Dale Strong wins Alabama’s 5th Congressional District seat
Republican Dale Strong has been elected to the north Alabama congressional district being vacated by U.S. Rep Mo Brooks. Strong on Tuesday defeated Democrat Kathy Warner-Stanton and Libertarian P. J. Greer to win Alabama’s 5th Congressional District, the state’s only open congressional seat this year. Brooks did not seek another term, choosing instead to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby. The six-term congressman lost the Republican primary runoff to former business lobby leader Katie Britt, who was elected. Strong is chairman of the Madison County Commission and a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician. He won the GOP nomination after defeating Casey Wardynski, a former Huntsville school superintendent, in a primary runoff. The state’s six other congressional districts also were decided: — In the 1st Congressional District of southwest Alabama, incumbent Republican Rep. Jerry Carl defeated Libertarian Alexander Remrey. ADVERTISEMENT — In the 2nd Congressional District in southeast Alabama, incumbent Republican Rep. Barry Moore was reelected, defeating Democrat Phyllis Harvey-Hall and Libertarian Jonathan Realz. — In east Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District, incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Rogers defeated Democrat Lin Veasey Democrat, Libertarian Thomas Sickofdc Casson and independent Douglas A. Bell. — In the 4th Congressional District of north-central Alabama, incumbent Republican Rep. Robert Aderholt was reelected, defeating Democrat Rick Neighbors and Libertarian Johnny C. Cochran. — In the 6th Congressional District of central Alabama, incumbent Republican Rep. Gary Palmer defeated Libertarian Andria Chieffo. — In west Alabama’s 7th Congressional District, Incumbent Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell was reelected. She defeated Republican Beatrice Nichols and Libertarian Gavin Goodman. Sewell was the only Democrat in Alabama’s congressional delegation. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Mike Rogers says Republicans will ‘root out’ wokeness in military if given control of Congress
Congressman Mike Rogers recently told Military.com that Republicans will be aggressively trying to root out wokeness in the military if voters give Republicans control of Congress in the midterm elections. Rogers said the GOP would put military personnel issues at the forefront of the agenda if they retake control of the House of Representatives next year. Rogers vowed to take aim at “woke” policies in the military. “All this wokeness in the military, we are going to be aggressively trying to root that stuff out,” Rogers said. Rogers said that doing so would help with recruitment and retention. Rogers is the ranking Republican on the powerful House Armed Services Committee and would likely chair the committee if the GOP wins the House. Fellow Republican House Armed Services Committee member Jim Banks (R-Indiana) agreed. “I think it’s one of our very top priorities to clean up the mess the administration has made with the excessive and dangerous COVID mandates on our troops at a time where we have historically low recruitment,” said Rep. Banks. “Those are issues that we’ve been very passionate about in the minority, and I guarantee we’ll be just as passionate about them when we get the majority. When it comes to the posture hearings and the legislative process of the NDAA, I think you can expect more of the same from what you’ve seen the last couple of years.” Republicans have criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the nation’s armed forces, including COVID-19 vaccine mandates that have threatened to kick service members out of the military for refusing the vaccine and mandatory diversity training that has been compared to critical race theory initiatives. “The Department of Defense’s only focus should be ensuring that our military is the most capable and lethal in the world,” Rogers said on social media. “Wokeness doesn’t win wars.” The military has ended Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policies, allows women in combat roles, and accepts transgender people. Instead of this being a bonanza for recruiting, the military has struggled to meet recruiting goals. The Army alone is 25% below its recruiting goals for 2022. The Army came 15,000 recruits short of its goal of 60,000 for the 2022 fiscal year, which ended on September 30. The other branches have had to go into their pool of delayed entry program candidates to barely hit 2022 goals but put them behind for 2023. The Army plans to increase its investment in marketing and is expected to expand a new program for struggling recruits in order to achieve its goals. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told reporters that a new recruiting task force is coming up with ideas. Still, any new plans would have to gel quickly to reverse the dramatically low enlistment numbers over the past year. Wormuth said that it is too early to speculate on whether or not the Army will meet its 2023 goals. Wormuth and Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said that a new program that helps low-performing recruits meet academic and fitness standards is showing some promise. The Army is considering expanding the program to more sites. “We want to make sure that there is the amount of recruits that can do that,” McConville said. “The initial results that we’re seeing is this may fundamentally change the way that we do recruiting.” McConville recently made a trip to see the program at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. In August, McConville said the program could be set up at three other Army training bases. Commanders had suggested they could put up to 10,000 potential recruits through the classes. The program provides up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help recruits improve to the point where they can meet the minimum standards to enter the military. Rogers has represented Alabama’s Third Congressional District since 2002. Rogers is seeking his eleventh term in the House of Representatives. He faces Libertarian Thomas Casson and Democrat Lin Veasey in the November 8 general election. To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Alabama congressional races to feature one runoff in June
Control of Alabama’s seven-member congressional delegation likely will remain firmly in Republican hands, but not without a contest. Two GOP candidates are in a runoff for the open District 5 seat in north Alabama, and three Republican incumbents and the only Democratic member face opposition in November. All the incumbents will be heavy favorites to return to Washington. Neither District 1 Republican Rep. Jerry Carl of Mobile nor Rep. Gary Palmer of Hoover in District 6 had any opposition, meaning each will get another two-year term. Here is a look at the races in the state’s remaining five congressional districts: DISTRICT 2 First-term GOP Rep. Barry Moore of Enterprise did not have any primary opposition and will face Democrat Phyllis Harvey-Hall in November. Harvey-Hall, a teacher and community volunteer, defeated newcomer Vimal Patel in Tuesday’s election in heavily Republican southeast Alabama. DISTRICT 3 Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Saks, who was first elected 20 years ago, easily defeated Michael Joiner of Pell City for the GOP nomination in east-central Alabama. Rogers will face Democrat Lin Veasey in the fall. DISTRICT 4 Democrat Rick Neighbors, a veteran and longtime apparel worker from Phil Campbell, defeated Rhonda Gore for the chance to go up against GOP Rep. Robert Aderholt, a 12-term incumbent from Haleyville. Solidly Republican, District 4 covers most of northwest Alabama. DISTRICT 5 The lone runoff in Alabama’s congressional races will occur in north Alabama’s 5th District, where Republican Rep. Mo Brooks gave up the seat to run for Senate. Madison County Commission chair Dale Strong and Casey Wardynski, a former Huntsville school superintendent, advanced to a runoff that will be held June 21. The winner will face Democrat Kathy Warner-Stanton of Decatur, who defeated Charlie Thompson in the primary. DISTRICT 7 Rep. Terri Sewell of Selma, the only Democrat in the state delegation, did not have any primary opposition and will face Republican nominee Beatrice Nichols of Moundville in November. The sprawling district includes the Black Belt of west Alabama plus parts of Birmingham and Montgomery. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
