Shelby County Republicans will find more than the contested statewide races on their ballots when they return to the polls on Tuesday. District Court Judge Place 3, a new district court position, is up for grabs with Ben Fuller and Jarred "Jay" Welborn in the runoff.
In the primary, Welborn received 7,733 votes (33.6%), and Fuller received 6,831 (29.81%); 36% of voters didn't vote for either candidate, leaving the race wide open.
Welborn's wife, Erin Welborn, was elected in 2022 to the same court. This would put two of the three countywide seats in one home, a fact that has raised several questions among concerned residents and local lawyers.
Erin has appeared in several of Welborn's daily videos and campaign posts, and has even turned her own judicial campaign Facebook page, which was used for official purposes such as public notices of training sessions, into an additional campaign page for her husband. Her profile photo and banner image are Jay Welborn advertisements against the backdrop of her official title.
The two share a campaign consultant.
"Would there be a conflict if a husband-wife duo were to hold two out of three judge county seats?" is a question asked so often that Welborn has addressed it in multiple posts, saying that he does not believe so.
He cites unrelated examples, including siblings and parent/child, as evidence that there would be no conflict, while largely ignoring the portion of the questions that address issues that may arise when two individuals from the same household serve in the same capacity.
Welborn declined the opportunity to speak to 1819 News for this story, instead having a campaign staffer return the call. The campaign later requested written questions.
According to his social media accounts, Welborn has made his "experience" a central theme of his campaign; however, a cursory search of AlaCourt, the state's judicial recordkeeping database, shows few cases listed for Welborn beyond those in which his wife was actively engaged. The records show that he has had few active cases on his own since she was elected.
He also served a short stint at the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles.
"As a Parole Court administrative hearing officer with the State Bureau of Pardons and Paroles I gained experience in how to conduct evidentiary hearings just as a judge would in a courtroom setting," Jay wrote in one of two social media posts describing the job.
However, that experience has also raised questions for voters.
"He was not an effective attorney," a source with direct knowledge of Welborn's time with the state explained to 1819 News.
The source added that Jay's temperament was not well-suited to the position. Ultimately, Jay resigned.
Fuller has served as an assistant district attorney for over a decade, leading prosecutions in some of our most serious criminal cases.
"I've had the deepest level of experience in this race," Fuller told 1819 News in a phone interview between door-to-door campaigning.
"I have built my career in the courtroom, tackling the toughest issues that we face as a county. I've done everything from speeding tickets to Capitol Murder cases. I've handled everything from the most minor thing that you might get in the court system to, by far, the most serious thing that we undertake in our court system, and I've got the experience to go in and to do it right," he said.
"That's what my career's been about, going in and doing things the right way, making the right decision. And knowing how to make those decisions, because you kind of only get that experience from working in the courtroom and trying cases and handling these serious matters," Fuller said.
Fuller also stressed his conservative values and experience with the party. According to his website, he was a member of the College Republicans, a founding member of the Shelby County Young Republicans and currently serves as a state committeeman. He is also an active member of the Shelby County Republican Party Executive Committee.
"I'm conservative through and through. I tell folks I'm conservative and a Republican. I don't know that those things shouldn't be mutually exclusive. Sometimes they are," he said before saying that he would apply the rule of law apolitically.
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