“I wanted to take a minute to do something I have never done before: Publicly endorse someone else for public office,” King wrote. King wrote that he had spent much of his life helping build the Alabama Republican Party. King and Sparks served in statewide office together while Sparks was agriculture commissioner from 2003 to 2011. “We never shared a political party home, but we did share a love for and a commitment to the people of Alabama,” King wrote. Paulk retired after 19 years leading the farmer-owned cooperative and praised Sparks’ experience, leadership and record as agriculture commissioner.