HUNTSVILLE – Chris Horn, a longtime North Alabama Republican activist and radio sports talk host, has dropped out of the Republican primary for the Seventh Congressional District.
Horn, who graduated from Huntsville’s Johnson High and was an All-American football player at the University of Michigan, said he decided to withdraw from the race after receiving data two weeks ago.
“The latest numbers say that as of the day it’s a 2-to-1 advantage plus maybe 10% for active registered voters,” said Horn, a Huntsville native who had a failed bid as secretary of state in 2022. “So 2-to-1 Democrats to Republicans in that district’s active rate of registered voters.
“So as a Republican, there is probably about a 2 to 3% chance that you’re gonna win that.”
Republican Robin Litaker is expected to face U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) in the Nov. 5 general election.
Horn said his hope was to uplift the area where his familial ties are.
“My heritage, tradition and family values come out of Congressional District 7 … with my grandparents and my mother,” he said. “My eight aunts and 50 cousins are from Jefferson County and also from Selma.”
Horn said he also has close ties with the Huntsville area.
“Of course, I was born in Huntsville, Alabama, and raised in Huntsville, Alabama,” he said. “But at the same time, my raising and maturing has been throughout the state of Alabama. So that’s a fit for me.
“Most people only come to Huntsville or they moved to Huntsville. I’m from the red clay itself.”
Horn’s “The Sportz Church” began airing on The Ump (WUMP-AM 730 and 103.9 FM) in November 2022 before he stepped back in November 2023 to focus on his congressional run. However, Horn has been a longtime radio contributor.
“Radio has always been part of being able to connect to the community and being able to connect the community in a way that’s authentic and being able to do so in a community that really deserves to have a conversation, an entertaining conversation, that brings you closer together,” he said. “I like to cover sports. I like to cover politics.
“The topics can be controversial, but I tend to like to cover both sides, to try to have some fun with it and to have a common ground, the goals and values and things that I believe in.”
While opinionated, Horn doesn’t consider himself a controversial figure.
“You don’t have to be controversial to connect,” he said. “I don’t think I am controversial, but you have to listen to the show and find out.’
In the meantime, Horn, who serves as chairman of the Tennessee Valley Republican Club, isn’t ruling out another run for political office.
“I absolutely believe that we need people who don’t see race as their primary foundation but who understand that we need to have leadership that sets out to heal rather than divide,” he said. “And that’s my core focus is to do that and I use that in radio as well to show where we’re more alike than we are apart. That’s really a conservative message, the Christian message. And I think that voice needs to be heard at the highest level and it needs to be heard from me.
“So absolutely, if the opportunity is right, I definitely will.”
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