The battle for the 5th Congressional seat being vacated by Mo Brooks has become more heated as the Republican primary comes to a close. With it comes more questions and evidence of which candidates are loyal to the principles of the Alabama GOP and President Donald Trump. The primary candidates for the seat are John Roberts, Paul Sanford, Dale Strong, and Casey Wardynski. Wardynski’s decision to hire a decidedly anti-Trump campaign manager, his stance supporting Common Core, and his voting record have led some of his detractors to question Wardynski’s judgment.
Chad Niblett, Wardynski’s campaign manager, is under fire for old social media posts that show anti-Trump views while Wardynski himself has a checkered past with Alabama GOP stances on hot button issues like Common Core.
Another issue that has raised the question of Wardynski’s allegiance to the ALGOP is his decision to hire Niblett as his campaign manager. While Niblett also has experience with Rep. Jerry Carl’s campaign in the past, he also has quite a history of anti-Trump rhetoric.
In one post, Niblett admitted to not voting for Judge Roy Moore in 2017. In that tweet, he also makes clear that he believes Trump’s accusers in allegations that Trump himself has claimed to be “false.” Niblett wrote on Twitter, “Also, the allegations against Moore were only one reason that I didn’t vote for him. I think it should be clear that I believe Trump’s accusers. I should have listened to them before, but I didn’t. I will in 2020.”
While all of these Twitter posts have since been deleted from Niblett’s page, the screenshots provided to Alabama Today show a pattern of disparaging remarks about Trump. In 2019, Niblett commented to Kamala Harris via Twitter, stating, “Just wish the last administration would have. At least Trump has taken some steps. I can’t stand his orange a**, but your party hasn’t done anything either.”
The only political undertaking of Wardynski prior to this campaign was when he sparred with The Alabama State Legislature in 2013 and argued about repealing mandatory Common Core standards. In 2013, while Wardynski was the Huntsville City School Superintendent, he strongly opposed SB 190, or the Alabama Accountability Act.
Wardynski is on record stating, “None of this debate about moving away from Common Core makes any sense to me.” Wardynski went on to elaborate that, “Common Core Standards spell what we think children need to be able to master to be college and career ready.” Casey Wardynski argued that Alabama schools should look to guidance for curriculum standards in states such as Massachusetts and Vermont.
Paul Sanford was one legislator that spearheaded the Alabama Accountability Act in 2013, and has concerns about his stance on Common Core and his on voting record, which shows he has rarely voted in a primary.
“It comes as no surprise that Common Core Casey has been misleading the people of North Alabama to get their votes,” Sanford commented. “I spent years fighting him when I served the area as State Senator both at the state level with Common Core and at the local level when parents and teachers came to me with issues caused by his dictatorial style of leadership as Superintendent. Now, he wants to pretend he has been a dedicated Trump-supporter since the beginning, yet he didn’t even show up to vote in the 2016 or 2020 Republican Primary Elections — or any primaries since 2014 at that,” Sanford continued.
“Given he has refused to vote in multiple elections, what makes us think he will actually vote for our conservative values in Congress. I think the people of District 5 deserve a representative that tells the truth, actively cares about our conservative values, and will show up both at the polls and on the floor for votes. It is clear some candidates will lie and mislead people about anything to win an election and I think it’s an absolute shame,” he concluded.
A copy of Wardynski’s voting record below shows he has only voted in a Primary Election once in 2014.
Colin Sudduth, campaign manager for Dale Strong, believes Wardynski’s record speaks for itself.
“There is no record of Casey Wardynski ever attending a Republican meeting or supporting Conservative causes before he decided to run for office,” Sudduth commented. “In fact, Wardynski is best known for opposing Republican efforts to stop the Obama Common Core Standards in Alabama. Wardynski talks a lot about Trump, but he surrounds himself with people that have attacked President Trump personally and supported the fake Mueller investigation. Dale Strong was one of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters from day one, and that continues today. Wardynski couldn’t have supported Trump because there is no record he even voted in the 2016 Presidential Primary.”
Here are additional examples of Niblett’s prior Twitter posts.
