Carl on the AL-01 Race, Infrastructure, Data Centers, the Port

Jerry Carl is one of several Republicans running in the August 11 special primary to be the nominee to represent Alabama’s First Congressional District. Carl previously represented the 1st District from 2021–2024 before losing the seat to Barry Moore following the court-ordered redistricting resulting from the Milligan decision. With the recent Callais decision from the Supreme Court, the previous congressional map has been restored, and Carl is seeking the office once again.

Recently, ALPolitics.com spoke with Carl about the race, and we began by asking him why he has chosen to reenter politics at this time.

“It’s very simple. We need a conservative. We need somebody that can go back in office, pick up very quickly what needs to be done,” Carl began. “I've served two terms in Congress already, I understand the method and the thought pattern in Washington, so I'm obviously the most educated in that, and I can get up there and get things done quickly with Donald Trump in office. We're going to have a very short window of two years to get as much of his stuff solidified as we possibly can before he goes out, and of course, we've got a reelection in 2028. Hopefully, we'll get a Republican in there and continue doing what we're doing, but Trump has made so many changes in the last two years, we've got to get in there and fight — as a Republican party and as conservatives, which I have proven I am — to get this stuff firmed up.”

Two years ago, the Milligan decision forced Carl and Barry Moore — both of them incumbents — to run against each other. Now, with the old map restored, we asked Carl how that has affected the race.

“We really didn't know the district we were going to be running in until a week before the election in June,” Carl said. “So, the Governor took it on herself to let us know that we were going to have a special election in August, which will be on August the 11th.

“We're extremely glad for the way it turned out. We appreciate what the Governor did. We appreciate what our legislators did by planning ahead to get it this way. It's exactly where it needs to be. Mobile and Baldwin County need to stay whole, regardless of who's in Congress. We have so much in common. What affects Mobile County affects Baldwin County, and vice versa. So we're very proud, very excited to where we're at today. But yes, it's been a ping pong match, it's been back and forth.

“When Barry (Moore) and I, we got the district split up, we were put together. We ran a very hard race (in 2024), and obviously Barry won. He served two years, now he's moving on to the Senate seat. And, of course, I'm running for my old seat. I've got four years experience in this office already. I understand where everything's at. I understand the district itself better than anyone. You know, I grew up on the Port, you know. I worked with my dad on the tugboats as a kid, and I understand the Port and the needs here, and of course, Baldwin County infrastructure issues. 

“We're running a solid race here, we're feeling good about where we're at right now, but the last change was again, which was a week before, before the elections in June. They finally told us what district we would be running in.”

We then asked Carl to expand on his comments about the Port of Mobile, and the economic impact the Port expansion will have on the economy of the State, as well as the infrastructure needs of the Gulf.

Carl pointed out that, “the new depth, which was all brought in by Richard Shelby when he was in office, thank God for Richard Shelby and his work for the Port!. They got the depth and the width of the Port down to 50 feet, and the trick for the width, that it had to be, was so two of these vessels can pass in a safe manner — that's the key. So now we've got it down where we need it, and now these super vessels can come in, and from the container standpoint, load and unload. That doesn't mean a whole lot until you start understanding that these containers are the shipping of the future.

“Right now, what is probably spring merchandise has been delivered at the Port, it usually stays about nine months ahead. We have a huge Walmart distribution center here. It's about two and a half million square feet. There's 1800 tractor trailers moving at any given time.

“There's a lot of activity in our Port, and people in other parts of the State really don't understand it, and I don't blame them. I get it. But, about 60% of everything you touch is generated in some way from the Port, whether it's the rockets that are being built in Huntsville that are shipped through here, or the car material, whether it's Mercedes or Honda or one of the car companies in central Alabama. Just for the record, we’re number two in car making in the nation now.

“All of that comes through the Port, so you have to think about that. We bring the materials in, whether it's a finished bumper or a piece of raw steel, we bring it through the Port and it creates jobs in the rest of the State. You look at Baldwin County. Baldwin County is a huge cash machine for the State itself, because you've got so much out-of-State money coming in, enjoying our beaches, staying at our hotels, eating our food, so they are a cash cow for the State.

“Obviously in Baldwin County, the real need is going to be infrastructure, but we're very proud of being in South Alabama. You know, I grew up in Sylacauga, so I know a little bit about Central Alabama, and it is two very different worlds, but we are Alabamians, and we're very proud of that, and we do work as one. We're very focused on Alabama and putting Alabama first.”

Since Carl mentioned infrastructure, ALPolitics.com had to ask about the new Bayway and Bay Bridge.

Carl began by saying, “Yeah, I got briefed on that the other day. They feel like they are very, very close. The numbers are constantly changing, and that the price is going up on the Bayway, and the bridge itself. So we've got to get something locked in and firmed up. The toll rates, I'm not exactly sure where that's going to wind up. It's going to be pretty fair, I hope, especially for the locals. We've really focused on that, but I think we're very close to that. I'm getting ready to go across the Bay now, deliberately leaving an hour and a half ahead of schedule, because I know I'm going to get stuck on the Bayway probably for a good hour. You never know. If I get there an hour and a half early for my meeting, that's even better, but the Bayway has got to be done. We've got to look deep in our pockets on the federal level. I wasn't on the infrastructure program, our Infrastructure and Transportation Committee, but I'm going to get in their ears. I know Senator Britt has been having a lot of conversations with the committees up there trying to get more money for the bridge, so I'm feeling better about it than I have before, but it's still going to be a very expensive project.

We then asked about another hot-button issue, not only in South Alabama but across the State — data centers, and the solar farms that are planned to power them.

“Well, you know, I think these data centers need to pay for their own power, first of all. If they're going to pull whatever power they pull, and if the power company can generate it and sell it, that's fine. I don't think tax incentives should be used — no federal, State or local tax incentives — to bring these groups in,” he answered.

“It's hard to tell a data center that they can't build somewhere, or to tell an individual you can't sell your property to whom you want to sell it to, but I think we, the taxpayers, have got a right not to have to pay through tax incentives for them to get a tax break. We've got one, I understand, it's looking here, I know very little about it. We've got a solar farm that's being built here up in Stockton that all of us have really been pushing against. I hate to say it, but I think we found out about it a little too late. I think that that area has done a good job. They just got zoned, they just voted to be zoned into the county, so the county can control some of the development in the future.

“But, you know, when you take 3000 acres…most people don't understand that the State of Alabama has more endangered species than any State in the nation. You look at Oregon, you know they've got a particular flower up there that is their State flower, they've got three different versions of it up there, we have like twenty one. There's 167 different endangered species just in the State of Alabama, so we're a very sensitive State when you start talking about the environment.

“We have to find the balance, because I'm pro-business, always have been, always will be, but we have to find that balance. These solar farms? I just can't buy into these solar farms. I think it's some very short vision. I think the way to fix this energy situation is nuclear. We've got the Farley nuclear plant that's been down in Dothan for, what? They built it back in the '80s. We've had no problems, and it's still online and still generating power. I think we need to reach more into that direction, which is a long-term fix. The solar panels, I think, are a very short-term fix. The life on those are less than 20 years. We get hail storms, we get hurricanes, we get all the weather down here that the rest of the State gets, maybe not as direct as we do. So, the solar farms, I think, are a very short, short vision. But again, it’s tax incentives, I believe, is the reason why they want to build them, so if we pull those tax incentives back, I think we can stop a lot of that development.”

ALPolitics.com then asked Mr. Carl for any final thoughts about why the people of the First Congressional District should vote for him.

“You know, I've been 40 years in business for myself in the health care field, primarily home health care and pharmacies. I've spent eight years in local government, and I've spent four years in Congress. I understand how that place works, and it's very frustrating most of the time, but in electing Jerry Carl, you don't have to send a trainee up there. You don't have to send somebody that has got to learn the entire cabinet from scratch. I know most of the members, I know how they vote, I know how they think.

“A conservative is not a conservative is a conservative. I mean, conservatives are different nationwide, and you have to know how to work with a conservative in New York. You have to know how to work with a conservative in California, because you have to be a team player. You have to have more than one vote to get anything accomplished in Washington. So, I'm that person. I have those relationships, I have those friendships. I can be elected, I can step in the first week or second week in January, when we get sworn in and hit the ground running.

“I know what the needs are in this district. I understand Escambia County, I understand Covington County, Baldwin County, and Mobile County better than anyone in this race, because I've lived here, I understand it, I've represented it before. So, I've got a conservative background. Look at my voting pattern. I'm very solid on Trump. I'm sold on Trump. We all have got to get behind and finish these last two years and get us a victory mark down for his four year term and move on to the next.”

The August 11 special primary will be a “winner take all” election, with no runoff. The candidate receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominee going into the general election on November 3.