Q&A: Veterans Advocate, 2020 Trump Delegate Seeks GOP Nod In House District 16 Race

Editor's Note: This is the latest installment of our question and answer series with the candidates who have qualified to appear on the ballot for the special election in House District 16, which covers parts of Fayette, Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties. The candidate profiles will be published in alphabetical order by last name.

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Combat-wounded veteran, real estate appraiser and delegate for Donald Trump during the 2020 Republican National Convention Greg Fanin is one of seven candidates hoping to fill the vacant District 16 seat in the Alabama House of Representatives.

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As Patch previously reported, six Republicans qualified by the deadline on Tuesday to appear on the Sept. 26 GOP Primary ballot to fill the seat vacated by former Republican state Rep. Kyle South, of Fayette.

South stepped down at the end of the last regular legislative session to become the next president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama. House District 16 covers parts of Fayette, Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties.

The winner of the Jan. 9 General Election will serve out the remainder of South's unexpired term, which will be up for election again in November 2026.

Ahead of the special election primary this fall, Patch caught up with Fanin to hear about his campaign platform and inform voters about where he stands on the issues.

Stay tuned to Tuscaloosa Patch for similar Q&A profiles with the six Republican candidates vying for the party nomination in the weeks to come!

Greg Fanin

Biographical information

Age: 54

Professional experience: U.S. Army and veteran of the first Gulf War. Worked in military sector and for the state of Alabama. He currently works in real estate appraisal and development for both the commercial and residential.

Education: Samford University.

Q: Why did you decide to run for office?

"I have always been a public servant. And everybody knows about my military career. I've always been available to run. I've been active my entire life with wanting conservative principles and conservative values. I've helped numerous people run and they've all been successful other than one. When [Kyle South] just up and resigned, it left his seat open. I was actually in the statehouse working on something else. It just took me by absolute surprise. "

Q: What, in your view, makes you qualified to serve?

"I am very familiar and aware of the environment in Montgomery as well as across this entire state. So as a disabled vet, I do real estate appraisal and development. But one thing I've been doing over the last several years, I'm a member of the VBOC — the Veterans Business Operations Center — at Mississippi State University and what the companies do that want to come to the state of Alabama, if they are making anything defense-related, because of my strong relationships with legislators and [Alabama Commerce Secretary] Greg Canfield and the Department of Commerce, those folks down there I know I can get that in front of their face and help them get to Alabama. There are so many companies that are wanting to leave blue states and locate here, so I'm a kind of a tour guide for those companies and we give them a tour of the state of Alabama and tell them how we can help their company succeed. But because they are defense-related, they don't want to be on the front page of the paper."

Q: What is the biggest individual issue facing House District 16?

"Economic development. We have to develop the infrastructure and get our shoulders set and do better with economic development and workforce development. That was one thing, the other is the population boom in northern Tuscaloosa County is going to put a huge strain on the infrastructure down there. Road systems are already crowded down there. Citizens are getting very aggravated about that and the [Tuscaloosa County School System] is not getting the funds, I think, to expand the way it should be with the growth. Tuscaloosa is seeing a boom and we've got to have someone who goes to Montgomery and tell the Department of Transportation, who does the traffic counts, and we need a legislator to advocate that you can't put that many people down a two-lane road and not expect accidents. You see this on Highway 171, Highway 43 and Highway 216, and those three roads, all three need to be at least three-lane."

Q: What will be the first thing you will do once in office?

"I would listen and take direction from our leadership, as this is a special election we are already one session into this cycle. Then, based on the greatest, needs seek funding."

Q: What is something about House District 16 that you are proud of?

"I'm unbelievably proud of us and the Commission of Coal Mines, I helped approve some of the permits, in extreme northern Tuscaloosa County, for what we thought was going to be a $700 million to $750 million project. But it looks like Warrior Met Coal is going to invest almost a billion dollars in northern Tuscaloosa County for 450 below-ground jobs and 250 support jobs. We got a report this morning, hopefully soon, we will have that in production. Today. we did the final vote on a permit for a 14-acre coal washing plant area in Fayette County. So that's more jobs, high-paying jobs and they're vital to America's defense. It's the best coal in the world being dug by the best people in the world."

Q: What is the most common concern you’ve heard from constituents on the campaign trail?

Q: If elected, how will you approach working with the local legislative delegation?

"I love them. They all know me. They've all met me. They've all met with me, so I already have those relationships in place. I'm super strong and have strong relationships with my Republican colleagues and in the Republican Caucus. But District 16 also has, in the far-eastern portion has Democrat legislators and I would be willing to work with them as well on economics to help the people. People don't necessarily, lines are great and drawn by population, but they might mnot be necessarily drawn for economic districts.

Q: How do you plan to work with the municipalities and different governmental bodies in House District 16?

"I've already reached out the mayors of every municipality in District 16. I've tried to go to every meeting that their city councils have. I want to hear what their biggest needs are. I am the only candidate, at least that I know of, that has had two years of post-college experience as an economic and industrial development person and I worked two years under contract for Shelby County Economic and Industrial Authority and I said that to say this. Any time anybody wants to move to an area, they want to know if that municipality has a 5, 10 or 20 year plan. Brookwood is the most-prepared of any municipality in the district because it does have such a plan in place and the rest of the municipalities and the rest of the mayors. I've told them we need to formulate that immediately. Nobody plans to fail but those who fail, failed to plan."

Previous Q&A articles and special election coverage:

• Q&A: Democrat Secures Party Nomination For House District 16 Race
• Q&A: Attorney Brinyark Vying For House District 16 GOP Nomination
• Q&A: Fayette County Commissioner Seeks GOP Nod For House District 16
• House District 16 Special Election Candidates Raised $45K In July
• Crowded Field For House District 16 Race As Qualifying Closes

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