FAIRHOPE — With the general election a little over a month away, candidates running in several races spoke to constituents at Fairhope United Methodist Church on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
The event …
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FAIRHOPE — With the general election a little over a month away, candidates running in several races spoke to constituents at Fairhope United Methodist Church on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
The event was co-sponsored by the nonpartisan groups League of Women Voters of Baldwin County, Alabama Arise, Stand Up Mobile, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Baldwin County and Mutual Aid Benevolent Association Bay Minette.
Candidates participated in a "candi-dating" format, where each candidate moved from table to table, speaking briefly to constituents while seated in a timed, fast-paced format.
A representative for the League of Women Voters of Baldwin County said candidates running on both the Republican and Democratic tickets were invited to participate.
Among the questions constituents asked, a common theme was affordability and funding for services such as healthcare, public schools and veterans' benefits.
"The big concern of course is affordability, gas prices, grocery prices, ways that we can do things at the federal level to help bring those down, so I heard a lot of that," said Clyde Jones, the Democratic nominee for Alabama's 1st Congressional District, who is facing Republican Jerry Carl, who did not attend. "A lot of concern about that. Ending this Iran war. Kind of reigning in the tariffs and the different policies that are causing some of these high prices, so I did hear a lot of that tonight from different tables."
"Affordability has been kind of the question that I've gotten a lot," said Ashley Sharpe, the Democratic nominee for state Senate District 22, who is running against Republican Terry L. Waters, who did not attend. "Making sure that we're taking care of people, making sure that people have adequate healthcare. I've heard a lot about the school system but how we need to make sure that we have public school funding, especially for teachers, and make sure that we're paying them adequately, so that's something that's very important. We need to make sure that we're listening to our constituents and making sure that they know that when I get to Montgomery that I will make it a priority to take care of teachers and take care of our education system, especially our public school system."
"Of course, we're going to provide funding and make sure that we have rural and veterans' healthcare throughout the state of Alabama," said Everett Wess, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, who is running against Republican Barry Moore, who did not attend. "One of my ideas was to be efficient with funding and make sure that we have veterans' facilities in rural areas because some of our veterans live in rural areas, and just make sure they're able to access that healthcare, so those are a couple of things that people were interested in."
Another issue on the minds of people is data centers and farmland, according to Ron Sparks, the Democratic nominee for Alabama commissioner of agriculture and industries, who previously held the position from 2003 to 2011. He is running against Republican Corey Hill, who did not attend.
"There's no doubt data centers are on people's minds. Farmland is on people's minds," Sparks said. "I saved 3,000 acres of farmland when I was there. That's why we come to these kind of things, to hear the people and what their concerns are, and I've heard them loud and clear. I have a record at the Department of Agriculture. I'm proud of my record. I never made a decision based on whether I was a Democrat or Republican. I represent everybody in the state of Alabama, and I looked forward going back and representing the people again."
Terri Osborne, who is the Democratic nominee for state House District 96, said she has heard a lot of things but particularly mentioned the potential of a state lottery.
"Data centers, lottery, expand Medicaid, help our teachers," said Osborne, who is running against Republican Danielle Duggar, who could not attend due to a scheduling conflict. "Of course, the lottery will go a long way to do that. There's of course concerns about a lottery and how it affects some people who tend to have addictions, and so I think we can take a lot of things from the lotteries that have been done around us. We have a lottery in every state that borders us, and so much money flows out to them to support their educational system. We need to keep that at home to support our educational system, but I think we can learn from all the mistakes that all lotteries have done to make a really good one here in Alabama by learning from others' mistakes."
For Janet Appleby, the Democratic nominee for State Senate District 32, who is running against incumbent Republican Sen. Chris Elliot, the biggest thing she has heard is constituents wanting their voice being heard.
"They're struggling to deal with rising costs when their income is not increasing, and my job, when I get to Montgomery, is to do what I can so that they can thrive. Not just survive," she said.
DEMOCRATS OPTIMISTIC
Despite Alabama being a reliably Republican state, with Alabama overwhelmingly voting for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party during the 2024 election, the Democratic nominees are optimistic heading into the final weeks before midterm elections.
"I'm speaking to the voters, and I think that's going to make a difference," Wess said. "I think Democrats are working statewide to speak with voters. They have the money, but we are working, speaking to the constituents, talking about what Alabamians want and need, and hopefully we will be victorious Nov. 3."
"I'm feeling great," Jones said. "As I talk to people each day, I'm inspired that they're going to turn out to vote. I think turnout on the Democratic side will be up, which is very encouraging. I'm not sure about the other side, but I do feel, and I talked to voters every day, many who have voted conservative for years who say they're ready for change, so I'm encouraged. I'm excited about what will happen."
"I think that this is like kind of the homestretch," Sharpe said. "Making sure that voters know that there is an election on Nov. 3. Knowing where their polling place is. Knowing where to vote. That's very important. Make sure we're getting people out to vote so that's kind of like what we're doing. What we're focused on right now is just getting people out to vote."
"I'm going to be doing quite a few targeted ads in my district that will be on TV and whatnot and also going to do some radio ads to get my name out in front of voters because I think that's the most difficult thing for us, especially the Democrats, to let voters know that they have a choice and who they can vote for," Osborne said. "It's not just another Republican to vote for again, and so I think with the dissatisfaction going on in our politics, and especially what our lovely president is doing, that they're looking for somebody else, and if they see somebody who's intelligent and can talk and chew gum at the same time, they'll vote for me."
"We're working hard all over the state of Alabama," Sparks said. "I'm hearing the voices of Alabama. People are struggling. I'm out here doing everything that I can do to get re-elected to where I can help them. Farmers are hurting. Shrimpers are hurting. Truckers are hurting. People are hurting, so we need some changes in this country. We need some changes in Alabama. We need to help folks."
Also in attendance on Tuesday night were Vivian Davis Figures, incumbent Democratic state senator for District 33, and Fred Hardman, Republican nominee for Baldwin County Board of Education District 6. Both are running unopposed.
IMPORTANT DATES
