The leading group in the national, non-partisan movement to limit terms for elected officials, U.S. Term Limits, on Wednesday announced that Alabama House candidate retired U.S. Army Sgt. Kenneth Paschal has pledged his support for term limits on Congress by signing the U.S. term limits pledge.
Paschal is running in the Republican primary for House District 73 in Shelby County.
Paschal pledged to support an Article V constitutional convention for the sole purpose of enacting congressional term limits. You can view Paschal’s signed pledge here.
Paschal is the president of the Alabama Family Rights Association, which champions reforming how Alabama awards parental custody in child custody cases.
The special Republican primary is scheduled for March 30, 2021.
USTL is gathering support from state lawmakers across the nation. Its mission is to get 34 states to apply for an amendment proposal convention specific to term limits on Congress.
USTL President Philip Blumel commented on Paschal’s pledge saying, “Kenneth’s support of term limits shows that there are individuals who are willing to listen to the majority of voters who want term limits. America needs a Congress that will be served by citizen legislators, not career politicians.”
The U.S. Term Limits pledge is provided to candidates and members of state Legislatures. It reads: “I pledge that, as a member of the state legislature, I will cosponsor, vote for, and defend the resolution applying for an Article V convention for the limited purpose of enacting term limits on Congress.”
In the 1995 case, Thornton v. U.S. Term Limits, the United States Supreme Court ruled that since the requirements to be a candidate for Congress are spelled out clearly in the Constitution, then only a Constitutional Amendment could limit the terms of U.S. senators or House representatives.
Nick Tomboulides, the executive director of USTL, said that the best chance of imposing term limits on Congress is through an Article V Proposal Convention of state legislatures.
“The Constitution allows for amendments to be proposed by either 2/3 of Congress or 2/3 of the states,” Tomboulides explained in a statement. “While we’d like for Congress to take the high road and propose term limits on itself, our goal is to trigger the latter, a national convention specifically for a term limits amendment. That is why it is important to get buy-in from state legislators.”
Once a convention is held and the convention approves the amendment, it must still be ratified by 38 states to be added to the Constitution.
Blumel noted: “More than 79% of Americans have rejected the career politician model and want to replace it with citizen leadership. The way to achieve that goal is through a congressional term limits amendment. Kenneth knows this and is willing to work to make sure we reach our goal.”
According to the last nationwide poll on term limits, conducted by McLaughlin & Associates, term limits enjoy wide bipartisan support.
According to McLaughlin’s analysis: “Support for term limits is broad and strong across all political, geographic and demographic groups. An overwhelming 79% of voters approve of a Constitutional Amendment that will place term limits on members of Congress.”
U.S. Term Limits is the largest grassroots term limits advocacy group in the country. We connect term limits supporters with their legislators and work to pass term limits on all elected officials, particularly on the U.S. Congress. Find out more at
House District 73 became vacant when Rep. Matt Fridy, R-Montevallo, joined the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals.
