Linderholm Calls for Issue-Focused HD 20 Race

After months of bitter attacks in the Republican primary for Alabama House District 20, Democratic candidate James Linderholm says voters are ready for a campaign centered on policy instead of personal insults.

In a statement, Linderholm criticized the tone of the recent GOP contest between incumbent Rep. James Lomax and former Congressman Mo Brooks, calling for a broader discussion about affordability, healthcare, schools, and infrastructure in North Alabama.

“The voters of District 20 are highly educated, and many have lived in this District for a long time,” Linderholm said. “They are tired of the noise, the nasty flyers, and the attack ads. They won’t be persuaded by just throwing words like ‘values’ or ‘integrity’ at them: they want someone who will truly represent them. Someone who will always make themselves available, not just at election time. Someone who puts the issues affecting the voters and their families before business interests. Someone with real-life experience of getting things done, not a career politician.”

Linderholm, a Huntsville-area small business owner, said his decades in business taught him to focus on practical solutions rather than political theatrics.

“When you run a business, when you have teams depending on you, failure is not an option: you keep working until you get the results you need,” he said.

The Democrat said the concerns he hears most often from voters involve schools, healthcare costs, utilities, and traffic congestion. He argued those issues are all tied to the rising cost of living facing Alabama families.

“Do you spend the Education Trust Fund on vouchers, or do you first get everyone off the waiting lists for Pre-K?” Linderholm asked. “That’s a pocketbook issue. If the Legislature had expanded Medicaid, as Huntsville Hospital CEO Jeff Samz encouraged them to do, we would have had $8 billion more in our budget for healthcare. Imagine what a difference that would have made. Let’s investigate the disastrous decision to tie up $770 million in road funding on the West Alabama Corridor: wouldn’t that money be better spent right here in Huntsville, where we have proven growth that needs it right now?”

Linderholm also took aim at what he described as ideological fighting inside Republican politics, saying voters are more interested in qualifications and results than partisan labels.

“These are the issues District 20 voters care most about,” he said. “Not mudslinging about who is more MAGA, or who flip-flopped first: no-one really cares about that. This election is a job interview. You don’t ask a job applicant about their ‘values’ or hire them just because they say they have integrity. You want to see what they have done with their life; what they have accomplished, and you want to hear how they plan to deal with the issues before them.”

Linderholm closed his statement with a direct challenge to Lomax ahead of the November general election.

“Issues, not mudslinging: that’s the direction Linderholm wants for this campaign. Let’s see if James Lomax is up for it.”

House District 20 covers parts of Huntsville in Madison County. Lomax defeated Brooks in the Republican primary following an acrimonious and highly contentious campaign, and will now face Linderholm in the general election.

District 20 is one of the more affluent and educated districts in Alabama, with a median household income above $105,000 according to Census Reporter data.

To learn more about Linderholm’s campaign and policy platform, visit https://www.jameslinderholm.com.