Republican club aids candidates in qualifying

BY JOHN BRICE

THE LAFAYETTE SUN

CHAMBERS COUNTY — Members of the Chambers County Republican Club gathered for their monthly meeting Thursday, Jan. 29, in the Chambers County Development Authority conference room at the Lanett Municipal Airport.

With the candidate qualifying deadline for the upcoming GOP primary scheduled for the following day at 5 p.m. CT, the meeting carried a sense of urgency and excitement ahead of the May election. Club Vice President Sara Crutchfield presided over the meeting in the absence of Chair Kristin Nelson, who was unable to attend.

The meeting opened with a presentation by guest speaker Rodney Walker, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat representing Alabama. Walker described himself as a lifelong Alabamian, cattle farmer and businessman — not a career politician.

Walker outlined several policy positions, including expanding highways and bridges, protecting farms, repealing the death tax, lowering food prices to combat inflation, restoring energy independence, establishing term limits and ending foreign ownership of U.S. farmland.

Later in the meeting, Crutchfield shared details about the upcoming Pancake Day scheduled for Feb. 27 in Valley.

“You can buy tickets to come and eat pancakes and sausage along with a drink that is available orange juice or milk,” Crutchfield said. “It is a fundraising event for Valley Fest. Traditionally, it was a fundraising event for the Kiwanis Club — since 1960 until about 2017. Last year, we reached out to the Kiwanis Club to see if it was something we could bring back for the community, and they agreed to support it. [They said they had only stopped it] due to them not having the amount of members and involvement they once had. Many of their members came and helped us cook for the event last year, and we hope that they do the same this year.”

She also explained the personal inspiration behind reviving the event.

“It was one of my favorite childhood traditions here,” she said. “It was at Langdale Gym for all of those years, and unfortunately that location is not wheelchair accessible, so we moved it to the Valley Community Center. That way it opens up more opportunity for more people to enjoy.”

Returning the focus to upcoming elections, Crutchfield emphasized the importance of civic participation.

“We have the District 38 election on Feb. 3, so we did talk about that and encouraged people to get out and vote,” she said. “[People should] exercise their right to vote, and if they are not able to go the day of, they need to see about absentee ballots.”

Candidates who have qualified for the May primary include:

• Sheriff Jeff Nelson

• County Commission District 3 candidate James “Moto” Williams

• County Commission District 3 candidate John Benefield

• County Commission District 5 candidate James “Toby” Boyd

• County Commission District 5 candidate Sara Crutchfield

• County Commission District 6 candidate Debra Riley

• Board of Education District 4 candidate Jody Jennings

• Board of Education District 4 candidate Mary Terry

• Coroner candidate Levi Richardson

• Coroner candidate Jonathan Brown

• Coroner candidate David Smith

• Revenue Commissioner Elizabeth Abney.