 2024 payment of $44,671.65 for mailers.

Those records establish that BullsEye had a financial relationship with ALGOP before Reed Phillips joined the firm. But the relationship did not end in 2024.

Additional FCPA records identify a $1,400 expenditure from the Alabama Republican Executive Committee to BullsEye dated April 14, 2026. That brings the total of the seven ALGOP expenditures identified in the state records reviewed to $129,702.67.

This is a subtotal of the transactions identified, not necessarily a complete accounting of ALGOP’s spending with BullsEye. Separately reported federal transactions are not added because overlapping records would need to be reconciled first.

The April 2026 payment is particularly relevant because it occurred after Phillips joined BullsEye and became ALGOP treasurer. The expenditure record does not identify who approved it or what services it covered.

Exhibit 2. FCPA search results showing multiple Alabama Republican Executive Committee expenditures to BullsEye in 2024. The image also contains unrelated search results.

Who Is Reed Phillips?

Reed Phillips previously served as the Alabama Republican Party’s political director and executive director. He left the executive director position in November 2024, and BullsEye announced in December 2024 that he was joining its team.

In 2025, Phillips became ALGOP treasurer, placing him in party leadership while also working for BullsEye Public Affairs. Moving between political organizations and consulting firms is not itself unusual or evidence of wrongdoing. The overlapping responsibilities, however, invite questions about safeguards and oversight.

What Exactly Does ALGOP’s Treasurer Do?

The party’s published bylaws assign the treasurer responsibilities relating to party finances. They also state that the state chairman and treasurer, or their respective designees appointed in writing, must sign or approve State Committee disbursements.

That does not establish that Phillips personally approved the April 2026 BullsEye payment. The bylaws expressly permit written designees, and the expenditure search does not identify the person who authorized the transaction.

But it makes the question more specific: Who approved the payment? Was a designee involved? And what safeguards applied when the recipient was the treasurer’s employer?

There’s Another Position That Matters: The Steering Committee

As ALGOP treasurer, Phillips also holds a seat on the party’s Steering Committee. The committee plays a role in party governance, including processes relevant to candidate qualification and challenges.

That matters because Jesse Battles faced a Republican ballot challenge during the 2026 election cycle.

The available financial records do not establish that Phillips personally worked on Jones’s campaign, participated in Battles’s challenge, or influenced any ballot decision. They do document professional and financial relationships that make the party’s disclosure and recusal procedures worth examining.

What Happens When Those Relationships Overlap?

Here is what the reviewed records show: Jones’s campaign has paid BullsEye over multiple election cycles; ALGOP has also paid BullsEye; Phillips joined BullsEye in December 2024; he subsequently became ALGOP treasurer and a Steering Committee member; and ALGOP reported another payment to BullsEye in April 2026.

None of those facts, individually or together, proves misconduct. But what rules apply when a party officer has a professional relationship with a firm that receives party payments? Are disclosures required? Who oversees the payments? Under what circumstances would a Steering Committee member be expected to recuse themselves from a candidate qualification matter? And are such recusals documented?

We Asked ALGOP for Clarification

On October 13, 2026, The Limestone Lowdown contacted the Alabama Republican Party seeking clarification about its reported BullsEye expenditures, Reed Phillips’s overlapping roles, and the party’s financial oversight, disclosure, and recusal procedures.

We specifically asked about the April 2026 payment and the procedures applicable to Steering Committee members involved in candidate qualification hearings and ballot challenges. We requested a response by 3:00 p.m. Central Time on Thursday, October 15, 2026.

As of October 20, 2026, no response had been received from ALGOP.

We remain willing to publish any clarification, documentation, or response the party chooses to provide. A lack of response does not establish that a conflict occurred or a policy was violated; it means the party has not provided the requested explanation.

Why This Matters Beyond One Candidate

The Limestone Lowdown began this investigation by examining what happened to Jesse Battles during the Republican candidate qualification process. But the reporting led to a broader examination of campaign financing, political consulting, and party leadership responsibilities.

These questions are not limited to Andrew Jones, Jesse Battles, Reed Phillips, or BullsEye Public Affairs. They concern the procedures political organizations use when making decisions that affect candidates and elections.

Voters should be able to examine those procedures, understand the financial relationships involved, and evaluate the explanations offered by those responsible. The same standards of transparency and accountability should apply regardless of someone’s name, position, or political connections.

Coming Next: Who Gets to Be a Republican?

We’ve followed the campaign expenditures. We’ve examined the financial relationships between Andrew Jones’s campaign, BullsEye Public Affairs, and the Alabama Republican Party. We’ve documented Phillips’s professional and party leadership roles. And we’ve asked ALGOP to explain its financial oversight and recusal procedures.

But one important part of the story remains: the ballot challenges themselves.

Who filed them? What grounds were presented? Who decided which challenges would proceed? What rules governed those decisions? And what do the available records show about the people involved?

In Part Four, we’ll examine the challenges, the decision-making process, and the documented relationships surrounding them.

Because an election isn’t just about the candidates whose names appear on the ballot. It’s also about the rules and decisions that determine how they get there.