Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District candidates went head to head in a debate hosted by AL.com on Thursday as they continue to battle for voters in the hotly contested race.
Republican Caroleene Dobson is running against Democrat Shomari Figures in the district that was redrawn by federal courts last year after ruling that the original district map violated the Voting Rights Act.
During a discussion about inflation, Figures tried to portray Dobson as an out-of-touch rich person who can’t understand how the issue affects average people.
“It starts with having people who can relate to the issues, people who understand, who have grown up in communities in and around, people who are struggling because people are struggling,” Figures said. “My opponent can’t relate to that. My opponent is a billionaire, and that is something that just keeps people from generally understanding the struggles of everyday people. What we know is this, is that we’re talking about people struggling now in this economy.”
RELATED: Dobson, Figures square off in first debate for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District
AL.com fact checked Figures on the “billionaire” claim, posting it on social media live during the debate, pointing out that Dobson is worth between $580,000 and $1.85 million.
FACT CHECK. @aldotcom #AL02 #alpolitics pic.twitter.com/Ea4ps0AxXU
— Caroleene Dobson for Congress (@DobsonForAL) October 10, 2024
Dobson then fired back at the claim during the debate.
“I mean, I wish I were a billionaire, but the truth is, there’s only one of us at this table that owns a $1.5 million house, and it’s my opponent, and it’s right outside of Washington, DC,” Dobson said. “He talks about state leadership, but the reality is, for 12 of the past 16 years, Democrats have been in the White House. Democrats have been in control. They have led our country towards exponentially increasing our debt, and the more that we spend government dollars, the more the cost of goods is going to go up, the more it’s going to cost you to put food on the table, to put gas in your car.”
For the record. pic.twitter.com/KPDknfkjkn
— Caroleene Dobson for Congress (@DobsonForAL) October 10, 2024
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
