“Scumbag.” Casey Wardynski accuses Dale Strong of crossing a line during congressional debate
Tuesday evening’s debate between U.S. Senate candidates Dale Strong and Casey Wardynski turned tense after ethical comments were made pertaining to Wardynski’s resignation as Huntsville superintendent in 2016. The two candidates are vying for the seat being vacated by Mo Brooks. The two were combative, which has been apparent in their T.V. ads throughout the race and showed itself during the debate on WHNT News 19. Yellowhammer News confirmed with multiple sources that after the debate, a heated exchange occurred between Strong and Karen Wardynski, Casey Wardynski’s wife. According to the sources, Mrs. Wardynski approached Strong while the candidates were exiting the debate stage and told Strong, “I’m coming after you. I’m going to get you.” Strong responded to Mrs. Wardynski, “OK, no-bid contract.” The exchange came from questions raised about Dr. Wardynski’s sudden resignation as superintendent of Huntsville City Schools in September 2016. Wardynski said he resigned because his relationship with then-Karen Lee, who was CEO of Pinnacle Schools, which did business with Huntsville Schools. Wardynski claimed that he didn’t want any ethical issues to occur because of their relationship and so he resigned. Wardynski said he was in a relationship with Lee in July, and by September, he knew he should resign. Wardynski stated, “I thought I should resign since I supervised her. It would create an ethical challenge that I didn’t want to have. They said, ‘No, no stay.’ On the 13th of September, my attorney wrote a letter and hand-carried it and never got an answer. So on the 15th, one month in, I resigned because I thought it would create an ethical problem.” All of Wardynski’s comments during the debate mirror his comments from AL.com at the time of his resignation in 2016. Wardynski stated, “I have talked to ethics attorneys, and I shared with responsible authorities with the school system when I felt that it was an issue.” The next question in the debate pertained to Critical Race Theory (CRT) being taught in schools. Wardynski said he supported the banning of CRT and that he had helped President Donald Trump remove CRT from the Army. Wardynski stated, “As far as school systems go, I was superintendent up until 2016, and I don’t recall anybody ever hearing of Critical Race Theory until 2020 when we saw the riots. That’s when it came on my radar in the Army.” Strong responded, arguing that CRT had, in fact, been in Huntsville schools back in 2015 and argued that there is evidence to prove it. “Parents, they saw it. Teacher in-service: they saw it. It says Critical Race Theory in 2015. Not only that, Common Core, my opponent supported that.” Strong continued, “Talk to the teachers; some 800 of them that were relieved of their jobs that did a lot less than what he did with this Pinnacle contract where he was getting personal sexual gratification from that contract. I think that the record is clear. He supported CRT, he supported Common Core, and he also supported that the dollar shouldn’t follow the child whenever we had failing schools, and that’s where I believe there’s a big difference.” Wardynski was allowed to respond to Strong’s comments and called the remarks “lies.” Wardynski reiterated that CRT wasn’t in Huntsville schools in 2015. Later in the debate, when asked about attack ads during campaigns, Wardynski said, “Ask this guy because he’s the one who did it first.” “He accused me of taking sexual favors from somebody to do work. You know, that’s a scumbag in my book,” Wardynski said of Strong. “This fellow has never served his country under the uniform or under the flag. I’ve got three kids serving around the world. They get to listen to this garbage. They don’t appreciate it.” Wardynski continued, “This is the kind of garbage you get out of a 26-year career politician who lives in the gutter. He works for people who date on Ashley Madison, and I don’t. I come from service, from a place where the motto is ‘duty, honor, country.’ I left the school system because it was the thing to do that was ethical, and he turns that into sex. That’s where his mind goes. That’s not what we need in Washington D.C.” Strong responded, “I stand behind my record.” He also argued that his attack ads came from accusations that he didn’t support Donald Trump.
Anti-Trump posts from Casey Wardynski’s campaign manager resurface; call into question GOP loyalty
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.
