Tommy Tuberville asserts ‘God sent us Donald Trump’ in first statewide radio ad
Former Auburn University football coach and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tommy Tuberville on Monday debuted his campaign’s first statewide radio ad Currently airing on stations across Alabama, the ad endeavors to inform voters about Tuberville’s support for President Donald Trump, his fight against career politicians, and the deeply-held conservative principles that guide both his life and his campaign. “Speaking directly to the voters about the issues that motivate us is the core of our strategy, and the media campaign we kick off today will help us accomplish that goal,” Tuberville said. “It is time for our state to send a political outsider to the U.S. Senate so we can stand with President Trump and give Washington, D.C. a good dose of our conservative Alabama values.” Tuberville faces former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, state Rep. Arnold Mooney, businessman Stanley Adair and Ruth Page Nelson in the crowded Republican primary on March 3, 2020. Listen to the ad below: A transcript of the ad: Announcer: Two-time SEC Coach of the Year. Christian family man. Conservative outsider ready to take on politically-correct liberal politicians. Tommy Tuberville is the Trump conservative. Here’s Coach Tuberville. Tommy Tuberville: I’m not a career politician. I’m really a politician’s worst nightmare. I’ve coached for the last 30 to 40 years. I’ve been around young people, and I believe if we don’t get God back in our schools, this country has got no chance of surviving. I’m a Christian conservative Republican. I believe in the sanctity of life, and I say it with all of my heart “God sent us Donald Trump” because God knew we were in trouble. Announcer: A man of faith. A Republican with strong moral values. Tommy Tuberville is the Trump conservative. Tommy Tuberville: I’m going to stand with President Donald Trump on building the wall and cracking down on illegal immigration. A vote for me is a vote for Donald Trump. I’m not looking for a career. I’m looking to help save this country with Donald J. Trump. I’m Tommy Tuberville, and I approve this message. Announcer: Paid for by Tuberville for Senate Inc.
Doug Jones kicks off 2020 reelection
U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat who pulled off a stunning political upset in Alabama two years ago, launched his reelection bid Sunday, seeking to create another Deep South victory in a Republican-dominated state. Before several hundred cheering supporters in Birmingham, Jones kicked off his 2020 campaign. Invoking the campaign theme of “One Alabama,” Jones said he is a senator who represents all of Alabama and will fight for everyone in the state. “The success of our state depends on engaging the power and the spirit and the intellect of our millions of citizens,” Jones said. “No matter the zip code you live in, your race, your religion, your disability, your economic status — no matter who you love— we all want to succeed in a world where no one, no one is left behind,” Jones said. The Deep South Democrat defeated Republican Roy Moore in a 2017 special election to fill the Senate vacancy created when Jeff Sessions became President Donald Trump’s first U.S. attorney general. Now considered the Senate’s most endangered Democrat, Jones is seeking a full term in office in the usually reliably red state. His 2017 victory was aided by scandal when Moore, already a divisive figure among state voters, was accused of sexual misconduct. Several women said Moore pursued romantic and sexual relationships with them when they were teens and he was a prosecutor in his 30s. One of the women was as young as 14. Moore vehemently denied the accusations and is now part of a crowded GOP field vying for a chance to challenge Jones in 2020. David Hughes, a political scientist at Auburn University at Montgomery, said Jones will face an “extremely uphill battle.” Jones is running in a year when Trump, who is intensely popular in the state, will be on the ballot, driving GOP turnout, Hughes said. Hughes said Jones also could face a more mainstream Republican who doesn’t have the negatives that Moore carried. “There would have to be something calamitous to prevent Republicans from turning out,” Hughes added. With partisan control of the Senate on the line, Republicans have made defeating Jones a top priority in 2020. The Alabama Republican Party has a countdown on its website ticking off the days until he is out of office. The National Republican Senatorial Committee drove a billboard carrying truck outside the Birmingham venue calling him “Anti-Trump Democrat Doug Jones” who “sides with socialists.” “For goodness sake, a socialist? Come on,” Jones cracked to the crowd at his kickoff rally. The son of a steel mill worker, Jones grew up in the working class city of Fairfield, just west of Birmingham. As U.S. attorney during then President Bill Clinton’s administration he was best known for prosecuting the Klansmen who bombed a Birmingham church in 1963, killing four black girls. Jones is positioning himself as a moderate— a gun owner who supports “narrowly tailored” universal background checks for gun purchases. He is urging the state to expand Medicaid in a state with high rates of infant and maternal mortality. GOP opponents are expected to highlight Jones’ support of abortion rights – in a state where voters put anti-abortion language in the state Constitution and lawmakers are attempting to ban abortion outright — and his opposition to some of Trump’s judicial nominees. Speaking to reporters, Jones acknowledged that he has a political “target on my back and on my chest.” And he retorted that no one gave ever “gave us a chance” of winning in 2017. He urged voters to “look at my record” and not just labels slung at him by opponents. “There is no way … if they look at my record they can say I’m a liberal, a real far conservative. I keep telling people. ‘I’m just Doug. I do what I think is right for the state.’” “If that’s the best they’ve got,” Jones said of labels like the truck outside. “Bring it on.”For Alabama Democrats and some moderates, Jones ’2017 victory was water in the red state desert. Packing his campaign kickoff, many acknowledged the tough fight to come, but said they remain hopeful. “We need him,” said Sally Livingston, a 58-year-old educator in attendance.Republicans disagree. “Whether it was voting against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, supporting on-demand abortions, or advocating for gun control, Doug is totally out of touch with Alabama,” said U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, a congressman running for the Senate seat. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Bradley Byrne: Everything you need to know about the 2020 Senate candidate
Republican Alabama 1st District U.S.Rep. Bradley Byrne announced Wednesday he will challenge Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in the 2020 election in an attempt to take back the Senate seat for the GOP in the overwhelmingly red state. Here’s everything you need to know about Byrne: Key facts Current position: Congressman representing Alabama’s 1st Congressional District since 2014 Age: 64 Born: Mobile, Ala. Undergraduate: Duke University Graduate: University of Alabama (JD) Date candidacy announced: February 20, 2019 % of votes in line with Trump, via FiveThirtyEight: 96.3% Previous prominent roles: Alabama State Senate; Chancellor of the Alabama Community College System; Member of the Alabama Board of Education Key issues Immigration: Supports President Donald Trump’s efforts to build a border wall with Mexico. Believes “we must deploy the national guard, and use any means necessary to stop the rampant caravans of illegals that are heading to the Mexican border.” 2nd Amendment: Pro-guns with a a lifetime “A” rating from the NRA. Health care: Supports repealing Obamacare and “replacing it with a free-market approach that doesn’t put the government between a patient and their doctor.” Education: Pushes for policies that return decision-making authority back to the state and local entities Term limits: Introduced a Constitutional amendment to impose term limits in “an effort to ensure we keep fresh blood in the halls of Congress.” Pro-life/Pro-Choice? Is 100% pro-life. Has worked “tirelessly” to defund abortion organizations like Planned Parenthood. Interesting facts Byrne’s first run for office was in 1994 when he ran for the Alabama State Board of Education as a Democrat. In 1997, he left the Democratic Party and became a Republican. The Mobile Press-Register reported in May 2011 that Byrne was considering running for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in the upcoming 2012 election. “I’ve been encouraged to look at it, and I’m doing that. But I’ve made no decision, and frankly I’m no where near a decision at this point,” Byrne said. Ultimately, he did not enter the race.
Bradley Byrne announces 2020 Senate bid to challenge Doug Jones
Alabama 1st District U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne on Monday announced he will run for a Senate seat in 2020, giving Republicans their first option for taking back the seat that U.S. Sen. Doug Jones won in a special election in Dec. 2017. Byrne made the announcement Monday night, just down the street from where he grew up, at Wintzell’s in downtown Mobile, Ala. In announcing his candidacy, Byrne made clear his campaign will focus on his record as a fighter for Alabama’s values. “The fight for America’s future is too important to sit on the sidelines. I am running for the United States Senate to defend the values important to Alabama,” Byrne said. “We need a Senator who will fight with President Trump to defend the Constitution, build the wall, stand up for the unborn, push for lower taxes, make health care more affordable, and protect the Second Amendment. I will fight every day to bring Alabama’s conservative values to Washington.” Following Byrne’s announcement, Jones weighed-in on Byrne’s candidacy. “Given the results of his losing bid for governor in 2010, in which he did not even win the republican nomination, it’s hard to see why they would nominate a career politician like Bradley Byrne now,” said Jones. “He has been part of the problem in Washington for years.” Byrne has represented Alabama’s 1st District since 2014. Battle of the war chests When it comes to cash-on-hand, Byrne is not too far behind Jones. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Byrne has $1,090,498.98 is his congressional campaign fund, which he is able to transfer to his senate campaign. Meanwhile, Jones has a balance of $2,131,165.71 cash-on-hand.
Bradley Byrne ‘seriously considering’ challenging Doug Jones in 2020 Senate run
Alabama 1st District U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne confirmed on Wednesday he is “actively looking” at a 2020 U.S. Senate bid against Democratic U.S. Senator Doug Jones. Byrne has been mulling the possibility since July, but confirmed in an interview with WPMI that he is seriously considering the matter. “I know Senator Doug Jones, I have nothing personal bad to say about him, I like him personally and admire his work as a prosecutor,” Byrne said in the interview according to C2C Sinclair on Twitter. “I don’t think his political philosophy lines up with the average person in Alabama.” .@RepByrne on possible 2020 Senate run: “I know @SenDougJones, I have nothing personal bad to say about him, I like him personally and admire his work as a prosecutor. I don’t think his political philosophy lines up with the average person in Alabama” @mynbc15 pic.twitter.com/mj78dABSOw — C2C Sinclair (@SBGC2C) September 5, 2018 “I love what I’m doing, I’m not unhappy being in the house,” Byrne continued. “But we in Alabama have become accustom to having very strong U.S. Senators; going back decades. And we’re very fortunate to Senator Shelby right now. I just don’t think, and I don’t mean this in any way personal, I don’t think Senator Jones fits into that mold. And I need someone who fits into that mold in the Senate to be a partner with me along with Senator Shelby and if there’s not anybody else to do it…then yes I’m happy to do it.” Jones beat out former Chief Justice Roy Moore in the December 2017 special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat previously occupied by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Since then, he’s caused a few controversies within the Alabama Legislature, to the point that the Alabama State Senate passed a resolution condemning his January vote against legislation banning late term abortions. Byrne himself is a conservative through and through. He was awarded the ACUF’s Award for Conservative Excellence based on his 92.15 percent conservative voting record and successfully led an effort in Washington in June to express opposition to housing up to 10,000 illegal immigrants at Naval Outlying Field Silverhill and Naval Outlying Field Wolf in south Baldwin County.
