Several prominent races are underway in Alabama, including a race for governor, senator and third congressional district. Here is what you need to know about the candidates involved in these races.
On Nov. 8, three candidates will be up for election for governor: incumbent Kay Ivey (R), Yolanda Flowers (D), and James Blake (L).
Ivey has served as governor since April 2017, serving a partial term originally to fulfill a vacancy left by disgraced former Governor Robert Bentley. Ivey was reelected for a full term in 2018 and was sworn in in early 2019.
Prior to her work as governor, Ivey served for seven years as lieutenant governor and for eight years as state treasurer. Ivey was the first Republican woman to hold the office of lieutenant governor in Alabama.
Before running for governor, Flowers worked for 20 years in academia. After being raised in Birmingham, Ala., Flowers began her career in Tennessee.
She first worked as a reading instructor for the Blount County, Tenn., school system. After furthering her own education, she returned to Blount County to work as a speech, language and pathologist assistant and was active in the Alcoa City Schools system as well.
For a time, Flowers also worked for the state of Tennessee as a vocational rehabilitation counselor. She returned to Birmingham in 2016 where she worked under their city school system until 2019.
Former Birmingham City Councilman Dr. James Blake is the Libertarian candidate for governor. Blake has been a practicing family medicine doctor for over two decades.
For Alabama’s U.S. Senate race to replace Sen. Richard Shelby, Katie Britt (R), Will Boyd (D), and John Sophocleus (L) will be facing off.
Britt began working as Sen. Shelby’s deputy press secretary after graduating from the University of Alabama with a degree in political science, later climbing the ranks to press secretary.
She also worked as a special assistant to UA President Robert Witt and earned a law degree. Following this, she practiced at Butler Snow LLP.
Britt then worked as Shelby’s deputy campaign manager and communications director during his 2015 reelection bid. After his successful run, she served as his chief of staff in 2016.
Boyd has a shorter political history, first running for office in 2016 for Alabama’s fifth congressional district. Following this, he was the chairman of the Lauderdale County Democratic Executive Committee.
His second run for office came in 2017, in which he lost the Democratic primary to former Sen. Doug Jones.
Prior to his political work, Boyd graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering. He furthered his education across several other institutions gaining three total doctorate degrees.
Sophocleus began his work at Ford Motor Company but began teaching economics classes at Clemson University and Auburn University in 1989 and 1992, respectively.
He has also taught economics to prisoners in the Alabama Prison Arts and Education Project. Throughout the years, Sophocleus has been published in several economics-related publications.
Also, up for grabs is Alabama’s District 3 U.S. Congressional seat. Incumbent Mike Rogers (R), is being challenged by Lin Veasey (D), and Thomas Casson (L).
Rogers has held this seat since 2003. In Congress, Rogers is a ranking member of the Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Homeland Security.
Veasey has a bachelor’s in political science and a master's in community agency counseling. Veasey has spent most of her life working as a lay pastor within the Presbyterian Church and focusing on local mission work.
Casson is an Opelika native and has run for this seat in the past. His platform is centered around ensuring politics do not function as a lifetime career.
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Tucker Massey, junior in journalism, is the content editor for The Auburn Plainsman.
