TUSCUMBIA — On Saturday morning, a sampling of Republican candidates for national and state office joined the Shoals Republican Club in Tuscumbia to discuss their candidacies ahead of the May 19 primary election.
In attendance were U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise), candidate for U.S. Senate; businessman Rodney Walker, candidate for U.S. Senate; Nicole Jones Wadsworth, candidate for lieutenant governor; Steve Lolley, candidate for Alabama state treasurer; and Jay Mitchell, candidate for Alabama attorney general.
The candidates had around 20 minutes to state their case, with a few more minutes to answer any questions. Each one opened with personal statements surrounding their ties to the state and the communities they serve, and why they were running for their chosen offices.
Moore was first to speak and talked about his journey from a waste management business owner to a representative in the swamp of Washington, D.C.
Moore joked, “The transition from garbage to politics is pretty easy to make. You know, you just have to go through and sort through all the bad stuff in D.C. We recycle it, we try to pick out the good stuff and get that back on the next legislative process and get it in a bill or in a law or whatever the case is going to be.”
The congressman also illuminated his spiritual conviction that people of faith in the political process was a necessity. He said that D.C. needed people who “are willing to step up for what they believe in.”
Moore detailed his conservative voting record both in the State House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives and promised to fight alongside President Donald Trump to secure the Golden Age of America, and for Alabama, which has been secured through economic initiatives such as the Hadrian Alabama plant in Cherokee.
“I've been in the fight with [Trump] for 11 years," he explained. "I've been in five years of D.C. fights with him. We're not going to let this America First agenda die.”
Moore touted that he has the relationships and infrastructure in place to continue and deepen the work U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) has done in the Senate.
“Day one, we're ready to go. I've got most of my staff in place. I've got the relationships in place. And when I call the president, he takes my calls," he stated. “When he talks about the golden age of America, there's an opportunity to have a golden age in Alabama because of the relationships.”
On the contrary, Rodney Walker, the other candidate for U.S. Senate, wanted it known that he is “a career businessman."
"I'm not a career bureaucrat or a career politician. I've not run for office. I'm here to serve you, all of the people of the state of Alabama, and I want to work hard for you," he declared.
Along with pushing for term limits and working to steer resources to fix Alabama’s infrastructure, Walker emphasized his most important goal if elected to the U.S. Senate: “We must balance our budget.”
Walker pointed out that when he launched his candidacy in July 2025, the deficit had increased to almost $4 trillion, from $36 trillion to $38.9 trillion.
“We must stop thinking that we can just print money," he emphasized. We cannot print money, and we're kicking the ball down the road to our kids and our grandkids.”
Walker urged, “We must have people that you send to Washington, D.C. that understands how to read a balance sheet, that know what assets and liabilities are, and to start worrying about our country and our kids and our grandkids.
“If we don't start worrying about our national debt, and if we don't start treating the government as a business, we're not going to have any businesses, and we may not have a country for long," he added.
State treasurer candidate Steve Lolley wants to implement Alabama DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency).
“Do you remember? A year ago, DOGE was exciting. Everybody was talking about it on CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox News. They were all talking about DOGE and how great and wonderful a lot of us thought it was. But then what happened? You don't hear anything about DOGE anymore," he said.
If elected, Lolley said he plans “to disclose how the income is coming in on every dollar that we get that runs through the state office, which is a lot of it.”
Lolley emphasized the importance of transparency in government.
“Sunshine helps everybody. Anything that can be exposed helps out. And I'm not saying that anything's being done wrong, but you guys need to have that power to know how your money is being spent," he stated.
Lolley said the state treasurer’s job should be simple: “[It’s about] fiscal responsibility. And that's a broad term, can be used a lot of ways, but we all know fiscal responsibility is something that has been lacking from the local level to the county to the state to the federal, and that's what I want to be able to do.”
Lieutenant governor candidate Nicole Jones Wadsworth outlined her “Build a Better Alabama” plan.
“I want to utilize the office of lieutenant governor to improve the quality of life for Alabamians in the areas of industry recruitment and retention, workforce development, statewide infrastructure improvements, rural health care, and public safety," she stated
Wadsworth acknowledged the limitations placed on the lieutenant governor's role, especially following the recent unanimous vote by the Alabama Legislature to further limit the appointment and administrative authorities once held by that office. However, Wadsworth still affirmed that she wants to elevate the office to achieve more and use “that platform and truly put Alabama first.”
Jay Mitchell said he is running for attorney general because he felt “called to the front lines of the MAGA movement," adding, "And we feel called to this moment.”
He expanded on exactly what this moment meant.
“If we're going to have true, lasting conservative change in America, it can't just happen in D.C. It's got to take place in the states, and if you really want to boil it down, it's got to take root in the red states, which is why it's so critically important that we elect leaders in this next election who don't just wear the right party label, who don't just say the right things, but who understand what time it is in America. This is not a time for defense, for lying back, for being passive. This is a time for going on offense with President Trump, and soon to be Governor Tuberville.”
Mitchell said his two main priorities, if elected, would be combating violent crime and partnering with President Trump and a potential Governor Tuberville to enact generational conservative changes.
“This is going to be my number one priority: I'm going to deal with the problem of violent crime in our state.”
Mitchell discussed the hotspots of Birmingham, Montgomery, Bessemer and Selma as starting places since they are blue cities with blue mayors who go light on law enforcement. Mitchell said he supports Tuberville’s call to deploy the National Guard to Birmingham and Montgomery.
“I'll tell you, I support that. I think we can do it in a strategic and a precise way that will make a difference for those cities and for those regions," he emphasized. “I think we're at a point in this state where it's time for Alabama state government to flex on some of these blue cities that aren't getting the job done for their citizens.”
Mitchell also focused on what a state-level partnership could achieve.
“Of course, we're talking about the National Guard, but there are all kinds of tools in the toolbox that the governor and the attorney general can put to work to make sure we're keeping Alabamians safe. And I'm going to be fully committed to that," he said.
Mitchell also wants to partner with Tuberville to ensure “that radical Islam doesn't take root in Alabama.”
In the Senate contest, American Pulse Research & Polling shows Moore leading the pack by 26%, with Attorney General Steve Marshall and Navy SEAL Jared Hudson close behind. Another poll shows Rodney Walker at less than 3%. Several of these polls show that 35-47% of voters are still undecided.
The lieutenant governor’s race has become the most competitive and is looking like a three-man runoff between Secretary of State Wes Allen, former Republican Party chairman John Wahl (who is endorsed by Trump) and Agricultural Commissioner Rick Pate. Wadsworth does not appear to factor in the major polls.
The attorney general race is also tightening. Mitchell leads the race in both polling (12%) and fundraising (over $2 million), followed by Katherine Robertson, who serves as chief counsel to the current attorney general, and Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey.
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell, As the Girl Turns, is an investigative journalist, author, opinion analyst, and contributor to 1819 News, Redstate, and other publications. Jennifer writes on Politics and Pop Culture, with occasional detours into Reinvention, Yoga, and Food. You can read more about Jennifer's world at her As the Girl Turns website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.
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