Greg Lowery, a candidate in the Republican primary for the House District 16 special election, was removed from the ballot last week by the Alabama Republican Party.
According to Lowery, party leadership removed him from the ballot because Lowery ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for Fayette County Probate Judge in 2018.
Lowery said on his campaign website party bylaws require a candidate to sit out six years before running as a Republican if a candidate had previously run as a Democrat.
Lowery touts endorsements from General Michael Flynn, Pastor Greg Locke and Mike Lindell on his website.
"We are devastated, and voters just had their right to choose taken away," Lowery said in a statement. "It's one thing for a candidate to lose an election in a clean fair race. It's a totally different intent when election interference is used to disqualify a candidate you feel you may not beat. I genuinely thank our supporters for believing in me and our fight for the American way. If it's the people's choice, we will return to the ballot in the not-so-distant future."
Lowery's campaign criticized party leadership for accepting his qualifying money and announcing him on the official ALGOP website as a qualified candidate only to then disqualify him a few weeks before the primary in the special election. In a press release, Lowery's campaign stated that he had "campaigned for months spending advertising funds and building relationships across the district."
The question of whether to refund Lowery his ALGOP qualifying fee for the House race is on the agenda for the next meeting of the ALGOP Steering Committee.
"Despite Fayette County Party Chairman John Killian's written objection to the complaint, despite Lowery having some the nation's top endorsements and supporters, despite the known fact of Lowery touring on the ReAwaken America Tour [whose] keynote speakers are but not limited to:
⁃ General Michael Flynn, the former National Security Advisor to President Trump,
⁃ Pastor Greg Locke, the world's largest online pastor,
⁃ Mike Lindell, My Pillow CEO, and others,
Despite encountering protesters, riots and Antifa while his coach was leased out on the said tour, and despite Lowery out advocating for our Rights and Freedoms, America First Policies, banning China land purchases, banning this new Central Bank Digital Currency rollout coming to replace the dollar… which was all in motion prior to HD16's seat becoming open, the ALGOP steering committee voted on Monday night August 28, 2023 to uphold this new bylaw amendment and disqualified Lowery's candidacy based on him being short by one year of sitting out," the release stated.
According to the Alabama Republican Party website, current qualified Republican candidates in the House District 16 race are Bryan Brinyark, Brad Cox, Greg Fanin, Floyd "JR" Rodgers Jr., and Mike Simpson.
Gov. Kay Ivey set the special primary election for Tuesday, September 26; the special primary runoff, if necessary, for Tuesday, October 24; and the special general election for Tuesday, January 9, 2024. This seat was previously held by Kyle South, who resigned effective June 30 to serve as president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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