JR Bowling on Why He’s Running, Gambling Money, Data Centers, PSC

James “JR” Bowling, candidate for Alabama State Senate in District Four, spoke with ALPolitics.com about his bid to unseat incumbent Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger in the May 19 Republican primary. We began by asking him to tell us a little bit about the race and why he’s running.

“Well, I'm running to be the people's voice in the State Senate for District Four,” Bowling began. “What brought me into this race was actually a little annexation bill, SB322, that was passed by the incumbent back last year. It was done against the will of the people, against the will of the local government. They actually passed a resolution, one from the County Commissioners and one from the County Mayors Association, I believe whatever they call it, opposing it, and he sent them packing and passed it anyway. So that's what brought me into the race.”

We then asked him to talk about SB322 and what it would have done. (Editor’s note: SB322, introduced by Sen. Gudger, was passed in the 2025 legislative session. It was repealed by SB12, also introduced by Sen. Gudger, in the 2026 session.)

Bowling answered, saying “SB322 would have annexed land approximately between 21 and 28 miles outside the city limits, and let “community developed district” petition the City to annex into the City of Cullman. So, we would have had unprecedented annexation out in the County. But it actually didn't just affect Cullman, it affected the whole State.”

“After the backlash from the County, the citizens here raised Cain and really hit him, hit the incumbent really hard. He even said in a Facebook video that that's all he heard about, everywhere he went all across the District, and he just couldn't handle it, so he spent more of our tax dollars going back and repealing the bill that he told us was best for us. So kind of contradictory there.”

We then asked about the attention that’s been drawn this cycle to the influence of gambling money into the state. That was one of the objections to SB322 in the 2025 cycle — the fear that would have brought a casino into Cullman County. ALPolitics.com ask Mr. Bowling to give us his opinion on gambling, as well as addressing the issue of gambling money in his race

Yes, I've got an opinion on gambling,” Bowling said. “As some people know, I've managed a plant the other side of Nashville, where gambling is legal, and I've had some experiences dealing with some homelessness up there when I was working there. And so, I've seen the effects of gambling. There's not enough money put in the resources for addiction when it comes to that. So, I've got a kind of a stance on gambling that many share and some might not, but, and yes, gambling money has affected my race.

“The incumbent has taken large sums of money from SV&B PAC, which is tied to gambling interests and also North Alabama PAC that's also tied to gambling interests, and was even supported by the American Conservative Fund, which is a federal PAC. They came in and they flooded the market, not only in my race, but other people's races, with millions of dollars of marketing money that was directly from Draft Kings Sports Betting Alliance who also is who is funding the SV&B pac and the North Alabama Pac. And I was told, even a gambling interest out of Great Britain, I believe, is what was said. Sowe've got a lot of money floating around. There's no accountability. They're not even filing reports to the Secretary of State. So I believe it's affected a lot of campaigns and mine as well.”

Bowling recently joined a number of candidates across the State in signing a letter calling on Secretary of State Wes Allen to investigate the American Conservative Fund, hold them accountable, and ensure that Alabama’s campaign finance laws were being followed. We asked him to speak briefly about this letter, and what prompted him and his fellow candidates to sign it.

“The letter is about holding people accountable and transparency,” he said. “There is a ton of this gambling money coming in. They failed to do the financial reports. If that would have been me, I’d have already been fined and held accountable for not turning in in my reports. It’s okay to go in and amend the report, but not to file one at all is wrong. 

“This out-of-State money came in, it flooded the market trying to steer the election towards pro-gambling people that are for online sports betting, is what it looks like, and they're not reporting. It just looks like smoke and mirrors. So that's why we signed the letter. We expect everybody to be held accountable, and we expect transparency.”

We then asked Bowling to clarify his stance on gambling.

“I personally don't gamble,” he said. “I really don't believe in gambling. I believe it can lead to addiction. There are people that are for it, but I am not for the expansion of gambling in Alabama.”

Another issue that has come up in other races is that it has been reported that there are electronic slot machines behind the curtain in a number of convenience stores in Bowling’s part of the State. We asked if he was aware of this and what his stance on them would be.

Bowling began by saying, “Well, I have seen that on Facebook, and different places have been reporting it. I remember Alabama fighting this. I want to say it was when Troy King was in office. We had this same issue come up, and I wasn't aware they were still here until, you know, this last few months, and they were deemed illegal the first time this was addressed by the attorney general if I remember correctly. They shouldn't be here. They need to be dealt with. I just have to rely on the system to do its job, and it looks like we've had a failure somewhere.”

Another hot button issue this cycle has been data centers in Baldwin County, the Black Belt, Jefferson County and other parts of the State. Many in these communities feel that these things are being shoved down their throats. ALPolitics.com asked Bowling if the data center controversy has come to Cullman County and his District, and if so, what were your thoughts on it?

“We haven't heard of anything proposed in our District, not saying it hadn't been, we just haven’t been made aware of it. But, we have talked about it. There has been a lot of discussions around data centers. They're a large consumer of water and power, and they are terrible for the environment. There's a lot of reasons not to have them. I know they try to sell it on job creation, but from what little bit of research I was able to do, there's not a lot of job creation there. The centers basically run themselves, and you have contractors come in and do PM work to maintain them, or when there's a problem.

“So I don't believe they bring in jobs. I believe they hurt the environment. They suck up the resources of the community. You know, they leave us with higher utility rates. The only way they could work is if they were self-sustaining and they have their own power generation. Because, would you really want it to affect the rate payers? If they're pulling all the resources away, it drives our rates up. That’s part of the worry for the people here. We're already paying high enough utility rates as it is.”

In the last session, there were several controversial Public Service Commission bills, and the bill that finally passed expanded the PSC from three to seven members and created a Secretary of Energy or an Energy Czar. Bowling’s opponent was one of the main driving forces behind that expansion bill. ALPolitics.com asked Bowling what were his thoughts on the final bill that passed?

“I believe it was GARBAGE,’ Bowling said emphatically. “It diluted the people's voice and their vote. You're going from three Commissioners that we voted on — now you're adding four more. They're appointed up to a certain time, then they become elected. The entire time that they are appointed, they outnumber the ones that we've elected. If that's not diluting the people's voice, I don't know what is.

“The Secretary of Energy is only going to answer to the Governor. I'm very much against expanding government and expanding a Governor's cabinet, because now you brought politics into it, they're going to do whatever they're told by the person that appointed them. And, it's a big concern of mine. We brought this up on the debate stage in Winston County. I voiced my opinion on it, and the incumbent stated that he didn't expand government. You know, adding all these seats didn't expand government. It didn't take our vote away.

“Well, I'm sorry, when you double the amount of bureaucracy in something, is that not expanding government? And appointing versus electing, even if they're just appointed for two years, when the appointees outnumber the elected, does that not dilute the people's voice? So I think we've got a problem on our hands, and it's going to have to be dealt with. I don't like the way it went down, neither does anybody else. We all threw our hands up and voiced our opinions, and so they killed the first bill just to rename it and slip it in and, you know, three, four weeks later, it passed. So the people of Alabama? None of us are happy.

In closing, we asked Bowling if he had a final message for the voters of District 4.

“Do you want true representation?” Bowling said. “If you want a true conservative, you want somebody that's going to be your voice is going to show up, listen and care, then I ask everybody to please consider me on May 19.

“As a volunteer fireman, I've spent my entire life serving the public around me, it's all I've ever wanted to do is be of service to those around me, to help make other people's lives better. That's what I'll continue to do, in whatever capacity that people will allow me to. That's what I need the people to understand.

“We're at a crossroads here in Alabama. You've got a choice. Do you want to send a servant leader to Montgomery, or do you want to send a leader who wants to treat you like a servant? That's the two options that we're facing right now. That’s where we're at. So you know it's time to send a fireman. When your house is on fire, you call the fire department, but when Montgomery's burning, it's time to send a fireman.

James R. “JR” Bowling is a North Alabama manufacturing manager and volunteer firefighter running for the Alabama Senate in District 4. His campaign emphasizes conservative principles, government accountability, and local economic support. 

For more information on Bowling and his campaign, visit https://jr4district4.com or follow him on social media.

The opinions expressed by the candidate are solely their own, and do not reflect the views and opinions of ALPolitics.com. ALPolitics.com makes no claims nor assumes any responsibility for the information and opinions expressed above.