Our View: Walt Maddox for Governor of Alabama
April 19, 2018
Walt Maddox focuses on health care, education in run for governor
April 20, 2018

Maddox: Senate win ‘floor, not ceiling’ for Democrats

Some political observers see Democrat Doug Jones’ victory in the special U.S. Senate election last December as an aberration in this conservative state. They cite the special circumstances caused by the various controversies that swirled around Jones’ Republican opponent, Roy Moore.

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, who’s seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, said he hopes that attitude continues to circulate, insisting that what happened in December “was a floor, not a ceiling” for his party.

“This election is more personal than what happened on Dec. 12,” said Maddox, who was in Gadsden on Thursday to speak at a meeting of the Etowah County Democratic Executive Committee at Lola’s on the River. “People in Alabama are seeing their health care access declining, their schools declining and their roads and bridges crumbling.

“I’m sure that at a certain point, the politics of fear will be used,” he said, “but I don’t think that will be as effective as in previous (election) cycles.”

Maddox, 45, has been Tuscaloosa’s mayor since 2005. That election was close, but since then he’s been re-elected twice with no opposition and once with 89 percent of the vote.

He drew national praise for his leadership as Tuscaloosa recovered from the April 27, 2011, tornadoes, and said he believes his experience as mayor can translate to the governor’s office.

“As chief executive of one of Alabama’s largest cities, I confront issues every day that I will face as governor,” Maddox said. “The difference is, as mayor I’m required to find solutions to those problems.”

He said he’s the most qualified candidate of either party, “because I know how to deliver results.”

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