Alabama Democrats Entering 2018 With New Level Of Confidence

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Anyone who follows politics in Alabama closely would have likely never predicted that 2018 might be the year that Alabama "turns blue," so to speak. But judging by the confidence and momentum felt by the Democratic party after the unlikely Senate victory by Democrat Doug Jones in December, that notion is not as far-fetched as one might have thought.

Speaking to a standing-room-only crowd packed into a building that was once a Mexican Restaurant in Irondale, Democratic congressional candidate Danner Kline made it clear to supporters earlier this month that for the first time in decades, Democrats in Alabama can be vocal and proud to be a part of their party. "Doug Jones showed us that you can be a Democrat in Alabama, and not be silent about what you stand for," Kline said. Kline is running against incumbent Republican Gary Palmer in House District 6, a district that has been solidly Republican for decades. Kline said he grew up in a conservative family, attended college at conservative Samford University and like many white Alabamians, was basically "raised a Republican."

But Kline's ideals have aligned much more closely with the Democratic party, he found, and like many other Alabama Democrats who have been relatively silent over the last several years, Kline is running for office in a year that might become one of the most significant for the party in the state's history.

In order to understand the historic significance of the new momentum in the Democratic party in Alabama, one must look at the stronghold the Republican party has had on the state since the ideals of the parties basically swapped in the 60s and 70s. When Guy Hunt was elected governor in 1986, he was the first Republican to be elected governor since Reconstruction. Since then, only Don Siegelman - elected in 1998 to one term - has been elected governor as a Democrat in Alabama (Governor Jim Folsom, also a Democrat, served as governor after Hunt was removed from office, but he was never elected to the position). Since the 1990s, Republicans have held a majority of Alabama's U.S. House seats and after the 2010 elections, the Alabama State Legislature came under Republican control for the first time in the state's history.

In fact, many of the state's congressional GOP representatives such as Spencer Bachus, Robert Aderholt, Mike Rogers and Richard Shelby have found themselves running unopposed in recent general elections, with the Republican primary essentially serving as the de facto election. Although current surveys show a roughly equal number of Democratic and Republican identifiers in the state, Republican candidates have maintained a stronghold on Alabama's elections. Those same studies show most of the wealthiest people in the state are Republican. The state's African American voters are overwhelmingly Democratic, and among white Alabamians, women and less-educated and lower-income voters are more likely than others to be Democrats. Hence, the numbers may be somewhat even, but the power lies with the GOP.

However, when Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore in the special Senate election in December, Democrats in Alabama seemed to spring forward with a new momentum, and a confidence not seen in some time.

"This is truly an exciting time for Democrats in Alabama," said Amy Scott Wasyluka, a Democratic candidate for State Senate in District 2 (which includes Huntsville). "After 2016, a lot of new candidates, volunteers and organizers stepped up and became involved. That initial influx of new people and ideas has led more and more people to see the possibilities the Democratic party presents for positive change in Alabama, and with the special election of Doug Jones on December 12th, we received confirmation that those possibilities are within our reach right now."

Wasyluka added, "If the Women's March 2018 in Huntsville is any indication, this renewed energy has not yet reached its zenith and I cannot wait to see where it takes us in 2018."

Many of the state's Democrats say party members have always been abundant in the state but because of the GOP force, they have been silent until recently. Tabitha Isner, a Democratic candidate in Alabama's Second Congressional District, said many of the new voices are getting louder in the party because of the election of Donald Trump.

"For a long time, there has been rampant civic intimidation in this state," Isner said. "Yes, the state tends to vote Republican, but Democrats make up a sizable portion of the population. Nonetheless, Democrats have been intimidated into believing that if they speak out about their political views, they will face significant social and economic consequences. Because the majority of wealthy and powerful people in Alabama are Republican, the Republican ethos became the de facto law of the land."

Isner said since the emergence of Trump, the vibe has been shifting among Alabama Democrats. "There’s now a sense that our silence has had consequences that are just as severe, so we might as well speak up and fight back. If we do not speak up, we get leaders like Roy Moore. So the balance has shifted," she said.

"With the Doug Jones election, so many Democrats came out of the shadows and stepped into the light for the first time in too long," Isner said. "And it felt good to feel the sun shining on us. It felt good to flex our muscles and show what we are capable of."

Mountain Brook resident Felicia Stewart, who is running on the Democratic ticket in Alabama's 46th State House District, said the confidence among state Democrats is better than it has been in a while, but there is still a guarded optimism that exists among Alabama Democrats.

"The energy is incredible, but I don’t think Democrats are over-confident," Stewart said. "After all, nearly 600,000 Alabamians still voted for Roy Moore. My enthusiasm centers on what is possible if we can sustain this level of engagement over time."

Stewart pointed to many issue-specific organizations that champion issues such as immigration, poverty, racial injustice and LGBTQ that are coming together and channeling efforts into the electoral process. "I’ve also met many people who are participating in the process for the first time, who just reached a point where they needed to do something," Stewart said. "If we can keep these coalitions strong, find places for the 'new people' to have purpose, and continue to improve our communication as a united front, we will make significant gains in 2018 and in 2020. It’s exciting to see how many blue, and even purple 'dots' are standing up to be counted in Alabama."

One of those "new people" now getting involved in the political process is Alabama Secretary of State candidate Heather Milam. Milam was active in the Doug Jones campaign and got involved in Emerge Alabama, which is a candidate training program for Democratic women in the state.

"In Alabama, we've never really been true to party ideals, because the political alignment is about power, not party," Milam said. "What we see with this new wave of Democratic candidates is a renewed sense of hope and a commitment to democratic standards."

Milam decided to run for office due largely to the motivation to be more involved in the democratic process. Milam pointed not only to the rise in Democratic candidates in general, but also the rise in female candidates in the party. "Passive participation in a democracy is not an option," Milam said. "Democracies work when we vote and when we flood the ballots with qualified candidates, many of whom are women. With grassroots organizations, like Emerge Alabama, training new candidates, the slate of future political leaders is enormously hopeful."

The 2018 primary elections are June 5, with runoffs July 17, and the general elections November 6.

Photo of Danner Kline by Michael Seale