In a recent interview with the Trussville Tribune, Democratic Party U.S. Senate nominee Will Boyd suggested that the political climate in Alabama presented the appearance of it being a “hate state.”
The progressive U.S. Senate hopeful made the comment while lamenting the Republican Party’s contentious primary runoff contests this past election cycle.
Boyd proclaimed that he would opt against bringing the operations of his hypothetical business to the Yellowhammer State and would not want a “Made in Alabama” label stamped on his product.
“I believe transgender kids, people who are in the LGBTQIA+ community, all deserve a shot. They need to be treated with fairness, with dignity, with equity. I believe anybody in our state ought to feel like there is diversity, inclusion and belonging,” Boyd told Trussville Tribune publisher Scott Buttram. “You know what, Scott? If I’m a business owner and I’m trying to decide whether or not I want to plant a business in Alabama, and I watch those runoffs that we saw in the last primary, I wouldn’t want to send a business to Alabama. I wouldn’t want a ‘Made in Alabama’ sticker on my product because that looks like it’s a hate state.”
In other portions of the wide-ranging interview, the Democrat senatorial candidate heaped praise on President Joe Biden for doing “a phenomenal job” in spurring U.S. job growth.
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Additionally, in explaining why he would have voted in favor of the hotly contested “Inflation Reduction Act,” Boyd asserted that issues related to climate change were among the top priorities for younger Americans.
Former Business Council of Alabama CEO Katie Britt emerged as the GOP’s overwhelming choice for the seat currently held by retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa). Britt and Boyd will face off in the November 8 general election.
Boyd’s U.S. Senate candidacy is the third statewide campaign he has launched and is his fourth bid for public office in total.
As the Democratic Party nominee for Alabama’s fifth congressional district in 2016, Boyd unsuccessfully challenged incumbent U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville). He lost to Brooks in the general election by a 66.7% to 33.2% margin.
A year later, Boyd qualified to seek the Democratic Party nomination in the special election for the U.S. Senate. He would earn only 4.9% of the vote and was defeated by eventual U.S. Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook).
In 2018, as a candidate for lieutenant governor, Boyd was defeated by then-State Rep. Will Ainsworth (R-Guntersville) by a 61.3% to 38.7% margin.
Watch the interview in full:
Dylan Smith is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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