Voters in House District 16 go to the polls Tuesday to elect a new representative to the state House.
Republican nominee Bryan Brinyark will face Democratic nominee John Underwood in the election for the district, which extends from Fayette County to north Tuscaloosa and western Jefferson counties.

The seat opened up after former Rep. Kyle South, R-Fayette, first elected in 2014, stepped down June 30 to become the CEO of the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce. South won House District 16 with 75% of the vote in 2014. He ran unopposed in 2018 and 2022.

Brinyark and Underwood both said they wanted to prioritize education and financial assistance for hospitals but differed on the approach. Both candidates also said improving infrastructure, specifically roads, would be a priority for the district.

An election for Senate District 9 — which encompasses parts of Blount, Madison and Marshall — will also take place on Tuesday.

Bryan Brinyark

Age: 55

Residence: Windham Springs

Occupation: Attorney; Centreville municipal court judge since 2005.

Education: B.A., Advertising, University of Alabama, 1990; J.D., University of Alabama School of Law, 1993.

Party: Republican

Previous political experience/campaign: First-time candidate.

Fundraising: As of Dec. 29, Brinyark raised $163,380 and spent $148,178. The campaign raised $110,400 from PACs, with ET PAC and Leadership PAC donating $11,950 each.

Brinyark believes that House District 16 will be better served by having a Republican.

“The only thing that are getting done in Montgomery are coming from the Republican side of the of the government, because the Republicans have the majorities and they’re able to effectively move their legislation through the process and get it signed off by the governor,” he said, adding that it’s important for the district to elect a Republican to effectively address district needs.

In an interview Thursday, he maintained Highway 43 needs to be widened to four lanes from Tuscaloosa to at least Fayette. He said that the project would benefit his district and help industry across western Alabama.

“We’ve got to have a way to get products to the market that’s effective and efficient and safe,” Brinyark said. “And driving very curvy roads with an 18-wheeler is not good.”

He also said that improving industry would provide more jobs — jobs that don’t necessarily require a college degree — help keep residents.

Brinyark also said that more needs to be done to help hospitals. The district is currently served by Fayette Medical Center, which is administered by the DCH Health System.

Brinyark said while there’s talk about expanding Medicaid and providing more state and federal funding to the hospital system, he would need to sit down and talk to the health care system in the district to figure out what their needs are. He declined to say whether he would support expansion.

“I’ve heard talks about it from both sides. I would need to go through the issue and see what’s going on with that — the pros and the cons,” he said.

On education, he said that he supports parents choosing schools they are not zoned for. While he said while the Fayette school system is faring well, that’s not the case across Alabama.

“Generally speaking, I’m for freedom. And I think parents’ ought to be able to decide,” Brinyark said.

Brinyark stopped short of supporting the use of public funds for private school or homeschooling, saying he needed to evaluate the issue.

John Underwood

Age: 61

Residence: Fayette

Occupation: Part-time police officer at Bevill State Community College, former law enforcement since 1995.

Education: Associates degree in General Education, Brewer State Junior College (now Bevill State Community College), 1982.

Party: Democratic

Previous political experience/campaign: Fayette County Commissioner, 2000-present.

Fundraising: Underwood’s campaign raised about $5,500 as of Dec. 29. Most of the donations were from individuals donating less than $100 at a time. The campaign spent $5,168.

Underwood also said that the district needs to improve its roads, as well as provide more funding to schools and hospitals. But he added that residents in his district still struggle with access to broadband internet.

“I will make sure we continue to get broadband in rural areas. I don’t want to stop once some major towns, cities get it,” he said.

He said that schools in his district are currently struggling with staffing educators, especially special education teachers, and that the issue is bigger than what he previously thought. Underwood wants to give the Alabama State Department of Education more money to address the issue.

“When I say they need more money, I don’t mean more money for you to put in somebody’s pocket. I mean more money strictly for education to help those kids,” he said.

But he said that he wants tax-payer dollars to stay in public schools. He wouldn’t support using money from the Education Trust Fund to set up an education savings account for home-schooling or private schooling, and said that funding for that should come from another source.

He would also support providing more funding for hospitals to keep them open. Aside from more funding to hospitals, he said there needs to be more incentives to get doctors and other healthcare professionals in rural Alabama, including District 16.

He would support Medicaid expansion. The state has expressed concern about the long-term funding for Medicaid expansion. He understands that there must be funding before expanding any program and said that he would like to sit down with Republicans and Democrats to brainstorm a solution.

“I’m sure we can come up with something,” he said.

To fund schools and hospitals, he also suggested authorizing a lottery, but Underwood said he does not have an answer.

“Me personally, I believe in the lottery, and I think that if we use it properly, some of it can be used for [hospitals], some can be used for education. Some could be used for something else, but your main thing probably is your hospital and your education,” he said.

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