Ann Eubank running as a Republican for Alabama State School Board Position – District 3
State School Board District 3 member incumbent Stephanie Bell will not seek another term, setting off a Republican scramble for the post. Conservative activist Ann Eubank is one of four Republican candidates seeking the open seat on the State Board of Education. Eubank said that no issue has been more important to her than excellence in education. Eubank said that her concern over education led to her retiring to become an unpaid full-time citizen lobbyist after witnessing what her grandson was being taught in school. Ann has dedicated the last 15 years to researching and advocating for solutions to the dismal state of affairs in the Alabama Public School System. Eubank said that Alabama public schools’ downward spiral began in 2009 when Common Core was introduced to the State School Board and was adopted the following year despite an outcry from countless parents and voters. “Running for office is the last thing I ever thought I would do, but I decided to run for state school board after Stephanie Bell, representative for School Board District 3, had not yet qualified for re-election,” Eubank said. “It’s imperative that we elect someone who will work to change the trajectory of Alabama education from the bottom of the barrel to the top of the ladder like Florida.” “Parents and students deserve State School Board members who understand this and will listen to their concerns about the serious problems we face in Alabama’s schools,” Eubank continued. “We need a new perspective on the Board. I am the only one running for this position that hasn’t been some part of the education establishment.” Eubank is a member of the Alabama Legislative Watchdogs, a group of citizen lobbyists from all parts of the state of Alabama who give in-depth analysis about legislation being put forth and passed, what it means, and how it impacts citizens. Eubank is also a member of the Jefferson County Mid-Alabama Republican Club (MARC) and has attended countless Republican club meetings all over the state as a speaker and guest. Eubank is a member of Mom’s For Liberty. “At Moms for Liberty, we understand the importance of having liberty-minded school boards throughout the country that are focused on defending parental rights and improving education,” Eubank said. “We hope to activate these types of people to public service. Every child across America deserves access to a quality education. The decisions made by school board members play a crucial role in shaping the quality of that education.” Eubank serves as Co-Chair of the Alabama Conservative Coalition. She has been a Heritage Action Sentinel since 2010. Conservative news/talk radio listeners have heard Ann in occasional radio hosting duties on WYDE and IC Radio in North Alabama. Eubank was a policy advisor for Tim James’ failed 2022 Campaign for Governor of Alabama. Eubank was a Southeastern Cruz Crew team member in Senator Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign in 2016. Eubank was a Cruz delegate at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland that year. Eubank is a member of the National and Alabama Women for Trump group. She was a member of Congressman Mo Brooks’s (R-AL05) 2018 and 2022 Senate Campaign Steering Committees. She is a member of the firearms rights group Bama Carry. Eubank is also a member of the Stop Common Core Alabama Task Force. In that role, Eubank did numerous talks on Common Core, aka National Standards, with politicians and the public. She is also a member of the Alabamians United for Excellence in Education Taskforce and one of the coordinators of the Alabama Opt-Out movement. Eubank’s efforts have been noticed. Ballotpedia identified Ann Eubank as a “top influencer by state” in 2015. She was named on Alabama Today’s 20 Alabamians who belong on any “Most Influential” list. Eubank appeared in the documentary movie “Revelation – Dawn of a Global Government” where she warned how Common Core, aka National Standards, indoctrination would turn our children into “Good Little Socialists.” Eubank has been interviewed by numerous local, state, national, and international radio, print, and television outlets. Eubank has authored many political opinion articles in numerous local and national publications. Eubank participated in Frank Luntz’s HBO Special regarding Roy Moore’s Senate Campaign that aired on HBO and Axios. Eubank, in her role as a leader of the Rainy Day Patriots, helped contribute to the 2010 Republican wave election that led to the GOP taking control of both Houses of the Alabama Legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives. She grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, and now lives in Hoover. She has been married to her husband, Jim, for 55 years. She has two daughters and two grandchildren. Kelly Mooney, former State Representative Charlotte Meadows, and Melissa Snowden have all also qualified to run for the open school board seat. The Republican Primary will be on March 5. No Democrat has qualified, so the eventual Republican nominee will likely be elected. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
GOP seeks to convince vaccine skeptics within its own ranks
When a group of Republican doctors in Congress released a video selling the safety of the coronavirus vaccine, their message wasn’t explicitly aimed at their conservative constituents but nonetheless had a clear political bent. Getting the shot is the best way to “end the government’s restrictions on our freedoms,” Rep. Larry Bucshon, an Indiana Republican and heart surgeon who donned a white lab coat and stethoscope when he spoke into the camera. The public service announcement was the latest effort from GOP leaders to shrink the vaccination gap between their party and Democrats. With vaccination rates lagging in red states, Republican leaders have stepped up efforts to persuade their supporters to get the shot, at times combating misinformation spread by some of their own. “Medicine and science and illness, that should not be political,” said Dr. Brad Wenstrup, a Republican congressman from Ohio and a podiatrist who has personally administered coronavirus vaccine shots both as an Army Reserve officer and as an ordinary doctor. “But it was an election year and it really was.” Wenstrup said both parties helped foment some skepticism, though increasingly vocal moves by other Republicans amount to acknowledgment that GOP vaccine hesitancy is a growing public health problem — and potentially a political one. “Things could easily spiral quickly if we don’t solve this red-state-blue-state issue,” said Kavita Patel, a physician, and health policy expert who worked in the Obama administration. Patel said life could return to normal in certain parts of the country while the pandemic continues to rage elsewhere — potentially even disrupting in-person voting in primaries ahead of next year’s midterm elections. “We could be sitting here in the winter-fall with an entirely different, scary version of the pandemic,” she said. “One driven by a combination of variants and people who didn’t want to get vaccinated.” It’s easy to spot potential trouble spots now — and the political pattern. Mississippi has the nation’s lowest vaccination rate, with less than 31% of its population receiving at least one anti-coronavirus shot. And the four states that proceed it in national rankings, Alabama, Louisiana, Idaho, and Wyoming, according to an Associated Press analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. They all vote reliably Republican in presidential races. By contrast, the five states with the highest vaccination rates backed Democrat Joe Biden in November. New Hampshire leads the nation with 60% of its population receiving at least one dose, followed by Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut. The fifth highest vaccination rate state, Maine, awarded three of its electoral votes to Joe Biden and one to former President Donald Trump. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say they definitely or probably won’t get vaccinated, 44% versus 17%, according to a poll released in February from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. Hence this week’s video, where Texas Republican Rep. Michael Burgess, an obstetrician who reassured viewers that rather than rush the vaccine out in an unsafe fashion, federal officials “cut bureaucratic red tape, not corners. And they got the job done in record time.” The video also credited the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed with bringing the vaccine so quickly. Amid polling showing that Republican men were among the most likely vaccine holdouts, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said earlier this month, “I can say as a Republican man, as soon as it was my turn, I took the vaccine.” Even Trump, who was vaccinated privately while in office, suggested on Fox News Channel that he’d be willing to record a video urging vaccination. Doing so would be an about-face for Trump, who as president long said he’d be willing to take a vaccine but also relished politicizing the pandemic. He suggested that lockdowns recommended by his administration’s experts were governmental overreach, mocked then-candidate Biden for wearing a mask in public too frequently, and used racist terms like “China virus.” Not all Republican lawmakers feel the same sense of urgency to raise the vaccination rate, meanwhile. “The science tells us that vaccines are 95% effective. So if you have a vaccine, quite honestly, what do you care if your neighbor has one or not?” Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said during a recent interview with a conservative radio host. “I mean, what is it to you?” Between 70% and 85% of the population would need to be immune before the coronavirus is effectively contained, experts believe. The GOP’s top leaders may also have political incentives to appeal to those resistant to getting the shot. Joe Brettell, a GOP strategist in deep red Texas, said he expects Republican governors looking to raise their profiles will seize on vaccine-related debates, such as opposing “vaccine passports” that may eventually be required for travel, even as they implore their state’s people to get immunized. “I think that’s where smart governors are going to start asserting themselves,” he said, noting that some already have. Ideology also isn’t the only factor in vaccine hesitancy. Experts are also tracking a generational gap, with younger Americans believing that, even if they get the virus, it is unlikely to seriously sicken or kill them. Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice even is offering $100 saving bonds to residents ages 16 to 35 who get or have gotten the shot — trying to reverse a trend that saw his conservative state become an early leader in vaccination rates only to have it slow since. Republican pollster Frank Luntz, who has been researching how best to convince vaccine skeptics, says he believes the effort is most effective when it avoids politics, with people hearing about the benefits of immunization from doctors, not politicians. He said many skeptics are persuaded to get the shot because it benefits their friends and family, not just themselves. “If it’s politicized, they will not reach herd immunity,” said Luntz, who said that means giving credit to both sides, praising the Trump administration for Operation Warp Speed and the Biden White House’s efficient and effective distribution of vaccines. Luntz argued that public health officials should be targeting
GOP candidate Donald Trump goes after John McCain’s war record
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized Arizona Sen. John McCain‘s military record Saturday, saying he was a “war hero because he was captured.” Speaking at a conference of religious conservatives in Iowa, Trump was pressed on his recent description of the 2008 Republican presidential nominee as “a dummy.” McCain served as a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War. He was captured after his plane was shot down and was held more than five years as a prisoner of war. The moderator, Republican pollster Frank Luntz, described McCain as “a war hero.” Trump said McCain “is a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” The comment drew some boos from the audience. During a news conference after his appearance, Trump did not apologize but sought to clarify his remarks. “If a person is captured, they’re a hero as far as I’m concerned. … But you have to do other things also,” Trump said. “I don’t like the job John McCain is doing in the Senate because he is not taking care of our veterans.” A spokesman for McCain, Brian Rogers, said no comment when asked about Trumps remarks. Trump said he avoided service in the Vietnam War through student and medical deferments, adding that he did not serve because he “was not a big fan of the Vietnam war. I wasn’t a protester, but the Vietnam war was a disaster for our country.” The comments about McCain drew rapid criticism from other 2016 hopefuls. In a statement, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the remarks make Trump “unfit to be commander-in-chief.” Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tweeted: “Enough with the slanderous attacks. @SenJohnMcCain and all our veterans – particularly POWs have earned our respect and admiration.” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker were also quick to condemn the remarks. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called McCain an American war hero, but sidestepped when asked whether he would condemn the remarks. “I recognize that folks in the press love to see Republican on Republican violence,” Cruz said. “You want me to say something bad about Donald Trump or bad about John McCain or bad about anyone else and I’m not going to do it.” Trump was among 10 GOP presidential candidates on Saturday’s program for the Family Leader Summit. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
