2018 Elections Guide
People across Alabama will head to the polls Nov. 6 to cast their vote on candidates from local commissions to the state governor and U.S. Congress.
Village Living has worked with Birmingham Watch and the Alabama Initiative for Independent Journalism to compile the following list of candidates on the ballot in your area. This includes short biographies to help you get to know your State and U.S. Congressional candidates better.
The list below does not include candidates who are unopposed in the general election, as those races were decided in the primaries in July.
Voters must have a valid form of photo ID. Ballots will vary based on the voter’s specific address. To check your polling place and registration or learn more about voting guidelines, visit alabamavotes.gov.
Candidates are listed in alphabetical order for each race. For more on the elections, visit birminghamwatch.org.
AL HOUSE DISTRICT 45
► Dickie Drake, R (I)
○ Place of residence: Leeds
○ Political experience: Elected, Alabama House of Representatives special election, 2011; re-elected in 2014; member of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee and Judiciary Committee; member, Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee.
○ Civic experience: Board member, Leeds Chamber of Commerce; past president and board member, Leeds Historical Society; past vice president, Leeds Jaycees; past president, Leeds Youth Baseball; youth baseball coach, 17 years; member, Leeds Exchange Club; member, Chief’s Council, 117 ARW; member, E-9 Association of the State of Alabama; advisory board member, Lehigh Hanson; advisory board member, Three Hots and a Cot, an organization for homeless veterans; deacon, Leeds First Baptist Church.
○ Main issues you would like to address if elected to office: Drake lists a range of issues including property and gun rights, education, health care and veterans’ affairs. He also called for fairness in sewer rates and is pro-life and a supporter of the Second Amendment.
► Jenn Gray, D
○ Place of residence: Irondale
○ Political races run: Current first-time candidate for Alabama House District 45.
○ Political offices held: None.
○ Civic experience: Board of Trustees, Alabama Waldorf School, 2014-present; Girl Scouts Troop Leader, 2014-present.
○ Main issues you would like to address if elected to office: “My top priority is to fully fund Alabama’s First-Class Pre-K program. Alabama has the No. 1 voluntary pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds in the country, but it is only available to about 30 percent of eligible children because of inadequate funding. Quality pre-K programs produce a quality workforce and result in better job opportunities and a more robust economy for the entire state. Our First-Class Pre-K program gives Alabama a 7-to-1 return on our investment.
“I support the education lottery, which will provide $300 million a year to Alabama education without raising taxes.
“I’m in favor of reducing or eliminating the grocery sales tax, which is currently 10 percent in much of House District 45.”
AL HOUSE DISTRICT 46
► David Faulkner, R (I)
○ Place of residence: Mountain Brook
○ Political races run: State representative, District 46, elected 2014; Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge, 2012 (lost in the general election).
○ Political offices held: State representative, District 46, 2014-present.
○ Civic experience: Co-chair Alabama Children’s Cabinet, 2016-present; Alabama Holocaust Commission, 2015-present; chair, Alabama Consumer Lending Task Force, 2016-17; Kiwanis Club downtown Birmingham 2015-present; Leadership Birmingham 2015-16; Monday Morning Quarterback Club 1996-present; president, general counsel and vice president, Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce, 2004-present; trustee and government affairs committee, Birmingham Business Alliance 2002-present; board member, Homewood Chamber of Commerce; Hoover Chamber of Commerce; catalyst committee, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham; various leadership roles, St. Luke’s Church 2001-present; junior board chairman and board member, The Club; board and team member, Young Life; board member Big Time Ministries; various committees, Birmingham Bar Association; various roles, BBA Young Lawyers Division; tort, trial and insurance division, American Bar Association; national conferences team, ABA Young Lawyers Division; coach and commissioner of youth sports, basketball, baseball and football.
○ Main issues you would like to address if elected to office: Improving public education and making our schools safer and more secure has been a top priority of mine. I am working on legislation now to make sure all Alabama students have the opportunity to take computer science before they graduate.
I am especially committed to expanding Alabama’s nationally recognized First Class Pre-K program. I believe voluntary pre-K instruction provides children with the tools to kick-start their learning potential and prepares them for the future.
Due to recent events, one of our greatest priorities is keeping our teachers and students safe from harm while on campus. We must do everything in our power to ensure that every child sent to school in the morning returns home safely in the evening.
I am also dedicated to job creation and ensuring our economy remains strong and growing. As a member of the House, I have supported bills that provide tax breaks to small businesses when jobs are created, voted for common sense bills that award industrial incentives once specific job targets have been met and helped create a “pro-business” and “open for business” atmosphere. I am also working on legislation to cut the tax on groceries.
► Felicia Stewart, D
○ Place of residence: Mountain Brook
○ Political races run: None
○ Civic experience: Over the last three years, Stewart has been a Girl Scouts Patrol Leader; soccer coach; Alabama Possible volunteer; Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham volunteer; Birmingham Education Foundation volunteer; and Mountain Brook Elementary PTO events volunteer. She has also been a member of the YMBC Business Club; American Association of University Women; The Women’s Network; and Baptist Church of the Covenant.
○ Main issues you would like to address if elected to office: Alabama has a crisis of leadership. We do not have enough elected officials in Montgomery who are ethical/transparent, who are committed to the work of solving complex problems in our state and who are focused on real priorities — not partisanship and pandering.
With passionate, ethical leadership, we can tackle issues in public education, health care, job growth and workforce development, clean water and other areas where we continue to languish at the bottom.
Being a state representative is part-time job, but I will have a full-time approach — reading, researching, listening to constituents, meeting with stakeholders and experts in the areas where we can have the most impact. I will be fully prepared to propose and support good policy for all Alabamians, every session. And, I will do so without taking any money from PACs, corporations or special interests.
I expect more for our state, and I’m willing to work for it.
AL HOUSE DISTRICT 48
► Jim Carns, R (I)
○ Place of residence: Mountain Brook
○ Political experience: Alabama House of Representatives, 2011-present; Alabama House of Representatives, 1990-2006; Jefferson County commissioner, 2006-10; co-chaired 18-member Jefferson County Legislative Delegation and elected by peers three of his four legislative terms; chairman of the House Republican Caucus as minority leader; was chairman of the Industrial Development and Economic Growth; member, Rules and Ways and Means committees; member, Association of County Commissioners of Alabama and the National Conference of Republican County Officials.
○ Civic experience: Elder, Briarwood Presbyterian Church.
○ Main issues you would like to address if elected to office: School safety, economic development and transportation top the Carns agenda.
“The largest part of our budget is education, and I have to focus on that every year … and an extra focus right now is on safety in education because that is going to be the biggest thing we’re going to take up when we go into session in 2019 and that is going be getting these resource officers into as many schools as we can as quickly as we can.”
Existing businesses are the focus of his economic development platform. “I’ve always been pushing for economic development and for Alabama to be more user-friendly to existing businesses that are here and can expand if they want to, as well as offering incentive programs to get large new businesses coming in. … Also roads and transportation are going to be a really big issue.”
► Alli Summerford, D
○ Place of residence: Mountain Brook
○ Political races run: “I am new to politics. As a small business owner (I started a web design company almost 20 years ago), I’d like to bring the creative problem-solving skills necessary to run a successful a small business to the issues facing the state.”
○ Political offices held: “None. I think we need new ideas and new voices in the Statehouse. If we continue to send back the same voices with the same ideas, we’ll continue to get the same results.”
○ Civic experience: Founding member of Mountain Brook Track Club booster group, 2017-present; member of the Women’s Committee of 100, 2012-15; volunteer maintaining the Birmingham Hospitality Network’s website, 2008-13, in addition to other local organizations; Alabama representative for an international Rotary exchange trip in France, 2007; board member of The Women’s Center (Illinois), 1999-2003, during which I helped select and negotiate a new location.
○ Main issues you would like to address if elected to office: “As a parent, small business owner and active member of my community, my vision for Alabama probably looks a lot like yours. In order for our state to have a growing economy, robust job market and strong communities, we must first have healthy and well-educated citizens. In order to move forward, we need to shift the focus and conversation from right and left to common sense solutions that work toward a better Alabama.
“Forward is an Alabama whose government functions for the benefit of its people, not for the financial gain of long-term career politicians.
“Forward is an Alabama where all our citizens have access to quality health care.
“Forward is an Alabama with an education system that arms our kids with the skills they need to succeed in tomorrow’s job market.
“Forward is an Alabama that protects its bounty of natural resources and embraces new sources of clean energy.”
AL SENATE DISTRICT 16
► Lindsey Deckard, D
○ Place of residence: Shelby County
○ Political races run: None.
○ Civic experience: Government subcontractor for the military for 15 years in Birmingham; biomedical researcher at UAB for 15 years; former member of PTA in Florida; former member of church board of directors in Florida.
○ Main issues you would like to address if elected to office: One of Deckard’s top issues is instituting term limits, which she said help legislators get more work done. In the states that have term limits, Deckard said, the legislatures function well.
Deckard also wants to see campaign finance reform. “The big donors in our state tend to pick our representatives for us, and then of course, those representatives work for the people with the money who put them in office, and we get left holding the bag,” she said.
Echoing other candidates, Deckard wants to end corruption in Alabama and said that would help solve a host of other problems. “... Education, prison reform, tax reform, health care … all of those things we seem to put Band-Aids on because we don’t fix the underlying problem [of corruption],” Deckard said.
Deckard said she also wants to help lower health care costs and combat health provider monopolies in the state.
Lastly, she said the state must focus on funding public schools instead of private schools.
“In the last five years, $147 million has been siphoned out of the Education Trust Fund … for private school vouchers. … We all voted for public school funding, not private school funding,” she said.
► Jabo Waggoner, R (I)
○ Place of residence: Vestavia Hills
○ Political races run: Elected to Alabama House of Representatives seat, 1966, 1974, 1978 and 1982; unsuccessful for U.S. House District 6, 1984; elected to Alabama Senate District 16, from 1990-2014.
○ Political offices held: Alabama House District 51 Representative, 1966–83; Alabama Senate District 16 Senator, 1990–present.
○ Civic experience: Member of Homewood Church of Christ; serves on the following boards: Executive Committee of Birmingham Business Alliance, Faulkner University Board of Trustees, Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame; member of Hoover, Homewood, Shelby County and Vestavia Hills Chambers of Commerce; 50-year member of Civitan International; member of Masons and Shriners organizations; member of the Monday Morning Quarterback Club.
○ Main issues you would like to address if elected to office: Waggoner said he is “pro-business,” and has worked to help businesses, passing bills on their behalf. Waggoner praised the schools in his area and said he wants to continue improving education by providing more funding.
Infrastructure is a high priority for Waggoner, as well. “We’ve got to deal with our infrastructure needs .... hundreds of bridges do not meet code. … We’ve got some highways that are in horrible condition,” he said.
Waggoner said “times are good in Alabama,” and praised the economy, manufacturing jobs, unemployment rate and revenue coming into the state.
U.S. HOUSE DISTRICT 6
► Danner Kline, D
○ Place of residence: Vestavia Hills
○ Political races run: None.
○ Civic experience: Board member of One Great Community, part of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at UAB; telecom systems manager for city of Hoover; founder of “Free the Hops” movement.
○ Main issues you would like to address if elected to office: Kline is a proponent of affordable, universal health care, and said: “In the richest country that the world has ever known, it is immoral that literally some people die because they can’t get access to health care, and other people end up going bankrupt because they got sick.”
Kline also supports job creation for the 21st century, dealing with the rise of automation. “We might be 10 years away from self-driving trucks that replace truckers. … I don’t have a solution as to how to fix that, but I want to be at the table finding ways to invest in retraining and finding new ways to employ people who are losing their jobs because of forces outside their control,” Kline said.
He also favors public schools instead of prioritizing school choice. “We need to identify the problems with underachieving public schools and fix the problems, not make them worse,” he said.
► Gary Palmer, R (I)
○ Place of residence: Hoover
○ Political races run: Successfully ran in 2014 and 2016 for U.S. House District 6.
○ Political offices held: U.S. House District 6 Representative since 2014.
○ Civic experience: Served on four different state commissions on behalf of three different governors; founding member of State Policy Network; past president of Alabama Policy Institute; member of Birmingham Rotary Club since 1993; Paul Harris Fellow.
○ Main issues you would like to address if elected to office: Palmer said the U.S. needs to pay down the national debt by “cutting spending, including eliminating improper payments;” regulatory reform by “eliminating duplicative and burdensome regulations;” lower energy costs and creating jobs and economic growth by accessing America’s “vast energy resources;” replace the Affordable Care Act with a health care plan that “puts people back in charge of their health care decisions, which will truly make health care affordable and available;” and is pro-life: “protecting life in all of its forms.”
Palmer also said he believes it is necessary to have a “strong military,” and that it is important to “respect and honor our veterans.”
JEFFERSON COUNTY SHERIFF
○ Mike Hale, R (I)
○ Mark Pettway, D
JEFFERSON COUNTY DISTRICT COURT JUDGE
► Place 3
○ Pamela Wilson Cousins, D
○ Davis Lawley, R
► Place 11
○ Jill Ganus, R (I)
○ Thomas Thrash, D
JEFFERSON COUNTY COURT JUDGE, CIRCUIT 10
► Place 8
○ Marshell Jackson Hatcher, D
○ Tracey Crisan McDonald, R
► Place 16
○ Linda Hall, D
○ Teresa T. Pulliam, R (I)
► Place 27
○ Alaric May, D
○ Leslie Schiffman Moore, R
JEFFERSON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, CIRCUIT 10
○ Mike Anderton, R (I)
○ Danny Carr, D
JEFFERSON COUNTY PROBATE JUDGE
► Place 1
○ Alan King, D (I)
○ John Tindle, R
JEFFERSON COUNTY CIRCUIT CLERK
○ Jackie Anderson-Smith, D
○ Philip Brown, R
STATEWIDE
► Governor
○ Kay Ivey, R (I)
○ Walter Maddox, D
► Lieutenant Governor
○ Will Ainsworth, R
○ Will Boyd, D
► Secretary of State
○ John Merrill, R (I)
○ Heather Milam, D
► Attorney General
○ Steve Marshall, R (I)
○ Joseph Siegelman, D
► Public Service Commission, Place 1
○ Cara McClure, D
○ Jeremy Oden, R (I)
► Public Service Commission, Place 2
○ Chip Beeker, R (I)
○ Kari Powell, D
► State Supreme Court Chief Justice
○ Tom Parker, R
○ Robert S. Vance, D
► State Supreme Court, Place 4
○ Jay Mitchell, R
○ Donna Wesson Smalley, D
► State Auditor
○ Miranda Joseph, D
○ Jim Zeigler, R (I)
► Alabama Board of Education, District 4
○ Yvette Richardson, D (I)
○ Don Wallace, R