Federal, state and local candidates return to Phil Campbell for runoff political forum June 9th

Once again, the political spotlight will shine on Phil Campbell when the Republican Women of Franklin County, Alabama(RWFCA) host a candidate forum ahead of the June 16th primary runoff election.

The event is co-sponsored by the Colbert County Republican Women. The forum starts at 6 p.m., that evening, at the Phil Campbell Community Center, 132 Sherry Bryce Drive in Phil Campbell.

The RWFCA hosted two candidate roundtables this spring, one in February and one in April. Republican candidates in all levels of office (federal, state and local) were invited and between the two roundtables, nearly 30 candidates took part.

This time, there are fewer candidates on the ballot because only races where no candidate received a majority of votes on May 19th required a runoff to decide the party’s nominees.

Both Republicans in the United States Senate runoff have confirmed they will attend. They are Barry Moore and Jared Hudson.

The two Alabama Lieutenant Governor runoff candidates, Wes Allen and John Wahl, have also committed to the event, although Wahl will be represented by former Lieutenant Governor candidate Pat Bishop, who finished fifth in the seven-candidate May 19th primary, will attend and speak on Wahl’s behalf.

Alabama’s two Republican Attorney General runoff candidates, Katherine Robertson and Jay Mitchell, both committed to attend the event, as did Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries runoff candidate Corey Hill.

Public Service Commission candidate Jim Ziegler, declined his invitation to attend. Ziegler did not return requests from the FFP as to why he declined to attend the Franklin County eent

Franklin County Republican voters will decide one local runoff, for Franklin County Commission District One. The two candidates, Grayson Murray and Curtis Baker, both confirmed they will attend the forum.

“We are very pleased with the response and after the success of the first two roundtables, this will be another opportunity for voters to speak directly with the people who will be elected to represent them,” said RWFCA President Denel Wardell.

Last fall, the Franklin County Democratic Executive Committee hosted a United States Senate candidate debate, with three candidates participating.

That debate, along with the Republican roundtables and the June 9th forum, were unprecedented events that saw a record number of state and federal office candidates to Franklin County.