President-elect Donald Trump tapped Alabama Sen. Jeff Session as U.S. Attorney General, and state officials reacted Friday.

“There is no one more capable and qualified to serve our country as attorney general than Sen. Jeff Sessions,” U.S. Rep. Martha Roby said. “I am very proud for Sen. Sessions on this achievement. He has been a kind mentor to me, and I have valued his guidance and leadership over the last six years. Although, I hate to see him leave the legislative branch, I am confident this new role will enhance Sen. Sessions’ ability to change our nation’s course for the better.”

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange also issued a statement.

“Today, I want to congratulate Jeff Sessions on his nomination to be our nation’s attorney general,” he said. “Sen. Sessions is a credit to our state and to our nation, and I know that he will make us all proud in his new role where he will be a champion for the rule of law.

“From the day Jeff Sessions stepped foot on the floor of the United States Senate, he has never forgotten where he came from or who he represents,” Strange said. “He has worked tirelessly for the people of Alabama, fighting to bring home jobs and economic development, to secure our borders, and to ensure that our military men and women receive all the support they need to succeed – whether on the battlefield, in a veterans’ hospital, or in their civilian lives. He leaves very big shoes to fill.”

Nancy Worley, chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party, expressed her disdain.

“Donald Trump’s choice of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III for U.S. Attorney General is deeply disturbing,” she said. “Our nation does not need an attorney general with a history of hostility toward civil rights law, as well as disdain for voting rights activists overseeing civil rights and voting rights enforcements.”

Worley said, “Sessions was considered too racist to be a federal judge in the 1980s. At that time, he was the second nominee in 50 years to be rejected by a U.S. Senate committee. At a critical time in our history when voting rights are in jeopardy and voter suppression has become a principal electoral tool of a major political party, Jeff Sessions is the opposite of what we need to lead the justice department.”

The U.S. Senate is expected to confirm the appointement.