Floyd declares candidacy for State House District 38
BY JOHN BRICE
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
VALLEY — Lifelong Valley resident Hazel Floyd recently announced she will be running as a Democrat candidate in the special election to replace Debbie Wood after her early retirement as a state legislator in the Alabama House.
Floyd said her areas of focus will be efforts to strengthen local economies, support public education and champion farmers as well as small businesses.
“I graduated from Valley High School and then after that I continued on pursuing education so I went to Southern Union State Community College,” Floyd said. “I have done classes on both campuses, Opelika and Valley. I got my associates in general studies and then I moved on to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where I got my bachelor of arts in political science and philosophy with a concentration in jurisprudence. I came back home and now I am running for election.”
Floyd said she is driven by a lifelong passion for service and explained how that passion brought her to this point.
“My entire life I have wanted to be in a position where I could help the most people possible,” she said. “I fully believe that our government, that is their job. That is what we vote them to do. I figured the best way to achieve being in a governmental position is to gain the knowledge and gain the education to be successful at helping the most people possible.”
She also said recent life experiences have helped form her perspective.
“I recently spent this summer in Montgomery with the program called FuelAL,” Floyd said. “They get a bunch of students and recent graduates to take over a district so they let you meet all sorts of people in that area. I have gotten to meet a ton of businesses, a couple of officials. I got to talk to some of the colleges in Montgomery. I have gotten [to] network and know the lay of the land in Montgomery, which is why I feel like now is the perfect time to run because I still have those people I am in contact with.”
Floyd described how one of her focuses will be to engage voters across the district.
“I used to be in the marching band and so I have traveled to Smiths Station,” she said. “I have played competitions in Phenix City. I have been all over that place so I do have some people there. They are going to be primarily where I am reaching out the most to get my name spread. I have lived in Valley my whole life, so I am going to be reaching out to them.”
She reiterated many of her core values were defined by her years spent in marching band.
“Marching band taught me community; when you are in a marching band, you are part of a 100 person family,” she said. “You get to know diversity in people, diversity in lifestyles, diversity in what they believe, what they stand for, what issues they have. You get to know a wide variety of people and those are your friends. You treat them like family. With that mindset, I have been able to use that in other positions of power that I have had. When I was in high school, I was in a ton of extracurriculars and I held president or VP positions and my people skills from band transferred over to that.”
Floyd said her own experiences as a student in the school system have helped inform her own approach to reforming it.
“My main goal is for our students to feel like they are heard,” she said. “I remember when I was in high school. I didn't feel like the adults ever gave me a say. Yes, you are like a parent and you're over everything, but I didn't feel like they necessarily listen to what the students are also feeling. I know books were a big issue when I was in school. I wish we had nicer textbooks. Technology is great, but we are still reading “Romeo and Juliet” out of flimsy pages or [books] ripped in half. In today's time and era we should be investing more money into those resources since we know that they are needed.”
