Democratic U.S. Senate candidate recently spoke with 1819 News about his campaign. Dean is the former Mayor of Brighton in Jefferson County.
1819 News asked Dean if a Black inner-city Mayor could win a statewide general election in Alabama.
“James Brown recorded 'Thanks,” Dean said. “'I've been through all them changes, A lot of stuff came down. I've dealt with all the issues. You might say I've been around.' His sentiments are exactly my own as a citizen who has served in elected office, undergone extraordinary public persecution, and survived displacement and justice system involvement. This can hardly be said of my perennial opposition in the Democratic Primary and certainly not of the Republican cohort of unscrupulous candidates who instigate insurrection, disgrace public education, and would deny women choice. Quite critically, I am competitive. Currently, a leaning and weighted call from Our Campaigns predicts that I will clear this Democratic Primary. The same organization is indecisive about what the outcome of the GOP Primary will be."
Dean and both of his Democratic primary opponents are Black men.
“Inevitably the 2022 nominee will be a Black male,” Dean said. “If it’s me I’ll likely be the youngest nominee in state history.
“In the 21st Century Alabama Democrats have nominated two women: State Auditor Susan Parker (2002) and State Senator Vivian Figures (2008)), one Black man: Wayne Sowell (2004), and three white males: William Barnes (2010), Ron Crumpton (2016), and Doug Jones (special 2017)). It is of note that in 2014 no Democrat qualified to compete for the Class II seat held by Jeff Sessions. The richness of my experiences as a sixth-generation son of Alabama as well as the important narrative management that my success in the primary and general would instigate on the issue of ballot justice and previous dishonest connections made to voter fraud will matter in the public conscience.”
He said this will be Alabama’s third attempt to send a Black citizen to what he referred to as "The Douglass Commonwealth," - the name chosen by supporters of making Washington D.C. the 51st state - as her U.S. Senator. He said that the nominee and senator righteously should be a millennial, a wage worker, a person carrying student loan debt, a person with raw experiences on both sides of the criminal justice system, and that person should not assume a bowed posture on critical issues to gain favorability with hostile single-issue voters.
“I think the White guys want Katie Britt,” Dean told 1819 News. “If I win, they are going to be upset because I’ll be asking for resources and exposure that they don’t wanna give.
“They’ve cut a deal. That’s all there is to it.”
1819 News asked Dean if he was prepared for former President Donald J. Trump to come to Alabama to campaign against him and for his GOP opponent.
“Look man, I am the anti-Trump,” Dean said. “Ain’t enough room in Alabama for both of us. We both simply cannot be. This is the crisis I’m facing politically and personally.
He said Alabama has a contingent even of moderate Democrats who don’t exactly want to reduce Trump to his rightful status and there’s a contingent that sees him as not so bad and then there are his fans.
“An imitation of a White man won’t defeat a White man," said Dean. "But Alabama voters are talked out of believing in the strength of a Black messiah. Trump has fans because he doesn’t talk around issues even when doesn’t know what (expletive) he’s talking about, he talks straight. Those same White people would value that energy no matter the color of the person, but they don’t allow the anti-Trump to [be]come manifest.”
1819 News asked Dean about how Trump got 1,441,170 votes here in 2020, and interestingly, Doug Jones got 71,102 more votes than Joe Biden.
“Biden was underwhelming and Doug had the benefit of incumbency that didn’t go far enough,” Dean said. “Trump has been given the microphone. The voices that can drown him out have been silenced.”
“I need to be inflammatory.”
Dean is a strong supporter of labor unions and the organized labor movement.
“Safety nets must be guaranteed for workers while in dispute," said Dean. "Ensuring that corporations are disempowered to retaliate against employees is a meaningful show of support. Making the connections between root causes and outcomes matters in labor exploitation casework. Assure that workers understand that they are not on trial by the corporations in these circumstances is needed affirmation.”
Dean is a supporter of extending the period of time that Alabamians are allowed to vote by instituting early voting.
“Early voting would eliminate most of these suspect and questionable behaviors in the balloting process,” Dean said. “One of the challenges for my mayoral campaign was the lack of process, continuity and instruction we could get at the ready. The process was treated like a secret process rather than a sacred one.”
Dean also said he would introduce legislation to create a pilot project creating a $200,000 a year salary “for master public elementary educators.
“I’m Brandaun Dean," Dean said. "Throughout my adolescence and adult life, I have been a student of the United States Senate. As a youth, in Brighton, I had aspirations of a career in NASCAR and being a champion bloodline dog breeder. The U.S. Senate has widely been my most unspoken ambition outside of fatherhood. I’ve dedicated this time in my life to realizing both of those extraordinary responsibilities...Politically, I am an admirer of the legacy of American statesmen Frederick Douglass, Dr. King, Malcolm X, and Senator Robert Kennedy. In my view, Harriet Tubman’s impact in America is unmatched by any historical figure."
Will Boyd, Brandaun Dean, and Lanny Jackson are running in the Democratic primary on May 24.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandon.moseley@1819News.com.
