After being removed from the House District 7 GOP primary ballot by the Alabama Republican Executive Committee, Dr. Angelo "Doc" Mancuso has now kicked off an independent campaign for the office.
Prior to the committee's decision, Mancuso argued the body should allow him to remain on the ballot despite questions from his opponent, State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough (R-Trinity), and the Alabama Republican Party regarding his political allegiances, given his past state legislative service as a Democrat.
On Tuesday, Mancuso spoke to 1819 News about his new campaign and claimed the decision to remove him from the Republican ballot was a forgone conclusion from the beginning.
"I would say, I pretty much decided to begin an Independent campaign after I got out of the Inquisition given by that Steering Committee, which was fixed from the start, and not just for me, but with the other candidates as well," Mancuso said. "When I was at that steering committee hearing, I basically told these other candidates, don't expect that they're going to pass anybody here. I'd gotten wind that this decision was made over two weeks ago. I had two lawyers there because I needed them as witnesses. I told them ahead of time, pretty much what was going to happen. I said, I need you for witnesses, because these people will not back up anything that I say that happened there."
Mancuso took issue with the steering committee for clearing U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and former ALGOP chairman JohnWahl to run for office. He also attacked the possibility of a closed primary system in Alabama.
"I've been down in Montgomery before. I know what a dog and pony show is. And what they do is they pick a few people, they line them up, and they let the top ones go, like they've done with Tuberville and Wahl," Mancuso claimed. "Who are they to come in and stop people trying to get on the ballot, preventing ballot access. That's what a primary is for. The primary is for the people to come in and vote up or down. Not for a party to give you one choice."
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