If you find yourself digesting any form of media you will notice quickly the omnipresent nature of national political discourse. The beltway elites make it so easy to distract away from the choices that actually make a difference: local elections. Busy with work, I too have been distracted by the election year noise and am just now settling in, attempting to wrap my head around the local political landscape.
My research began with a review of the sample ballot in Madison County. I fondly recall the time I spent learning about the resources our local officials provide to stay abreast of election information during my high school summer internship in the Probate Court. Immediately, while trying to digest the General Election Sample Ballot, I was struck by the noticeable absence of democratic contenders for county or state offices. Is this not the same community that just a mere two years ago was called purple? The context to my question is what answers it.
Recalling the 2022 election, I remember hearing from political operators, and regular folks alike, that the mood of the day was brewing for this to be one of the most competitive contests the local GOP had been faced with. The Democratic Party recruited hard-working candidates and fought with all its might up until election day to ensure their electoral victories.
According to Madison County election Results, freshman State Rep. Phillip Rigsby (R-Monrovia) earned a decisive 57% victory over his Democratic challenger. That is not a purple district.
Long-term legislator Tom Butler (R-Madison) won his state Senate contest with a similar margin of 54% against successful businesswoman and former Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce Chair Kim Lewis.
These results would suggest that the pundits may have miscalculated; certainly a community morphing more center would be reflected through much tighter margins.
Some have asked if the performance of these 2022 races was the reason for the absence of Democratic candidates. But I don’t think that’s the reason. The local Democratic Party and state Democratic Party are non-viable relics of their once dominant past.
Alabama’s fractured Democratic leadership is still in a very public feud about the direction of their shrinking political operation and who will lead it.
The Democratic National Committee inserted itself into the workings of the Alabama Committee branch but to no avail. The party is still too busy fighting among itself to even begin thinking about fighting its formidable, far more effective and better organized Republican rivals.
Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones said the current Democratic leadership of Alabama “have consistently tried to stifle the diverse voices of the Democratic electorate in order to maintain their control and power.” That is sharp criticism from one of the most popular Democratic leaders in the state, and particularly for it to be directed toward his own base.
The reason there are no Democratic candidates is actually a simple one: Alabama is a Republican state.
Ambitious organizers of the Libertarian party worked to get ballot access, and they did. But this opposition won’t amount to much and not a single Libertarian will win. Madison County is not purple. Most importantly: conservative leadership will once again prevail onward, bringing our robust economy and serious workforce potential right along with it.
There are enclaves of more left leaning constituencies in Alabama and sometimes odd things happen, too.
Marilyn Lands flipped State House District 10 in a poorly advertised special election. She outworked her opponent considerably and the true test will be in 2026.
Jaylen Cotton is a local small business owner living in North Alabama. He is a graduate of Sparkman High School and ran in the 2022 Republican primary for the Madison County School Board.
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