Former Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) chairman John Wahl joined Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show" this week to discuss his ongoing campaign for lieutenant governor and a recent ballot challenge aimed at disqualifying him from the election.
According to Wahl, the attempt to remove him from the GOP ticket was funded by his opponent, Secretary of State Wes Allen, who paid the Al Agricola Law Firm $20,000 on January 26. Shortly after the payment, the firm filed a challenge against Wahl on behalf of former State Rep. Gil Isbell (R-Gadsden).
"We now know where that ballot challenge came from. It came from one of my opponents, who actually paid $20,000 under the table to a lawyer to file a challenge against me," Wahl explained. "So I questioned the motives behind it, to start with. But at the end of the day, what that challenge was all about, what some of your listeners have heard, is that I had a Tennessee residence at one point. I completely agree with that. It's true. I've never tried to hide that, but that's not what the Constitution requires."
Wahl explained the premise for the candidate challenge filed against him.
"It doesn't say if you've had a residence somewhere out of state. It says you have to have had a residence in Alabama, and I can prove this to the state candidate committee that I have had a residence in Alabama for the required time period," Wahl stated.
"Just because you have a second residence does not disqualify you from running for office. I was born in Alabama. I was raised in Alabama. I love this state, and it's ludicrous for anyone to think that I'm not qualified to run for this position, not ready to take the fights on as we fight for the people of Alabama. You can see that in my record as state party chairman."
The former chairman argued that as a farmer, his operation can require multiple pieces of property, including the one rented for a short time in Tennessee.
"It's healthy to have more than one operation to separate it. And so in 2020, I looked at expanding my operation into Tennessee, into moving up there," Wahl noted. "I was looking at a parcel of property that a friend of mine owned. He had over 100 acres, and he wanted to sell about 30 acres to me. I rented that property. Was looking to grow my business operation into that area."
COVID, according to Wahl, halted the expansion into Tennessee.
"Then COVID hit. Most of my places I supply to our exhibits and zoos and botanical gardens," continued Wahl. "When that hit, I did not know if I had a viable financial structure moving forward to expand it, to put the money into the business operation. It kind of fell through, and it never actually materialized."
"Perfectly legitimate story. Nothing negative, nothing nasty, nothing unethical. Just a businessman looking into expanding his operation," added Wahl.
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