Stephanie Petelos Nabavian reelected as Chair of the Greater Birmingham Young Republicans
The Greater Birmingham Young Republicans (GBYRs) met on Thursday to hold their officer elections. Chair Stephanie Petelos Nabavian was elected to her second term as GBYR Chairperson, defeating challenger Christian Brown. “I am so happy to continue leading the Greater Birmingham Young Republicans!” Petelos said in a statement on Facebook. “The results last night, 85% in my favor, prove that our membership are excited to continue our path of growth, hosting unique events, and building a strong community of like minded and passionate young people. I am so thrilled about the exceptional new board I get to serve with! Thank you so much for allowing me to continue serving you!” Petelos told Alabama Today that in the last year, she grew the club to such a point that they were able to break off the Shelby County Young Republicans as their own group. She hopes to possibly do the same, creating other groups, perhaps Gardendale, in the future. “With kids and a long work day, it is asking a lot for them to get on Interstate 65 and fight traffic to get here (Vestavia Hills). Some of them aren’t able to do that,” Petelos said. Petelos is also the Chair of the Alabama Federation of Young Republicans. Petelos told Alabama Today that the COVID-19 global pandemic and the shutdown of the restaurants had a detrimental effect on the Young Republicans statewide. She said her goal is to grow the GBYRs to what they were a few years ago before the group’s more recent setbacks. Petelos previously was the Chair of the Federation of College Republicans. She recently got married and finished law school. She is the daughter of former Hoover Mayor and Jefferson County Manager Tony Petelos. Her mother is a former Jefferson County judge. Brown said that running for the position was a “learning experience.” Josh Cox was elected Vice Chair, and Taylor Martin was elected Secretary. In other business, the group voted to hold the GBYR Christmas Party on Tuesday, December 12, at the Fish Market Restaurant in downtown Birmingham. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen (R) is expected to be the speaker. New Jefferson County Commissioner Mike Bolin (R) addressed the group. “This is a treat for me to come meet with the yrs because I missed this when I was coming through,” Bolin said. Bolin is a former Jefferson County Probate Judge and a former Alabama Supreme Court Justice. He was elected to the Jefferson County Commission this summer in a special election when Steve Ammons left the Commission to accept a new position. “Some of you here will hold elected office,” Bolin said. “It might be county commissioner, it might be a judge, it might be governor.” Eric Lee discussed the special election coming up in January in House District 16. HD16 represents part of western Jefferson County, Northern Tuscaloosa County, and Fayette County in the Alabama House of Representatives. Republican Brian Brinyark faces Democrat Bubba Underwood. The seat was previously held by Rep. Kyle South (R-Fayette), who left on July 1 to accept a role with the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce. Lee said he is working with Terry Richmond and the Jefferson County Republican Party to help get out the Republican vote for that special election to elect Brinyark. They need phone bankers to call Republican voters in HD16 to remind them to come to the polls. Lee said that the next meeting of the Jefferson County Republican Party Executive Committee is November 21 at the Homewood Public Library. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Gary Palmer warns, “China is the existential threat”
On Saturday, Congressman Gary Palmer spoke with the Mid-Alabama Republican Club (MARC) at their monthly meeting in the Vestavia Hills Public Library. Palmer spoke to the gathering of greater Birmingham area Republicans about several topics, including foreign policy. Palmer supports aiding Ukraine in its war with Russia but warned that “China is the existential threat” we face. “China is the existential threat,” Palmer warned. Palmer said that anything the economy needs for defense or to keep the U.S. economy functioning should not be made in a country that is an enemy. Anything essential that is produced in China cannot stay in China. “No nation should be dependent on an enemy nation for something they need,” Palmer said. “Frankly, we can’t bring back everything.” “What I have been proposing is that we form a western hemisphere prosperity act,” with willing nations in Central and South America as well as Canada, Palmer said. Palmer said that our European allies made a mistake by investing so heavily in renewable energy and then relying on Russia to provide most of their energy needs because now that Russia is causing problems, shutting off the flow of Russian gas and oil is problematic for those nations. Palmer said that while the U.S. and Western European Countries have limited their domestic energy options, “China is building a coal-fired plant every two weeks, but they are building 14 outside of China, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South America.” Palmer said he had been asked to discuss his ideas in Brussels, Belgium, and would probably accept that invitation. “We cannot stop helping Ukraine,” Palmer said. “The consequences would be worse than pulling out of Afghanistan.” Palmer said the unilateral U.S. decision to pull out of Afghanistan has severely weakened U.S. credibility worldwide. “World leaders don’t trust us,” Palmer warned. “Our allies don’t trust us, and our enemies don’t fear us. That is the consequence of pulling out of Afghanistan.” Palmer said that if we had not supported Ukraine, the Russians would have taken it and that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have stopped there. “They would have taken Moldova, they would have taken the Republic of Georgia, and they would have taken the Baltics, and we would be in another Cold War,” Palmer said. Palmer said that it is a mistake for the U.S. to transition off of oil and natural gas and said that renewables would never be able to produce all of the energy that we need. One alternative is nuclear power. “One nuclear power plant takes up about 640 acres,” Palmer said. “To produce the generating capacity of one nuclear power plant would take 67,000 acres of wind turbines.” “We will have to pass a debt limit bill,” Palmer said. “We cannot default on the debt.” Palmer assured the Republicans that in order to address the debt ceiling, President Joe Biden would have to negotiate with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and make concessions to the Republicans. Palmer announced when questioned by Terry Richmond that he would run for office again in 2024, breaking a pledge not to serve over ten years that he made when he first ran for office in 2014. “We all have a mission,” Palmer said. “I don’t think my mission is complete.” “There is no way we can be bound by any agreement that the Biden Administration makes unless it is ratified by the Senate,” Palmer said when asked about foreign agreements made by President Biden. “We are still committed to getting the Northern Beltline built,” Palmer said, referring to the beltway around Northern Jefferson County. “We have got $469 million in funding for that. We had a meeting with ALDOT in my office on that. They committed $120 million for that, but there is no seed money for it. It is frustrating.” The MARC meets monthly on the second Saturday of each month at 8:30 a.m. At this point, Gary Palmer is the only formally announced candidate for the Sixth Congressional District seat. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
