In November, Alabama Conservatives Must Stand Together

Guest Opinion by Perry Hooper Jr.

The primary elections are behind us. The debates, disagreements, endorsements and hard-fought contests within our Republican family have had their day. Now comes something far more important. November is not about which Republican we supported in a primary. It is about whether conservatives in Alabama will stand together when the principles we have spent decades defending are being challenged as aggressively as at any time in my lifetime.

I have been involved in Republican politics and the conservative movement for many years, as Republican Legislator, Chairman Trump Victory and current member of the Republican Stater Executive Committee. I am also proud to serve on the Board of the Christian Coalition of Alabama. These experiences havetaught me an important lesson. Conservatives do not have to agree on every candidate, every tactic or every issue to recognize when the stakes are bigger than any one disagreement. There comes a time when we have to close ranks around the principles that brought us into this movement in the first place: the sanctity of human life, religious liberty, strong families, parental rights, individual freedom, limited government, secure borders, law and order and an America that is not ashamed of its faith or its founding. That time is November 3.

There is another reason Alabama Republicans must unite. Our President needs us. President Donald Trump cannot implement the agenda the American people elected him to carry out by himself. He needs a Republican Congress standing beside him. He needs members of the House who will secure the border, defend American energy, cut wasteful spending, protect religious liberty, defend parents and families, stand for the unborn and put America First. Every Republican House seat matters, and Alabama has an opportunity to deliver one of the seats President Trump may need most.

Nowhere may the stakes be clearer than Alabama's 2nd Congressional District. Republican State Representative Rhett Marques will face Democrat Congressman Shomari Figures in November, and national attention is already focused on this race because Republicans are fighting to maintain control of the United States House of Representatives. The district has been redrawn, creating a genuine opportunity to return this seat to the Republican column. A congressional race running through our own communities in Alabama will determine who controls the House, who chairs its committees, which legislation reaches the floor, and whether President Trump has a Congress capable of moving his agenda forward or a Democratic House determined to stop him at every turn. President Trump needs Alabama, and Alabama cannot afford to sit this one out.

The differences are not merely partisan labels. They involve fundamental questions of values. Congressman Figures has been unmistakable in his support for abortion rights. He has opposed government restrictions on abortion and supported federal protections for abortion access. For those of us who believe every human life is created by God and possesses inherent dignity, this is not some obscure difference buried deep in a party platform. It is a defining moral issue.

The same contrast exists in the governor's race. Doug Jones has spent years presenting himself as a moderate Alabama Democrat, but his record on abortion tells Alabama voters something very different. He has defended abortion rights and strongly opposed Alabama's efforts to protect unborn life. Alabamians have already spoken on the underlying principle. In 2018, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment declaring it the public policy of Alabama to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children. That was not a Washington consultant's talking point. It was the judgment of the people of Alabama. Those values are being threatened today like never before, and this November they will again be on the ballot.

There will be Republicans who are disappointed because their candidate did not win a primary. There will be conservatives who wish one nominee were stronger on one issue or another. I understand that. I have been through enough elections to know that primaries can become personal and wounds do not magically disappear the morning after Election Day. But elections have consequences far beyond our individual disappointments. As my father always said, “It’s time to bring all the sinners under the tent.” That is exactly what Republicans must do now. Whatever disagreements we had during the primaries, November is the time to put them behind us, bring our Republican family together and focus on what is at stake.

If conservatives stay home because their first choice did not win, Shomari Figures does not care why. Doug Jones does not care why. National Democrats trying to take control of the House do not care why. They simply count the vote that was never cast, and President Trump loses an ally he needs in Washington. Unity does not require surrendering our principles. Unity means remembering our principles. It means recognizing that the Republican who may not have been our first choice is not the political equivalent of a Democrat committed to defeating the very policies and values we believe are essential to Alabama's future. After a primary, responsible citizenship requires us to look forward rather than continually relitigating the contest behind us.

For Christian conservatives in particular, this is no time for political indifference. Our faith is bigger than politics, but our faith also teaches us that we have obligations to our neighbors, our families and generations yet unborn. When religious liberty, parental authority, traditional families and the sanctity of human life are debated in the public square, Christians cannot abandon that square. The Democrats are counting on Republican divisions, bruised feelings from the primaries and conservatives deciding that because their preferred candidate did not win, November somehow does not matter. We cannot give them that victory.

In November, I will proudly stand with our Republican nominees, from Governor to Congress to the courthouse. In the 2nd Congressional District, that means standing behind Rhett Marques and doing everything possible to return that seat to the Republican column. The battle for control of the House will be decided by only a handful of seats, and Alabama has an opportunity to provide one of them. We have argued enough among ourselves. Now we have a country and a state to defend, values worth defending, a Republican House majority worth fighting for and a President who needs Alabama Republicans standing with him.

The primaries were about choosing our candidates, but November is about choosing our direction. For Alabama conservatives, for Christian families, for the unborn, for the future we will leave our children and grandchildren, and for President Trump as he fights to put America First, the choice could not be clearer. Our President needs us, our values demand our participation, and, as my father would remind us, it is time to bring all the sinners under the tent and go win this election together.

Perry O. Hooper Jr. is a longtime Alabama Republican figure, former Alabama Legislator and Montgomery businessman. He served as Co-Chair of “Alabama Trump Victory” in 2016, and served as an at-large delegate to the Republican National Convention. He is a noted civic leader in Montgomery with deep family roots in Alabama’s legal and political history.

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