Preview of legislative primaries for House District 48, Senate District 15

Mountain Brook voters face a number of contests in upcoming legislative elections. Here’s a preview of races that impact the city.

In the House 48 race, a veteran legislator takes on an IT executive.

In the battle for the Senate 15 seat, two Mountain Brook residents face off.

And an incumbent Republican is unopposed in House District 46.

House 48

Longtime state Rep. Jim Carns will face challenger William Wentowski in the May 24 Republican primary in Alabama House District 48, marking the second consecutive primary election contest between the two. The district covers parts of Vestavia and Mountain Brook.

Wentowski, a Vestavia Hills resident, first challenged Carns in 2018 and lost with 23% of the vote. A marketing and sales manager in corporate information technology, Wentowski believes in term limits. If elected he would only serve three terms if he’s unable to pass campaign finance reform in two, he said.

Public servants who make a career out of politics become “disconnected” from their constituents, Wentowski said.

Mental health reform is a top issue for Wentowski, who has an uncle stricken with mental illness.“I’ve seen firsthand what goes on in seeking help,” Wentowski said, adding that many people he has met campaigning said they have relatives struggling with mental issues.

Wentowski said he believes in providing outpatient services and halfway homes, as well as helping find answers for people who won’t take medicine.

Wentowski also supports an education lottery and eliminating the state grocery tax, leaving that decision to municipalities.

Another area of emphasis for Wentowski is fighting corruption, and he refuses to take corporate donations.

With Gov. Kay Ivey set to invest in broadband, Wentowski said his private-sector experience can help the state roll out more broadband services.

“I can tell you there are a lot of bad ways to encourage broadband roll out,” Wentowski said. “Incentives do work for this, but we must be careful, and parties have to be held accountable. Otherwise, they will just take the money and run. It also goes with campaign finance. The citizens’ best interest is frequently sold out for shockingly low campaign contributions.”

Wentowski said he plans to bring a strong work ethic and honesty to Montgomery if elected. Going up against a longtime legislator in Carns is “a hard row to hoe,” Wentowski said but he believes being involved is part of his civic duty. “Being uninvolved just means being unheard.”

For more information, visit wentowski.com.

Jim Carns

Carns, also a Vestavia Hills resident, is no stranger to Alabama politics. He has served as a leader in Jefferson County for much of his career.

He was first elected to the state House in 1990 and served four terms before joining the Jefferson County Commission, where he served from 2006 to 2010. Carns was part of the commission when the county filed for bankruptcy.

After then-state Rep. Greg Canfield transitioned to Alabama secretary of commerce, Carns won election to his House seat again and has served since 2012.

“I’ve been a public official for quite a while, and I think I’ve done a good job,” Carns said.

He said he is looking forward to another four years and is proud of his work to pass welfare reform, abstinence bills and voter ID laws.

Carns said he is strongly against vaccine mandates and hopes to continue that fight. Part of his 2022 work is to help decide how to spend record amounts of money coming from the federal government to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. The Legislature discussed how to spend that money in January, and Carns said more money is expected in June.

On broadband, Carns said it would be a “blessing” from Washington to have federal relief funds to expand that service, particularly benefiting businesses across the state.

Carns represents a large chunk of Vestavia Hills as well as parts of Mountain Brook and said he always has enjoyed good support from his home base.

He served as minority leader from 2002 to 2006 and currently serves as chairman of the Commerce Committee, as well as chairman of the Jefferson County delegation. He also serves on the Children’s Affairs Committee.

Senate 15

This year’s Republican primary for state Senate District 15 pits incumbent Dan Roberts against challenger Brian Christine, a urologist with Urology Centers of Alabama in Homewood.

The winner will take the seat because there is no one from another party seeking it.

Brian Christine

Christine, a Mountain Brook resident, said he feels a close connection between people in the district, and that after developing relationships with patients over the years, he’ll work to build connections with constituents.

Roberts is not connected, Christine said, adding that “Some people don’t know who the legislator is.”

Roberts declined to comment on Christine’s claim that he is not connected with his constituents.

While he and Roberts are both conservative, Christine said he wants to bring more of a “fighting spirit” to Montgomery, meaning, fighting for what’s right.

Christine said he takes pride in being a political outsider but said he wants to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats as well.

“I have my moral compass … lines in the sand,” Christine said. “But there is always room to have respectful disagreement.”

Christine said there is a “real problem” with legislators serving for decades because money and power tend to corrupt. While there need to be term limits, he said it’s also important to leave legislators in Montgomery long enough to be effective.

Christine took issue with Roberts being funded through political action committees, calling the way interest groups spend money in Montgomery a problem. Roberts has received money from the Forestry PAC, Mainstream PAC (a pro-business and industry PAC), Wholesale PAC and PACs representing pharmacies, poultry, retailers and construction companies. Christine has put $100,000 of his own money in the race and, as of press time, received no other contributions.

Roberts took a different view on PACS.

“I am proud to be supported by the farmers, business leaders and Medical Association of Alabama,” Roberts said. “I have been working hard the last four years to provide conservative solutions to improve the business environment of our state. Their support shows that we are making positive change for District 15.”

Christine describes himself as  fiscally responsible, focused on smaller, limited government and having “active engagement” of citizens. He said he wants to “pull the reins tighter” on government spending.

Education is a “huge problem,” Christine said. “There’s no reason Alabama should not be leading the country … The fact that we have the black eye of being 52nd in education is a tragedy.”

Christine is a supporter of what he called “parent choice,” that parents should be able to send their kids to any school they want.

As a surgeon, Christine said health care is very important, but he opposes a single-payer system. He will push for affordable and accessible health care, he said.

Christine said he favors letting Alabama voters have their say on an education lottery, but opposes wholesale gambling. However, if the funding goes to the right places, it could be helpful, he said.

Dan Roberts

Roberts, who also lives in Mountain Brook, touted a recent bill he sponsored that was signed into law by the governor to keep Alabamians from paying state taxes on the federal child tax credit, the dependent care credit and the earned income tax credit that were increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tax issues have been the focus of Roberts’ tenure in the state Senate, he said, including one of the first bills signed by Ivey that changed how the state taxes businesses, helping them be more competitive. He serves on Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth’s workforce development committee, which is studying how to improve the workforce.

Roberts’ term began in 2018, following a career in real estate development, private equity and international trade.

Roberts said he wants to help provide jobs and opportunities for high school graduates, and noted recent developments like the Smuckers plant coming to Jefferson County. Smuckers will bring 300 or more jobs to the area as part of a $1.2 billion investment. He also mentioned the plant in Selma that creates N95 masks.

“How do we pull together as a state to meet the needs, not only of our state, but of our country and then the world?” Roberts said.

Roberts said he is working across party lines to improve the state.

His goal, should he be re-elected, is to continue to move the state forward on its strengths, he said. The most important issue facing the state is education, he said.

“You look at testing scores, and we’re so far down,” Roberts said. “If we don’t fix this, we are so badly hurt.”

Roberts also supports parental choice. “Parents have the ultimate say on their child’s education… We have to do something different.”

He said the problem with an education lottery is the question of where the money goes.

Roberts said he sees the benefits of term limits but said it takes two terms for the average legislator to get up to speed. It’s important to have legislators who understand the system, he said.

He said he has met with every mayor in his district and a “tremendous amount of time” getting to know people, working between 70 and 80 hours weekly.

He said it had been a tremendous honor to serve the people of District 15, and he hopes to continue to do so.

House 46

Incumbent Republican David Faulkner is running unopposed for re-election to the House in District 46.  Faulkner has held the seat since 2014. He is an attorney at Christian & Small law firm. His practice includes such matters premises liability, products liability, commercial transportation and trucking, personal injury, insurance, fraud and business and commercial litigation. He worked on several legislative committees and with the state Consumer Lending Task Force.

Election Dates

► Primary election: May 24, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

► General election: Nov. 8, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

– Reporter Neal Embry contributed to this report.