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Walt Maddox, Alabama Democrats pitch jobs, education, and health care to AFL-CIO

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Walt Maddox called for Medicaid expansion and stronger ethics laws Thursday, while renewing his call for debates with incumbent Kay Ivey.

Speaking before a meeting of the Alabama AFL-CIO in Montgomery, Maddox, the mayor of Tuscaloosa, hit the common themes of his campaign and those of many other Democrats in attendance, with an emphasis on workforce issues before the union members present.

“I believe we stand at the crossroads of the past vs. the future, and all of us, Democrats or Republicans, labor or management, we must ask this question: Are we going to leave a better Alabama to the next generation to inherit?” he said.

The Maddox campaign has hit the issue of debating Ivey — who has declined the opportunity — repeatedly over the past week. The Ivey camp has effectively ruled out such proposals. During Maddox’s brief speech to the AFL-CIO, a phone went off; Maddox joked that it “was maybe Gov. Ivey calling me about the debate; I don’t know.”

“I want to have a debate about who is best to lead the state,” he said. “One of the things we must debate is when we use incentives to recruit new jobs, we must make sure it is Alabamians filling those jobs.”

Ivey has a major cash advantage over Maddox, and aired her first general election campaign ad on Thursday, highlighting increased spending on prekindergarten programs, a priority of Republican legislators for about a decade. Maddox, who unveiled a biographical ad earlier this week, said after the meeting his campaign was focusing on putting infrastructure in place.

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