James Bowling / W.C. Mann
CULLMAN – James Bowling is another Republican hoping to fill the Alabama House of Representatives District 9 seat being vacated by Rep. Ed Henry, R-Hartselle. The Tribune sat down with Bowling last week. A graduate of Danville High School and captain in the Danville Volunteer Fire Department, Bowling works in chemical plant maintenance and has owned a trucking company. He is married with two children.
What led you to seek elected office?
“Well, I’ve been part of the volunteer fire service for most of my life. I’ve been around the fire service my entire life. My grandfather was a founding member of a volunteer fire department in Priceville, Alabama. So public service has always been part of who I am, and this is a way for me to expand on that, to help others.
What in your life got you ready for this?
“My life experiences. I’ve been in the trenches with everybody. I’ve watched how the government is kind of like a government overreach: they’re trying to govern more and more of our lives. They started catering to a few, instead of worrying about the rights of the many. There’s a lot of different aspects that got me involved and prepared me to go to Montgomery. It’s life experiences that will help you make sound decisions, because you had to have experienced some of these things in your community to be able to represent them and have an idea of what others may need.
“Plus, I have the attitude that I want everybody to come to me. You have to not worry about what happens four years from now. Your mindset needs to be ‘What can I do right now, today?’ and we’ll let the future handle itself.”
What do you hope to accomplish in office?
“Well, I want to address mental health. I’ve been talking about this subject for many years, especially over the last year. I believe we can help some of our prison overcrowding, we’ve got a lot of bullying issues going on in our schools, we’ve got drug abuse, we’ve got true mental emergencies.
“There’s a lot of things tied into mental health nowadays, and they stripped all the funding away. And I’m not sure where that funding went, but I would like to have the opportunity to try to bring it back to mental health.
“Or education: everybody talks about education’s number one on their list. Well, I think we need to put our money where our mouth is and dedicate ourselves to making the education system better. There’s about 15 earmarks that I was sent a month or so ago, during the budget hearings, that are just ridiculous. They may be good programs, but they have nothing to do with education, and they’re pulling money out of the classroom. And I want to see more money make it to the classroom, so our children are more prepared for the future.”
Are there differences between you and your opponents that people should consider?
“I believe that’s something that a lot of people will kind of have to judge for themselves. One of the main differences is I am a lifelong resident of this community. I was born, raised and grew up here. I’ve worked, bled, sweated and cried next to a lot of people. I’m very accessible; I’ve always been the guy that never could say no, that always tried to help. I’m very honest up front; I don’t dance around questions. I’m a very big proponent of the Second Amendment; people can go back and look last year. I’m a rock-solid person.
“I believe people will have to look at each of us, and decide which aspect sets us out from the next. But I can tell you, I’ve got the spine and the spirit to make a difference. I believe if people pay attention, they’ll see that.”
If you could boil your platform down to a concise statement, what would you want people to know?
“Elect one of US. That’s what it boils down to. Elect one of us: elect a working-class person to represent the people, somebody that can make a difference.”
For more information, visit http://bowlinghd9.com.
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