Daughter of Alabama, Caroleene Dobson's journey from farmland to the fight for U.S. Congress

When the United States Supreme Court handed down its 5-4 opinion on Allen v. Milligan last summer, ruling that Alabama’s congressional map was likely in violation of the Voting Rights Act, the Alabama State Legislature was called back to Montgomery for a special session by Governor Kay Ivey to come up with a new map that would better represent Alabama’s racial makeup.

By late July 2023, the Governor had approved the Legislature’s new map, saying in a statement, “The Legislature knows our state, our people and our districts better than the federal courts or activist groups, and I am pleased that they answered the call, remained focused and produced new districts ahead of the court deadline.”

However, a three-judge panel rejected the map in September of last year, saying, in essence, that the Legislature defied a court order to make two of Alabama’s seven congressional districts majority or near-majority African American. The panel then appointed a special master to draw new options.

The map eventually issued by the three-judge panel created a new second district made up of nearly 49% voting-age African Americans and gave the seventh district, currently represented by Democrat Congresswoman Terri Sewell of Selma, a voting-age African American majority of almost 52%.

Incidentally, the new map also drew Republican Congressman Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) and Congressman Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) both into the new 1st congressional district. Alabama Republicans held their breath as Moore quietly deliberated on whether he would challenge his colleague for the first district or make an uphill run to keep his seat in the second.

When Moore announced his intention to run against Carl in the new first district, two hotly-contested Republican primary races were immediately set off. Republicans in the second district lined up to take their chances at winning the seat Moore will vacate in January. One of those candidates was a young Montgomery attorney named Caroleene Dobson.

Dobson was raised on a fifth-generation cattle farm in Beatrice, a tiny, predominately African American town of just over 200 in northern Monroe County. She excelled in education and graduated from Harvard College before attending Baylor Law School in Waco, Texas. In 2019, she and her husband, Bobby, left their lives in San Antonio behind to return to her native Alabama.

Settling down in Montgomery, Dobson took a job at Birmingham-based law firm Maynard Nexsen. Instead of climbing up the ladder of Alabama politics in her five years back in the Yellowhammer State, Dobson has focused on raising her two daughters, Philippa and Lydia.

However, when faced with the reality that the district that now encompasses her family’s farm, as well as her home in Montgomery, could soon be represented by someone who would stand against her conservative values, Dobson began praying and talking to her family and friends about a potential run for the seat.

Dobson recalled making the decision to run, telling Yellowhammer News, “I was frustrated that, frankly, a lot of fellow Republicans were immediately resigned to the fact that a Democrat was going to represent our home.”

“Somebody needs to fight for this seat,” Dobson remembers thinking to herself. So, with just over a week left before the filing deadline, she threw her hat into the ring — the first Republican candidate to do so.

Bobby Dobson told Yellowhammer News he was immediately supportive when his wife decided to run for Congress and knew that her intellect would serve her well on the campaign trail.

“Knowing her intelligence and steel-trap of a memory, I knew that she’d be great at meeting a ton of people very quickly and remembering the bits and pieces she would learn from people on the road,” Mr. Dobson says.

Other candidates soon followed, including two Alabama political veterans: former State Senator Dick Brewbaker of Montgomery and State Senator Greg Albritton of Atmore. By December, a public poll had Dobson at 5% compared to Albritton’s 12% and Brewbaker’s 24%. While about 54% of respondents were undecided on which primary candidate they would vote for, roughly 68% said they had never heard of Dobson.

While that poll could have given Dobson reason to rethink her campaign, she pushed on, attending Christmas parties, visiting county Republican Party and Farmer’s Federation meetings, and stopping by local shops and restaurants.

Dobson says campaign life has become a family affair, as she often travels the district with her husband and their two young daughters in tow. Her parents, Philip and Lynne Hardee, serve as a sort of advance team, arriving at some events ahead of their daughter to set up campaign information tables and meet voters.

When 2024 rolled around, Dobson picked up one of the most coveted endorsements in Alabama politics when the Alabama Farmers Federation (ALFA) publicly backed her. With approximately 300,000 ALFA members throughout the state, that endorsement was a game-changer.

As the March 5 primary drew closer, Dobson did not slow down. Bolstering her public profile with television ads, radio hits, and op-eds in Alabama-based news outlets, momentum surged for the Dobson campaign.

When the Republican primary results were announced, Dobson shocked the state by overtaking Senator Albritton and advancing to an April 16 runoff against Brewbaker.

The runoff campaign grew heated, with Dobson and Brewbaker sparring in an early April debate sponsored by the Mobile Chamber of Commerce. In a poll released on the morning of the runoff election, Dobson held an approximately 5-point lead over Brewbaker. In the end, Dobson crushed the former State Senator, winning by nearly 20%.

On the Democratic side, Shomari Figures, a veteran of both the Obama and Biden Administrations, trounced Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels by a slightly larger margin.

With the Republican nomination in her hands, Dobson began picking up more endorsements from Governor Ivey, Senator Katie Britt, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

Dobson also found a close ally in Elise Stefanik, the New York Congresswoman who currently serves as Chairwoman of the House Republican Caucus. Stefanik’s political action committee, Elevate PAC, which is focused on electing Republican women to the House, announced Dobson as one of eight candidates it would back in 2024.

As the GOP nominee, Dobson is under immense pressure to deliver the 2nd District for Republicans, and, given the razor-thin majority the party currently holds in the House, victory will be vital in the event of a Trump win on Tuesday. Without the House, much of the Republican legislative agenda would be dead on arrival, even if the Senate and White House flip red.

Despite the high stakes, Dobson continues to find joy on the campaign trail.

When asked what she has learned about the people of the second district in the last year, she says their goodness has been a key takeaway. She recalls two retired gentlemen she met in Lyeffion, a small community in Conecuh County, who run a Sunday afternoon daycare for children whose parents work on Sundays.

Dobson was touched by their dedication to taking on that role in their community, saying, “These are two retired men who saw a need and thought, ‘Hey, otherwise, we’d be watching football on Sunday afternoon or doing something in our yards, but we can help the kids in our community.’”

“There are stories like that, time and time again, of people who have seen a need and have prayerfully answered a calling to be a servant in their towns and communities throughout this district,” Dobson continues.

Dobson says those stories have been incredibly inspiring for her, and she hopes to model that goodness in Congress. When asked what the most rewarding part of life on the campaign trail has been, Dobson says the people she has met and new things she has learned about the district have been a huge blessing.

“This district has so much to offer. We have so many incredible stories and so many businesses that, out of hard work, dreams, and sacrifice, have made such an impact, not just on the state and nation but, really, on the world,” Dobson says.

She recalls KW Plastics, the Troy-based company that currently holds the title of the world’s largest recycler of plastics, and Pitts Trailers of Pittsview, Alabama, which supplies about eighty percent of logging trailers in the United States.

The most challenging part of campaign life, she says, is knowing how many people in and outside of her district are hoping to see her win Tuesday’s election.

“There are so many people who have gone above and beyond to help me, to pray for me, to encourage me, to feed me, who’ve let me sleep in their guest bedroom if I’ve been in town for a night or who’ve helped me out when I’ve had car trouble,” she says, fondly.

“There are just so many people who I need to thank, and I could probably spend my entire post-November 5th life thanking people throughout this district and, really, throughout the country who have been so generous with their time and resources,” she continues.

“Really, the challenging thing is to find a way to adequately show gratitude to all of the people who have been so kind to me and who’ve helped me in this race.”

The fact that Dobson has had no trouble finding people to help her along throughout the last twelve months should not surprise anyone. Friends of the candidate who gave background interviews for this article consistently spoke of how highly they think of her, often noting her constant thoughtfulness and kindness. It is not uncommon for friends and acquaintances to receive handwritten “thank you” notes and homemade baked goods from Dobson, a true testament to her upbringing in rural Alabama.

For her husband and daughters, the most difficult part of Dobson’s run for Congress has been her unrelenting travel schedule.

“The toll of the road has been pretty tough. She’s been pretty much up at six in the morning and out the door by seven and then back in bed by ten-thirty or eleven seven days a week for twelve straight months,” Mr. Dobson says, “On anybody, that’s grueling, but she’s got a heck of an engine on her.”

“She will not be outworked,” he says.

Given the importance of her race to the Republican Party, one of the people who Dobson has gotten to know well is Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl.

“For me, as Republican Party Chairman, it’s rare that I find a candidate who is so genuine, so real, and so articulate when talking about the issues that affect people,” Wahl told Yellowhammer News. “It’s been a pleasure to get to know her and her family. You can tell that she has a deep love for Alabama and the people of our state,” he continued.

Wahl says that, as the 2024 election cycle began, he never imagined that Alabama would play such an important role in the balance of power in Washington, D.C.

With Wahl at the helm, the party has invested heavily in keeping the second district, sending hundreds of volunteers to the campaign, paying for hundreds of thousands of mailpieces, and holding voter registration drives.

With Dobson as their nominee, the party is confident that that investment will pay off.

“Caroleene Dobson has been an incredible candidate to work with. She is an extremely hard worker, authentic, and caring. She takes the time to listen to people from all walks of life across the district and genuinely understands the problems they are facing,” Philip Foster, ALGOP Political Director, told Yellowhammer News.

Foster continued, “Washington has enough insiders who care more about the special interests than their constituents. It’s time to send someone to DC who will actually work for the people of Alabama’s 2nd congressional district and get the job done.”

As the sun sets on the 2024 election cycle and Dobson’s first foray into Alabama politics, Republicans in the state are holding their breath once again and praying for victory as one of the state’s seven seats in the U.S. House of Representatives hangs in the balance.

Riley McArdle is a contributor for Yellowhammer News. He currently serves as Chairman of The University of Alabama College Republicans and Vice Chairman of the College Republican Federation of Alabama. You can contact him at [email protected].