Although there is very little intrigue in next Tuesday's midterm elections in Alabama as Republicans are expected to do well statewide, Democrats and Libertarians will still have a presence on the ballot.
Alabama Republican Party chairman John Wahl told 1819 News he believed there would be big turnout numbers from Republican voters.
According to Wahl, the issues driving Alabama voters to the polls run downstream from Washington, D.C.
"We are really hoping for high Republican turnout," Wahl said. "This election is a referendum on the future of our country. I think we are going to see Republicans coming out to vote to oppose the policies we are seeing coming out of Washington, D.C. A vote for Republicans is a vote to stop runaway inflation in this country, lower the cost of inflation for struggling citizens, help our education be better and help our children.
"Bad policies have real-world consequences. And the policies of the Biden administration and the Democrats are so outrageous that it's hard to ignore. I think the Democrats have forgotten what it means to serve the average person in Alabama and the average person in America."
Despite the seemingly scant campaign activity from the Alabama Democratic Party in the state, Wahl claims they are attempting to influence swing races, albeit while trying to avoid the polarizing issues put forward by the national platform.
"It's interesting because a lot of the Democrat candidates almost seem embarrassed to be Democrats. They are not putting the Democrat symbol on their signs; their mailers don't include that they're Democrats. There seems to be an attempt almost to run as an independent, even though they have qualified and are carrying the banner of the Democrat Party. …I think they know the policies the Democrat Party is putting forward are not resonating with people and would hurt their campaign rather than helping it. But never forget, they could have run as independent, they could have run as Republican, but they chose to endorse the policies and the platform of the Democratic Party.
"The Democrat Party as a whole has been very low key this cycle. But what has not been low key are some of the Democrat candidates in swing areas, political PACs and Democrat operatives have been very much trying to influence elections in some of these swing districts in the state of Alabama."
With Libertarians on the ballot for the first time in two decades, some have speculated votes could shift away from Republican candidates. Wahl said he does not share this belief because many issues vital to Republican voters are under-emphasized or opposed by the Libertarians.
"I think that it is so important that conservatives across Alabama vote Republican," Wahl said. "There are Libertarian candidates, but most of them don't have a record, we don't know how they are going to actually vote, and the Libertarian platform has some very concerning items; whether it's a lack of concern for securing our borders, the concern over the open use of marijuana or where that would leave the safety of our communities. So I think it's very important that conservatives understand that it is the Republican Party that stands for the values that Alabama represents; keeping our communities safe, standing for secure elections, secure borders, fiscal responsibility, protecting our children, and safeguarding the values that matter to the people of Alabama."
Sample ballots by county can be found here.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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