Senate District 14 Cam Ward Party: Republican Residence: Alabaster Political experience: Has represented Alabama Senate District 14 since 2010; represented Alabama House District 49, 2002-10. Chairman of Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee, eight years; president of Alabama Law Institute, 2010-present; National Commission on Uniform State Laws since 2005; Executive Committee for Southern Legislative Conference since 2010;
Senate District 14 Jerry McDonald Party: Democrat Residence: Helena Political races run: First run for public office. Civic experience: Played in band at Southcrest Baptist Church; volunteered for litter pickup in Montevallo; helped with Boy Scout Troop in Helena in late 1990s; coached youth baseball in Hoover Parks and Recreation league in mid-1990s. Main issues
U.S. House of Representatives Races on the Ballot District 7 Terri Sewell District 6 Gary Palmer Danner Kline
STATE RACES GOVERNOR Walt Maddox Kay Ivey Lieutenant Governor Will Boyd Will Ainsworth Attorney General Joseph Siegelman Steve Marshall Chief Justice Bob Vance Jr. Tom Parker Supreme Court Associate Justice, Place 1 Sarah Hicks Stewart Supreme Court Associate Justice, Place 2 Tommy Bryan Supreme Court Associate Justice, Place
U.S. House of Representatives, Alabama District 6 Danner Kline Party: Democrat Age: 39 Residence: Vestavia Hills Political experience: None Professional experience: Craft beer manager, Birmingham Budweiser Distributing, 2010-present; freelance writer/independent contractor, 2009-present; telecommunications manager, City of Hoover, 2005-2009; telecommunications specialist, Southern Progress Corporation, 2000-2005; computer support specialist, Samford University, 1999-2000. Civic experience: Founder, Free the
U.S. House of Representatives, AL District 6 Gary Palmer Party: Republican Age: 64 Residence: Hoover Political experience: Member, U.S. House of Representatives, Alabama District 6, 2015-present; member, Gov. Robert Bentley’s Task Force to Strengthen Alabama Families; member, Alabama Commission on Improving State Government; advisor, Gov. Fob James’ Aerospace, Science, and Technology Task Force; member, Welfare
U.S. House of Representatives, Alabama District 7 Terri Sewell Party: Democrat Age: 53 Residence: Birmingham Political experience: Member, U.S. House of Representatives, Alabama District 7, 2011-present. Professional experience: Shareholder, Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C., 2005-present; Associate, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, 1994-2005; law clerk, Judge U.W. Clemon, Northern District of Alabama, 1993-1994. Civic experience: Board
GOVERNOR Democrat Walt Maddox Republican Kay Ivey
Who Knows What Voters Want? Alabama’s Public Affairs Research Council took a serious stab at finding out in the months leading up to Alabama’s General Election on Nov. 6. They surveyed policy professionals and registered voters and got this view of the state electorate’s state of mind. Alabama priorities, the survey found, are: 1. K-12 Education 2. Healthcare 3. Government Corruption and Ethics 4. Mental Health and Substance Abuse 5. Poverty and Homelessness State Plus: Jobs and the Economy; Crime and Public Safety; Job Training and Workforce Development: Improving the State’s Image; and Tax Reform. You can learn more about what fellow voters considered important and why, more factual information about these issues and about specifics of the PARCA study in the Alabama Priorities report. You also can read PARCA’s take on what passage or defeat of the statewide amendments would mean at the PARCA Statewide Constitutional Amendment Analysis.
Alabama Democrats are hoping to put at least a small dent in Republicans’ stronghold on all three branches of state government in the Nov. 6 general election. With continuation of the GOP’s grip on the executive, legislative and judicial branches all but assured, the Democrats’ best hope to win a statewide office seems to lie in the race for chief justice, where Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Bob Vance faces Republican Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker. “Other than that race, I don’t see anything happening for Democrats,” said Larry Powell, a longtime political consultant and professor of communication studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. That was before Vance began an aggressive ad campaign last week, attacking Parker’s close affiliation with twice-ousted Chief Justice Roy Moore. Democrats hoped Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox would put up a strong challenge to Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican who was elected lieutenant governor four years ago and became the state’s chief executive when Robert Bentley resigned as governor last year after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations. Powell said had he expected Maddox to try to ignite enthusiasm for a state lottery as the strong theme for his campaign. That’s what Don Siegelman did in 1998, when he became the last Democrat to be elected governor. But Powell said that never developed as a consistent theme. While Ivey campaigned on her ability to bring new jobs to Alabama, Maddox criticized her refusal to agree to a debate. Powell said the Democrat suffered from a lack of focus. “I thought they were going to hammer the lottery as the main issue, that they would jump all over the lottery as a focus,” he said. The ballot includes 20 statewide races, with Democrats challenging Republicans in nine of them, along with four statewide constitutional amendments and one local amendment each for Jefferson and Shelby counties. Across the state, voters also will be choosing their legislators, judges, court officials, county commissioners, board of education members, sheriffs, district attorneys and other officials, including members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The BirminghamWatch General Election Voter Guide is your resource for investigating how you will mark your ballot Tuesday. Read more. More Stories in the Voter Guide
