Two Auburn men, businessman Sandy Toomer and attorney Hal Walker, have announced they will run for the Republican party nomination for the open House seat previously held by former Alabama Speaker Mike Hubbard.
Both Toomer and Walker said they would qualify to run in the party primary before July 14. Gov. Robert Bentley called the special election after Hubbard was removed from office June 10.
The primary is scheduled for Sept. 13, 2016. The general election is set for Nov. 29, barring the need for a run-off. In that case, the general election would be moved to Feb. 7, 2017.
Auburn businessman Sandy Toomer announced his plans to run for the House District 79 seat earlier this week. Toomer is the owner of Toomer Coffee Roasters. He ran against Hubbard in the Republican party primary in 2014.
Hubbard defeated him by more than 20 percentage points. Now Toomer is back to run for the House seat again.
"I wasn't running against Mike Hubbard," Toomer told the Opelika-Auburn News. "I was running for the office."
Toomer said one of the main issues in Alabama, and across the country, is unlimited campaign financing. Toomer believes it should be limited.
In the 2014 primary, Hubbard out-raised Toomer by nearly $400,000, according to public campaign finance reports filed with the state.
According to Toomer, conflicts between his potential seat in the House and his personal business are not likely.
"I sell coffee," Toomer said. "I'm a coffee roaster. ... Our biggest clients are churches, and I've got two in the state that I sell to."
Hal Walker is an attorney with firms in Auburn and Montgomery. He handles a variety of cases from serious auto and trucking industry accidents to divorce and family law, according to his firms website.
Walker is an alum of Auburn University and Faulkner University's Jones School of Law. He was admitted to the Alabama Bar Association in 1999.
"We have lost faith in our government and its leaders," Walker said. "I want to restore faith back in the government."
In a campaign press release, Walker said he is pro-life, for lower taxes, against Obamacare and illegal immigration and pro-Second Amendment.
House District 79 covers most of the City of Auburn. Hubbard was first elected to the district in 1998 but was removed from office after being found guilty of 12 felony ethics charges earlier this month. He will be sentenced July 8, 2016, at 10 a.m.
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