Central Alabama Republicans Meet in Montgomery, Hear Candidates

The Republican Club of Central Alabama met on Tuesday evening, January 13th in Montgomery, hosting three candidates on the ballot for the May 19th primary election.

Hampton Harris, who has just qualified to run as a Republican in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, spoke first. Harris was one of several contenders in last cycle’s race in AL2, which ultimately saw Democrat Shomari Figures elected to the House.

Harris, who grew up in Pike Road, is an attorney and real estate broker in Montgomery, talked about the 2024 race. “I was interested in running last time when Shomari won,” he said. The map of District 2 had just been redrawn, which caused a great deal of uncertainty, and “the Democrats guessed better,” he said.

“Now, we’ve dug through the data,” Harris went on. “There were a lot of areas we missed” in 2024, but he sees AL2 as winnable for Republicans. “It’s going to take a lot of grassroots work to win,” and that AL2 is one of the races that is important in keeping the Republican majority in the House.

U.S. Senate candidate Morgan Murphy spoke about how he became interested in working in Washington because “our culture was shifting.” A Navy Reserve Captain with 26 years of service, Murphy told the audience that, in the Navy, “I spent more time taking DEI training than I spent taking weapons training,” he said. “They took the Boy out of Boy Scouts and lost half their membership,” Murphy went on. “In 2020, I lost my father, and we weren't allowed to have a funeral. Three weeks later, George Floyd had six thousand people at his funeral.”

China has 236 times our shipbuilding capacity — and that’s a national security emergency.” Murphy pointed out that America has 185 U.S.-flagged shipping vessels, while China has 10,000 — vessels that would be essential in transport of men and materials in time of conflict. The Navy has also fallen behind China in size, which is something he will work to correct as Senator.

“We need a true conservative. We only have six MAGA America First Senators,” at present, he said. “I’ve worked it (as Sen. Tuberville’s National Security advisor). We need someone who can work with Katie (Sen. Katie Britt).” Working with Sen. Tuberville, “we faced the woke mob every day,” so he understands exactly what the next Senator will face.

Murphy was asked about his priorities if elected, to which he replied they were manufacturing — the need to restore American industry, national defense — “we have to double the size of the Navy,” and energy — to bring down energy costs. He spoke about piercing “the impenetrable wall of government stupid” to move President Trump’s agenda forward as being his main goal when elected.

Brent Woodall, who is running for Public Service Commission (PSC), Place 2 was the evening’s final speaker. Woodall, who previously served as Chief of Staff on the PSC, spoke about how Alabama’s power rates “are the highest in the Southeast. We have the third-highest rates in the nation.”

Woodall compared the off-grid fee charged for those who are connected to the grid as a backup, but generate most of their energy themselves. “Georgia Power charges $5 a month, but if you cross the State line, Alabama Power charges you $10 a month,” because the PAC allows it.

Woodall spoke about the “hidden tax” on every Alabama Power customer, explaining that the PSC is funded by payments from the monopolies it regulates, not from the General Fund. However, for the last several years, any excess funds the PAC has collected were turned over to the General Fund, rather than being returned to the rate payers who paid them in the first place.

Woodall said that one of his main aims when elected would be to change that “hidden tax” system to make excess monies collected by the PAC rebated to the people who paid them — not being sent into the General Fund. In the last four years, this has amounted to $33 million dollars that Woodall says should have been returned to Alabama Power’s customers. “We need to stop it.”

The meeting concluded with a reminder that the group will be voting on new officers and bylaws changes at the next meeting.

For more information on the candidates, follow the embedded links, above.