Roger Duke, president of the North Central Alabama Young Democrats, addresses the local party Thursday evening. / Andrew Cryer
CULLMAN – The Cullman County Democrats, on the advice of Alabama Democratic Party Chair Nancy Worley, will not officially endorse a candidate for the upcoming special election for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Luther Strange until after the primary election in August. However, Doug Jones appeared to be the clear favorite of the local party faithful at Thursday night’s CCD meeting.
The local meeting was well-attended, and the headquarters appeared open and ready for a campaign. Members say that in spite of a slew of disheartening special election defeats, Alabama Democrats are “ready to fight like never before.” Many pointed to Republican Roy Moore’s reported lead in the polls as giving them the extra push to “not go down without a fight.”
Jones, who leads the polls in the Democratic column, is a former U.S. attorney for the northern district of Alabama, based in Jefferson County. An advocate for education, healthcare and LGBTQ rights, he is best known for his successful 2001 prosecution of two perpetrators of the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham.
Local Democratic Party leaders say the party’s headquarters in Cullman will remain open as long as the building, located at 415 Second Ave. SW, is not sold by Culpepper Real Estate and is able to be maintained by the party. The building’s primary use right now is as a “Get Out the Vote” hub for the U.S. Senate special election.
Roger Duke, president of the North Central Alabama Young Democrats, shared, “One of the things that we’re trying to do is, the day of the election and the Saturday before, access (the) VoteBuilder (database) to pull numbers to remind people to vote. This is a very important election. We have got to win this election. We cannot let Roy Moore win an election.”
See more about all the special election candidates at http://qrne.ws/specialelection.
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