Ballot Denials in Alabama Sparks Talk of a Conservative Independent Third‑Party

Guest Opinion by Angelo "Doc" Mancuso

Across Alabama, many conservatives are looking at what the Alabama State Republican Party’s Steering Committee is doing and saying it feels like the party is eating its own young. A steering committee that claims to want growth, openness, and new blood is instead blocking multiple Alabamians from even appearing on the Republican ballot. This isn’t just contradictory — it’s a complete reversal of the party’s own message that “everyone is welcome” and “we want more people involved.”

I was denied Republican Party ballot access after enduring a vicious and unprofessional hearing by the Alabama Republican Party’s steering committee — a ruse designed to make it look like the process was fair when the decision had already been made beforehand. Nothing I could have said or done in the hearing could have changed their minds. Instead, candidates are being told “no” behind closed doors by a group that, many say, doesn’t even follow its own bylaws and changes the rules whenever it suits them on a whim.

People who might have run for different offices are now saying, ‘Why bother? The insiders will just block me.’ That’s not healthy for any democracy. If voters feel shut out, they won’t just stay home — they’ll start looking for a third party that actually wants them. A steering committee that refuses to explain its decisions isn’t protecting the party — it’s protecting incumbents. And voters see right through it. If incumbents need to be shielded from challengers, maybe the problem isn’t the challenger.

I am not alone as others who were denied ballot access by the ALGOP received letters rejecting their attempt to get on the ballot—and they also have said that they weren’t given a single reason why. No explanation. No due process. No transparency. Many see that as clashing directly with the spirit of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees that when your rights are affected, you’re entitled to know why through due process. Instead, a small group behind closed doors is deciding who gets to run and who gets shut out — and observers say they aren’t even following their own bylaws while doing it. That’s not how a confident party behaves. They preach transparency and inclusiveness, but their denial letters come with nothing but silence.

To many voters, this looks less like a steering committee confident in its ideas and more like a group trying to protect incumbents by eliminating competition before voters ever get a say. I believe in the principals of the Republican Party and live those ideals in my daily life. The Alabama Republican Party is filled with great people, both within the executive committee and everyday citizens all across Alabama. That’s why decisions that hold the future of the party in their hands being made by a small number of steering committee members are so puzzling.

On the 250th birthday of the United States — a milestone meant to celebrate freedom, self-government, and the right of the people to choose their leaders — Alabama is watching a political machine decide who gets to run and who doesn’t. Many Alabamians see that as the opposite of America.

A confident party trusts voters. A nervous one tries to choose for them. What the steering committee is doing looks to many like a group shutting out new voices while claiming they want more people involved. I don’t believe a majority of Republican Party executive committee members across the state are in support of what the steering committee does. You can’t say you’re the party of growth and then a small group of insiders slam the door on your own voters. That contradiction is exactly why people all around the state of Alabama are furious.

The louder this gets, the more people are asking a question that would’ve been unthinkable a decade ago: Has Alabama reached the point where it needs a third party? A party that doesn’t shut down competition. A party that doesn’t fear its own voters. A party that doesn’t treat ballot access like a privilege granted by insiders.

If the party leaders keep shrinking the tent, they shouldn’t be surprised when people start building a new one. People aren’t switching to Democrats — they’re switching off entirely. If people feel unwelcome, they won’t run. If they feel unheard, they won’t vote, but maybe that is the goal after all.

Angelo “Doc” Mancuso is a dermatological cancer surgeon and an independent candidate for Alabama House District 7.