Mike Rogers: The season of giving across East Alabama
Every year during the Christmas season, I like to highlight just a few of the things folks across East Alabama are doing for each other. Below is a small sample of ways our fellow Alabamians have cared for each other over the past year. In Talladega County, The Care House in Sylacauga helps provide food and clothing all year round for any individuals who need it in the area. In Clay County, the Modern Culture Club/Inter-Se Club hosted their annual soup luncheon mid-November to raise money for the local DHR so they could purchase Christmas gifts for local children. This year in Calhoun County, Brad Young with Insurance Planning of Anniston staged his disaster relief vehicle at K.L. Brown Funeral Home in Jacksonville. He provided meals and a place for folks to charge their cell phones after the tornado and storms devastated the area in April. Also in Calhoun County, Piedmont High School students held their annual Seniors Helping Seniors program in March. This program provides services of high school seniors in assisting local senior citizens with errands or chores relating to Spring cleaning. In Randolph County, Handley High School band director Matthew Goodman jogged over 400 miles from Roanoke to New Orleans to raise money. The money raised will help cover the costs so all of his band students would have the opportunity to perform in the 2019 Allstate Sugar Bowl Marching Band Program. In Macon County, the Tri City Church/Macon County Food Bank- will supply food boxes, turkeys, clothing and toys for families in need throughout Macon County. In Cleburne County, the community came together and raised money to help the Willingham family pay for their child’s cancer treatments. In Cherokee County, a program called Jobs for Alabama’s Graduates (JAG) supports at-risk students and helps them graduate from high school. In Smiths Station in Lee County, “Love Touch Assisted Living” Veterans Home served a Thanksgiving meal to local Veterans and will be providing each of them with new gloves, hats and coats for Christmas. It always warms my heart to learn about these acts of kindness. Let’s keep that spirit up throughout the year instead of just during the holidays. ••• Mike Rogers is a member of U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District. Sign-up for his e-Newsletter by visiting www.mikerogers.house.gov. To stay up to date, you can also like him on Facebook at Congressman Mike D. Rogers, follow him on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram at RepMikeRogersAL, on Tumblr at www.repmikerogersal.tumblr.com.
Mike Rogers bests former Miss America Mallory Hagan, wins re-election
Alabama 3rd District U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers will keep his seat in Congress as he defeated Democrat and former Miss America Mallory Hagan on Tuesday. With 27 percent of the precincts reporting, the Associated Press called the race for Rogers who will continue representing the eastern Alabama district. This article will be updated will full results.
A look at the voting history of Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District
For over a century Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District was a solid blue district in U.S. House of Representatives, but in 1997 the district flipped red and it’s not come close to changing back since then. Located in eastern Alabama, the district includes Calhoun, Chambers, Clay, Cleburne, Lee, Macon, Randolph, Russell, St. Clair, Talladega, and Tallapoosa counties as well as portions of Cherokee and Montgomery counties. Since 2003 Rep. Mike Rogers has held the seat. Rogers was first elected in 2002 when Bob Riley successfully ran for governor and left the 3rd district vacant. Prior to that he was a member a member of the Alabama State House of Representatives, and a member of the Calhoun County Commission before that. In the 2018 General Election, Rogers faces political newcomer, former Miss America Mallory Hagan. Prior to her Congressional run, Hagan, an Opelika, Ala. native, worked as co-anchor of the evening newscast on WLTZ in Columbus, Ga. FiveThirtyEight, a statistics-driven news-and-analysis site, anticipates Rogers easily winning the 3rd District yet again. Here’s a look at the voting history of the District: U.S. House, Alabama District 3 General Election 2016 Mike Rogers (R) 69.9 percent 192,164 votes Jesse Smith (D)32.9 32.9 percent 94,549 votes Write-in 0.1 percent 391 40.5 percent 287,104 total votes General Election 2014 Mike Rogers (R) 66.1 percent 103,558 votes Jesse Smith (D) 33.7 percent 52,816 votes Write-in 0.2 percent 246 votes 156,620 total votes General Election 2012 Mike Rogers (R) 64 percent 175,306 votes John Andrew Harris (D) 35.8 percent 52,816 votes Write-in 0.2 percent 483 votes 273,930 total votes General Election 2010 Mike Rogers (R) 59.5 percent 117,736 votes Steve Segrest (D) 40.5 percent 80,204 votes 197,940 total votes General Election 2008 Mike Rogers (R) 54.1 percent 142,708 votes Joshua Segall (D) 45.9 percent 121,080 votes 263,788 total votes
Mallory Hagan says state removed many voters from rolls, labeled inactive
Congressional hopeful Mallory Hagan on Thursday held a press conference on the steps of the Tuskegee Courthouse where she announced a “shockingly high” number of Alabama voters from her district had been removed from active voter lists over the past year, prompting her to create a Voter Protection Committee. Hagan is the Democratic nominee in Alabama’s 3rd U.S. District where she is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers. She said her campaign found “well over 55,000 voters have been disqualified or labeled ‘inactive’ since February of 2017 in the 3rd Congressional District alone.” “Eight months ago, I chose to run for this office because I saw the people around me, the people I know and love, struggling.” said Hagan. “…not through a fault of their own, or through an act of god, but struggling because every day the people of East Alabama face unnecessary bureaucratic burdens. Our schools lack funding, our college students drown in debt, our veterans are denied the care they need, our leaders are wallowing in corruption and our hospitals are closing. My community and our state’s people deserve better.” She continued, “Today, I tell our voters that we must be on high alert… According to our most recent findings, more than 1 in 10 voters here in East Alabama have been removed from the active voter rolls. These voters are either entirely disqualified or have been marked ‘inactive’… We have reason to believe this number is much higher.” Hagan said the Voter Protection Committee was created in order to protect voters from voter suppression efforts between now and election day.The committee will be comprised of lawyers throughout the district working pro-bono to assist in monitoring and addressing voter suppression concerns. “To the voters of East Alabama, I say this: we have your back. If you fear your voice will be lost in the system, if you don’t trust that a government that has failed you could ever be fixed, know that change will not happen until we step up, even when the going gets hard. We cannot allow complications to derail the very elections which are the foundation of democracy. Check your registration status today, find your polling place, and get your ID ready,” Hagan added. Voter roll removal Beginning in January of 2017, as required by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office began a process of contacting all 3.3 million registered Alabama voters. This process, also required under state law, is a two-part mailing program to contact voters and give them the opportunity to verify or update their voter registration information. Additionally, this process provides for the removal of voters that fail to respond to the mailer for that four year election cycle and do not participate in any election during that same four year period. The process begins with non-forwardable postcards being mailed to every registered voter in Alabama. The post card asks the recipient to review their registration information and if the information is accurate they are asked to retain the card. If the information is incorrect or needs to be updated or if the voter on the card no longer lives at that residence the voter is asked to mark return to sender on the card and place it back in the mail. When the voter places the card back in the mail each postcard is delivered to the local county board of registrars office. At that time, it is scanned into the system and recorded that the card was returned. A second post card follows the first mailing but is only sent to the registered voters for which the first postcard was returned to sender. This postcard is allowed to be forwarded to voters that may have a forwarding address on file with the post office. These post cards inform voters that the initial mailing was marked return to sender and that they should either update their information or contact the registrars office to have their name removed if they are no longer located in the state. Voters are also able to update their information through the Secretary of State’s online voter registration platform or the Vote for Alabama app (available for Android and iOS devices). Voters that do not respond to this mailing or that have their postcard returned to sender will be marked as inactive. Inactive voter registration status means that a voter is able to vote as a normal voter on election day but they will also be asked to update their voter registration information when they visit the polls on election day. Voters that wish to check their registration status can do so in a multitude of ways. To check your status electronically voters can visit https://myinfo.alabamavotes.gov/VoterView/Home.do. To check via phone voters can call the Secretary of State’s Office at (334) 242-7210 or their local board of registrars office. The last day to register to vote is Monday, Oct. 22. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6.
