MOBILE — Speaking to the Mobile County Republican Party Monday, Caroleene Dobson, the Republican nominee for Alabama's second congressional district contest in November, raised a “sweet home Alabama” issue.
She is running in the newly drawn second congressional district against Democratic Party nominee Shomari Figures.
Dobson painted contrasts between herself and Figures.
“Shomari’s home is Washington. My home is Alabama,” she said. “He worked for the Obama administration and for Biden’s attorney general Merrick Garland. I will work for the people of Alabama.”
Dobson listed some specific things she will work for that are local to Alabama.
“It is so vitally important that we have someone who advocates for the specific needs of south Alabama – someone who will fight for the port, who will fight for federal funding for the I-10 Bridge and Bayway project, and who will fight for the snapper fishery.”
“We need to build good Alabama jobs and a strong national defense by supporting the vital work of Austal and Airbus. America is not even in the top 10 nations in shipbuilding. I will work to fix that.”
Dobson drew a contrast as a non-politician, first-time candidate for office. She is from a cattle-raising family in Monroe County, in the middle of the second congressional district. Figures has been a full-time political operative in Washington.
“You know that I am not a politician, that I grew up in rural Monroe County on a farm. And growing up on that farm, I learned firsthand the concept of stewardship – that we all are temporary caretakers of God’s gifts and that, like Adam and like the good and faithful servant, He expects us to care for and cultivate the gifts he has given us. That’s how you and I approach life – we are stewards not only of people and opportunities, but we are stewards of our children, of the hearts and minds of our next generation.”
“It’s on us to not only ensure that our children and grandchildren have a nation to inherit but that they are instilled with the values of hard work, humility, freedom and courage that have made our country so great. And that’s why I’m running – to fight for Alabama families, all Alabama families, because the Biden administration and the left have shown repeatedly that they do not understand stewardship, that they are more concerned with pursuing their own power than they are with empowering our next generation to succeed.”
“The Biden administration has jeopardized the safety and very sovereignty of our nation with the open border policy. We now have an estimated eight to ten million non-taxpayers seeking our social services. “
“Crime is running rampant through our communities – whether it’s the tragedies like the brutal assault of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray that seem to occur daily now or the fact that, last year, 1,500 Alabamians died from fentanyl, much of it manufactured in China and walked across our southern border.”
“We have to secure the border, complete a barrier and enforce the stay in Mexico policy. Biden’s border policy is just one way that he has squandered our strength and security and diminished our standing in the world. From the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan to the unfreezing of billions of dollars to Iran immediately following in the wake of the Hamas attacks, Biden has demonstrated time and again to our enemies that he is a weak leader.”
“It’s not just a signal to our enemies – young men and women are taking note, too, and choosing not to serve our country. Can you really blame them when our commander-in-chief lacks capacity to stand before a grand jury?”
“Our troop numbers are as low now as they were right before WWII, and according to the Department of Defense, the combined branches of the military missed their recruiting goals in 2023 by over 40,000 troops. We have to restore trust with our service men and women.”
Dobson announced her four-part plan to restore the U.S. military:
Giving them clear and simple rules of engagement.
Focus on combat readiness rather than social engineering.
Treat our veterans with the respect that they deserve and give them access to the treatment and services they need.
Ensure members have the equipment and technology they need to succeed.
“We can only have peace when we can deter the evil powers of the world and we can only deter when we restore the strength that the Biden administration has diminished.
“The Biden administration has also proved itself poor stewards of the resources of our country. Bidenomics is a three-headed monster that has attacked opportunity in this country from every angle. Taxation/overregulation, Labor, and Energy.
“Liberal democrats like Biden and Shomari Figures have demonstrated time and again that they don’t understand stewardship and they will continue to wreak havoc on the future of our families unless we fight back. I know how much harder it’s become to put food on your table and gas in your car. I want my girls to grow up in a country that rewards the values of hard work, faith and family, but all of us can see that dream slipping away. You know, after the debate, people have said, this makes the race easier for you. It does in that it confirmed to the world what we have known for a long time – that Biden lacks capacity to lead and that he is a puppet for the far left. But the debate also makes this race all the more important.
“The weakness of Biden in the debate demonstrates that not only is my opponent a Washington insider, an Obama acolyte who has spent his entire career in Washington fighting for liberal causes and most recently, serving in Merrick Garland’s weaponized DOJ. It also demonstrates that my opponent has willingly and fraudulently perpetuated the fantasy that Biden was mentally competent for the job. This demonstrates without question that Shomari will go with the flow and tow the party line to advance his career regardless of the damage caused to the American people and to the people of this district.
“Shomari wants to go to Washington because that’s his home. I don’t want to go Washington, but I do want to make Washington once again work for us, because Alabama is and always will be my home.”
Counties in the new second congressional district are Washington, southern Clarke, Monroe, Conecuh, Butler, Crenshaw, Pike, Montgomery, Bullock, Macon, Russell, Barbour and parts of Mobile: most of the city of Mobile and most of northern Mobile County.
AL-2 extends from the Mississippi line at Mobile to the Georgia line at Russell County. The two vote-heavy counties in the district are Montgomery and Mobile counties.
Citizens anywhere in Alabama can register to vote via the Alabama Secretary of State's site at AlabamaVotes.gov.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler’s beat is colorful and positive about Alabama. He writes about Alabama people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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