David Carrington eyes 2018 gubernatorial run

Republican David Carrington announced Tuesday that he has his sights set on becoming Alabama’s next governor rather than running for another term on the Jefferson County Commission.

Carrington said GOP insiders told him he was “cutting into the front of the line,” but the commissioner said his background as a city council and commission president makes him more qualified to be Alabama’s top elected official in 2018 than others.

“I honestly don’t believe that a Washington or Montgomery insider, who either created the mess in Montgomery or stood idly by while the mess was being created, can do what needs to be done in Montgomery to right the ship,” he said.

Carrington was president of Jefferson County when it filed for bankruptcy in 2011, and has presided over budget cuts and staff reductions that have caused multiple debt rating services to upgrade the county’s rating.

The commissioner also serves as president of RacingUSA.com, a website that bills itself as the “world’s most frequently shopped, independently owned store for officially licensed NASCAR merchandise.”

The path from Jefferson County Commissioner to the governor’s mansion is a long one, and Carrington will have to face off against many better-known and well-funded candidates vying for the job.

Still, Carrington believes he is the most qualified candidate for the job.

“Here is the way I see it,” he said Tuesday on the Matt Murphy Radio Show. “Montgomery is a mess, as was Jefferson County the day I was sworn into office six years ago. Now, hardly a day goes by that someone doesn’t tell me that things are much better in Jefferson County than they were on my first day in office.

“Let’s be honest, not many citizens gave me and my fellow commissioners a prayer of ever turning around Jefferson County and it was accomplished in less than four years,” he continued. “I truly believe the same can happen in Montgomery with the right leadership team.”