Mason grew up in Haleyville where she was known as "Becky" and was a high school majorette.
After graduating high school in 1989, she went on to Northwest Community College, where she was named Miss Northwest and competed in the 1990 Miss Alabama Pageant. She then attended the University of Alabama, earning a bachelor's degree in broadcast communications in 1993.
Her career in broadcast journalism began after college, taking her to WAAY Huntsville, WDBB Tuscaloosa, WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham and WVUA Tuscaloosa. Mason later worked as news director and news anchor at Tuscaloosa's WDBB and WVUA.
In 1996, then-Rebekah Caldwell married fellow broadcast journalist Jon Mason. During that time, the couple opened a local ad agency in Tuscaloosa known as Caldwell Mason Marketing and JRM Enterprises Inc., which operated "Outdoor Boards" a national outdoor advertising agency.
Through Caldwell Mason, the couple provided marketing, design and video production services and counted among its clients The University of Alabama, City of Tuscaloosa and Shelton State Community College.
It was around this time that the Masons became involved with the gubernatorial campaign of a little-known Tuscaloosa dermatologist named Robert Bentley.
The Masons, Dr. Bentley and his wife, Dianne, all attend First Baptist Church Tuscaloosa, where Bentley is a deacon and Jon Mason teaches Sunday School.
Bentley had served in the State House from 2002-2010. Rebekah Mason later served as the Bentley campaign's press secretary during his 2010 campaign for governor.
After Bentley's election, Mason followed him to Montgomery where she was named Communications Director. Her work with Gov. Bentley included trips around Alabama on state aircraft.
In 2011, Mason's husband joined her in Montgomery, as Gov. Bentley's director of the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives.
In 2013, Rebekah Mason left her job as communications director to become a spokesperson for the Bentley campaign and made the official move off the state payroll.
In July 2013 that Mason formed RCM Communications, a company offering consulting and advising services, and registered to Mason's home address in Tuscaloosa.
The campaign to reelect Gov. Bentley paid Mason's firm $426,978 for consulting and polling work, almost half of the campaign's total consulting expenses.
Rebekah Mason is the only listed officer of the company which has no phone number, no website and no Facebook page.
Mason moved into the role of Senior Political Advisor. Her name and title are included in state flight logs but almost nowhere else: she has no published state email or phone number. Multiple requests for information on Mason's role in the governor's office have not been answered.
Sources say Mason is paid – either as a contractor or employee – through the Alabama Council for Excellent Government, a non-profit organization formed in February by Cooper Shattuck, general counsel for the University of Alabama board of trustees and Bentley's former legal adviser.
Mason's name does not appear on the group's website and because of the nature of 501c4, it is unknown how much RCM is being paid.
Those in Montgomery who work with the governor said Mason is an integral part of his team and that her influence has continued to grow.
"You can't get to the governor unless she clears it," said one legislator, who asked that his name not be used.
His wife of 50 years, Dianne Bentley, filed for divorce, citing "complete incompatibility of temperament." Since then, Mason's name has been dragged into the controversy, thanks in part to blog posts and radio commenters.
A judge has sealed the case filing.
State Executive Committee member Terry Dunn took to Facebook to suggest that Mason caused the Bentley's divorce.
The rumors have been enough, however, for Rep. Allen Farley of McCalla to file paperwork at the Attorney General's office requesting an investigation into whether Bentley used state funds to cover up actions that led to the divorce. Those actions include improperly paying state troopers that serve on the governor's security detail overtime and using his plane for things other than state business.
The AG's office confirmed to AL.com it has received Farley's letter but said its contents are not public record.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/09/who_is_rebekah_caldwell_mason.html
