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Learn About the 7 Democrats Running in the Aug. 15 Special Senate Primary Election

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Remember recent elections where there was literally “nobody to vote for” because Alabama Democrats couldn’t field even one candidate? Hopefully, those days are over. On Tuesday, August 15, you get to pick from not one, not two, but seven candidates!

Haven’t chosen a favorite yet? Here are some links and video clips to help you make your decision.  If you do have a favorite, please tell us in the comments who you picked and why!

We’ve had many candidate forums held across Alabama and organizers posted some of them online.

Here we go… Candidates are in alphabetical order.

 

Will Boyd

Boyd was the Democratic candidate in AL-05 against Congressman Mo Brooks in 2016. His slogan is “People Over Politics.”

Vann Caldwell

Caldwell is a Talladega County constable who ran as a Hillary Clinton delegate in 2016. His campaign slogan is “We the People Command.”

Jason Fisher

Fisher is a non-profit organization executive from the Gulf Coast. He’s a single father raising a daughter with special needs, so he has a lot of experience with the health care system. His campaign slogan is “A New Generation of Leadership.”

Michael Hansen

Hansen is the Senate candidate who has taken social media by storm. He’s director of a non-profit health advocacy organization in Birmingham. Hansen says that Alabama deserves a fresh face in Washington.

Doug Jones

A former US District Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Jones helped convict two Klansman who participated in the 1963 Birmingham church bombing. He has gained some significant endorsements, include former VP Joe Biden, and Rep. John Lewis.

Robert Kennedy, Jr.

No, he’s not one of those Kennedys – the Massachusetts variety. This Kennedy is a sort of mystery candidate who brags that he has “no money and no endorsements.” He says that he is a “God first fiscally conservative Democrat.”

Charles Nana

A naturalized American citizen, Charles Nana was a 2016 Senate primary candidate, and now he’s making another run for a Senate seat. He says it’s time for a “Fresh New Wind” in Alabama politics.

Here’s your to-do list for the Senate primary:

  1. Check the status of your registration and find your polling place at the Alabama Secretary of State’s Web site.
  2. Choose your favorite Democratic candidate.
  3. Grab some friends and go to the polls on Tuesday, August 15.

The Secretary of State is predicting very low turnout (20-25%) for the primary on Tuesday. A low turnout election often produces unexpected results. With this many candidates, just a few votes could make the difference. Don’t assume anything.  GO VOTE!

Comments

  1. One thing I don’t see these profiles address openly is the candidates’ positions on women’s health care choices–primarily, no pun intended, birth control and abortion.  I refuse to support any candidate who does not support a woman’s right to choose.

    • Well, these aren’t candidate “profiles.” This article is a list of resources where you can go and learn more about the candidates.

      Probably the best way to get your questions answered it to go to the Web sites and we linked to the Web site of every candidate.

      For instance…. Doug Jones’ “Issues” page has a section titled “Women’s Health and Equality.”

      I will defend women’s access to contraception and a woman’s right to choose and fight any legislation or executive action that would allow insurance companies to discriminate against women. Planned Parenthood provides essential preventative and reproductive health care services like cancer screenings, STD testing and low-cost birth control to millions of American women who have no insurance or otherwise can’t afford these services. I stand with Planned Parenthood.

      Also, this issue is also addressed at the links to the candidate debates/forums. There’s no way to do a comprehensive list of EVERY issue and where every candidate stands. Well… there is if we had an unlimited amount of volunteers or the money to pay staff…. But this is what one person can offer.

      • My guy Mike Hansen is for a single payer system so that covers half of Doug’s points about insurance denying coverage. He said this about abortion I trust women and their doctors to make healthcare decisions that are best for them and their families.

  2. I have a litmus test. It is support for a Single Payer Medicare for all system. I will not vote for someone who doesn’t. One one candidate supports Medicare for all and that’s Mike Hansen.

    • Thanks Brian!

      Wondering… do you have a 2nd choice?  I have it narrowed down to 2 favorites and it’s hard to decide.

      • I’m not a single issue kind of guy, but healthcare is my number one issue. Based on their statements Fisher followed by Jones are the most agreeable. That being said simply protecting The ACA is not enough 27 million Americans still don’t have coverage. I like th ACA, but it equates to putting ointment and some gauze wrap over a festering stab wound. A good first step, but we’ve got a long way to go.

        • Oh, i ment to put i will not support a candidate through donations or volunteer work a candidate that doesn’t support single payer. I’ll vote for anyone left of center on the issue. I’d sit out if we put up a blue dog or conservadem though.

    • They probably looked at the recent history for female Democrats running for statewide offices and figured, “Why bother?”

      In 2014, Jeff Sessions ran UNOPPOSED for the US Senate–not just in the GOP primary but in the general election.  In that year’s governor’s race, NO woman ran for the seat from either party.

      In 2010, neither the US Senate race nor the Governor’s race attracted a single woman to compete at the primary level for either the GOP or Democrats.

      In 2008, Vivian Figures trounced TWO men in the Democratic primary.  She got similarly trounced by Sessions in the general election.  (While Obama lost the State at the Presidential level, Figures couldn’t even get as many votes as Obama got.  Overall, the Senate race had 39,000 fewer votes cast but Figures received roughly 61,000 fewer votes than Obama got; Sessions, on the other hand, got 39,000 MORE votes than McCain did.)

      Even looking at “lower-profile” state races, no Democratic woman has managed to crack the 40% mark in the general election since 2010 (for that matter, few Democratic men have done so either but there’s generally more pressure on women to avoid running unless there’s a very good chance at winning).

  4. I will vote for Will Boyd. He is a good person and is fully qualified to be a US Senator. He has the business sense needed to bring jobs to Alabama and the moral sense to do what’s right. He will help stabilize healthcare to make it fair for all citizens.

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