When the People Speak: Mo Brooks, District 20, and the Fight to Be Heard in Montgomery

Opinion by the Author.

On this weeks Angela’s Sweet Tea and Politics on Spotify, I sat down with Mo Brooks, and y’all—whether you love him, can’t stand him, or you’re still making up your mind—this interview hit on something I think we all feel deep in our bones: the voice of the people only matters if the politicians we elect actually listen.

Because here’s the truth. Most folks in District 20 aren’t waking up thinking about Montgomery procedure or which committee met at what time. They’re thinking about their paycheck, their kids, the price of groceries, whether their neighborhood feels safe, and whether their tax dollars are being used the way they were promised. And when voters speak—when they send somebody to represent them—there’s an expectation that the person we elect will vote like the district, not like the backroom crowd.

Mo Brooks told me that’s exactly why he’s running again.

He said his decision wasn’t about chasing attention or climbing a political ladder. He pointed to a bill he says crossed a line for him—House Bill 210—and what really lit the fire was learning that the representative for his area voted in favor of it. In his view, it’s one more example of elected officials drifting away from the people who sent them there. He also said there was frustration, not just with one vote, but with what he called the overall performance and priorities coming out of Montgomery.

And then there’s the part that surprised me: he didn’t jump in right away. He said supporters urged him to run and told him the state needed stronger conservatives, but he tested whether they were serious. His test was simple—raise the money fast enough to run a real campaign, without relying on special-interest PAC money. He says they came through, and he kept his word and qualified.

So what does he say he’ll do if voters send him back?

First, he framed the cost of living as the front-burner issue. He says the best tool the state has to help families and retirees isn’t another program—it’s lowering taxes and prioritizing spending so people keep more of what they earn. He also argued Alabama has to live within its means, and that means cutting things that don’t deliver value.

On public safety, he put the focus on the whole system—prosecutors, judges, and enough space to actually keep violent offenders off the street. He tied much of Alabama’s crime problem to illegal narcotics and said harsher consequences are needed. He also emphasized border security as part of the larger public safety conversation.

On education, he pushed hard for school choice, saying tax dollars should follow the goal—educating children—rather than protecting a system.

But the heart of this interview wasn’t any single policy. It was the question: when people vote, are they being heard? District 20 is going to answer that soon enough.