Rep. John Rogers of Birmingham, a longtime friend of Newton, says he was notified by the lawmaker's family that Newton died Wednesday morning after a long illness.
Gov. Robert Bentley served for eight years with Newton in the Alabama House.
"He was a fine gentleman, and we had a strong mutual respect for each other. He will be greatly missed, not only by his own constituents - but also by the entire state of Alabama," Bentley, a Republican, said.
Newton was former city attorney for Birmingham and had served in the Legislature since 1986. He was speaker pro tem from 1998 until 2010.
He was a polite man who often had a kind word for legislators and lobbyists when he passed them in the Statehouse hallways. The normally noisy House chamber would often grow quiet when Newton rose to speak.
