This November

By Editor | February 25, 2022 |

Give me Liberty
Rodger Williamson

As we near the end of the second month of 2022, let us think about the upcoming primaries this summer and the elections following in November.

As a Libertarian, I will always support a candidate that encourages liberty, and I will always oppose any candidate that supports “more government.” Here are my thoughts regarding several of the leading candidates.
At 87 years old, and after 52 years in politics, Richard Shelby is finally retiring from politics. In the lead running for Shelby’s seat are Mo Brooks, Katie Britt and Mike Durant.
Mo Brooks was first elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1982 and reelected in 1983, 1986 and 1990. Brooks ran for federal office in 2010 to represent his district in the United States House of Representatives.

Brooks has done his district well and has strong Libertarian leanings, both pluses, but he loses points for both his 40 years in politics and his endorsement by former President Donald Trump. I feel that Brooks should run on his own record and not try to ride Trump’s coat-tails.
Katie Britt is a former president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama and a former chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby. She wins points for not having been an actual politician in her past, but she has chosen to hang her campaign upon the point of her faith. While I laud any person who has a faith that they hold dear and exercise regularly, I find fault with those who run for political office on this point.

When one is running for an office to represent all of the people of their city, district, state, or nation, they need to follow the guidance set by Thomas Jefferson in his 1802 reply to the Danbury Baptist Association, where he advised that there should be a “wall of eternal separation between church and state.”

A politician, regardless of office, needs to represent all of their citizens equally, regardless of which faith a citizen may or may not adhere to. I also find it amusing that her political ads attack Mo Brooks because he didn’t always support Donald Trump; rather than dissuading me from considering Brooks, her revelations actually make Brooks seem a better possible candidate for having taken a now unpopular stance.
Mike Durant is a retired U.S. Army helicopter pilot, author and the owner, president and CEO of Pinnacle Solutions, an engineering services company based in Huntsville. In 1993, Durant was shot down, captured and held as a Prisoner of War during the Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia, known far and wide as “Blackhawk Down.”

Durant’s 22 years of service to our nation alone makes him someone worth considering without even considering the price he paid as a soldier in that famous battle. Add to his distinguished career his hero status, and he is even more worthy of consideration.

The fact that he is an outsider who has never run for office before gives him bonus points. But those points are negated by the fact that he built his company, and his wealth, on tax payer dollars costs him points in my eyes, and the fact that he repeatedly invokes the name of former President Donald Trump costs him a few more points.
Other declared candidates in the senatorial race include Lillie Boddie, Karla DuPriest and Jake Schafer, but none of these three seem to have the traction needed to win the Republican primary. While Will Boyd, Brandaun Dean, Lanny Jackson, and Victor Keith Williams will battle for the lead Democratic position, it doesn’t seem likely that whomever the Democratic nominee will be will be able to topple whomever the Republican nominee will be. If I am wrong, I welcome any rebuttal that includes both facts and evidence.
Kay Ivey is the current governor of Alabama and known colloquially as “Me-Maw.” Ivey first entered politics as an appointee in 1979 to serve on then Gov. Fob James’ Cabinet. Ivey made an unsuccessful run as a Democrat for the position of state auditor in 1982.

Ivey was successful in her Democratic bid for state treasurer from 2003 to 2011. Ivey switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party and was successfully elected as lieutenant governor of Alabama from 2011 to 2017. Ivey was sworn in as governor following the resignation of Robert Bentley in April of 2017, and was elected on her own account in 2018.

Ivey seemed popular at first and has signed off on some important bills that have come across her desk, but her approval of an increased gas tax and other liberal ideologies have earned her the ire of the majority of conservatives in our state.
Running against Kay Ivey are those that, as a whole, I refer to as “anyone BUT Ivey”! I will break down my thoughts on these candidates next week, but until then, here is a brief introduction to the rest of the field.
Republicans:
– Lynda Blanchard, former United States ambassador to Slovenia (2019–2021) and former candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022
– Lew Burdette, president of women and youth shelter King’s Home in Chelsea
– Stacy Lee George, corrections officer, former Morgan County commissioner and candidate for governor in 2014 and 2018
– Tim James, businessman, son of former Gov. Fob James and candidate for governor in 2002 and 2010
– Donald Trent Jones
– Dean Odle, pastor
– Dave Thomas, mayor of Springville (2020–present) and former state representative (1994–2002)
– Dean Young, businessman and perennial candidate

Democrats:
– Yolanda Rochelle Flowers, activist, retired rehabilitation specialist and educator
– Arthur Kennedy, Army veteran and educator
– Chad “Chig” Martin, small business owner, musician and independent candidate for governor in 2018
– Patricia Jamieson Salter
– Malika Sanders-Fortier, state senator from the twenty-third district (2018–present)
– Doug “New Blue” Smith, businessman and perennial candidate

Posted in Opinion & Policy