Ivey, Byrne showcase ‘old-fashioned’ courthouse rally as GOP poised to take Monroe County

MONROEVILLE – During Alabama’s transition from Democrat to Republican that began in the 1990s and was capped off in 2010 with the GOP finally gaining control of all the branches of government in Montgomery, the local government in Monroe County was one place that was able to resist that trend.

However, the politics of the state could finally be catching up with one of Alabama’s most historic counties.

In a setting that had the feeling of being a throwback to the heyday of political rallies staged by the likes former Gov. “Big” Jim Folsom and former Congressman Frank Boykin, the Monroe County Republican Party hosted a rally featuring Gov. Kay Ivey and Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) on the lawn of the old Monroe County Courthouse that is thought to be the inspiration for the courthouse in fictitious Maycomb, Alabama, the scene of Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird.”

The goal of the event was to energize GOP voters headed into the midterm elections and flip major local offices in Monroe County, including district judge, sheriff and probate judge, currently held by Democrats to Republican.

A decades-long downturn in the local Monroe County economy, particularly with the incremental departure of Vanity Fair over the past few decades, have led to demographic changes that have made it possible for Democrats to maintain control locally.

Trends, however, are starting to show movement to the Republican Party. In 2016, Monroe County went for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton by a 56-42 margin. In the 2017 special election that resulted in the unlikely election of Democratic candidate Doug Jones, Republican Roy Moore narrowly won Monroe County by a 49.9-49.5 margin.

That hasn’t gone unnoticed by Alabama Republican Party chairwoman Terry Lathan, who was in attendance Thursday night and noted the trend in the historical setting.

“What’s happened is the trajectory of this county, the voters have gone blue to red across the state, so we love that, and we always want to be going up, up, up in our numbers,” Lathan told Yellowhammer News. “Here tonight at the Monroe County Courthouse is so historical. I think it is historical as well in the political world because they have a full slate of candidates for the first time in a very long time.”

“It’s a huge crowd here and what I’m loving about this is this is Alabama,” she added. “This is the type of old-fashioned rally that people flock to and they love being a part of this, and it’s a very strong showing of people in Monroe County who are conservative folks and want to keep making America great again, and keep making Alabama great again.”

Alabama Republican Party chairwoman Terry Lathan addresses rallygoers in Monroeville (Jeff Poor/YHN)

Organizers estimate 250-300 people attended the Monroeville event, which is considerable given the population of the county is just over 20,000. According to Lathan, that’s a “message.”

“All these people being here is not an accident,” she added. “I mean, they’ve got in their cars,” she continued. “They’ve come from work. They got families here. They got little children here as well, and they’re coming to be a part of this process. It’s very healthy. This is the sign of a very healthy conservative county. I think that President Trump’s agenda, the Republican platform and conservative values that we are implementing, not only across the nation but in the state of Alabama – that is what we’re seeing here. This is not an accident. This is a message.”

Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope), who represents Monroe County as part of Alabama’s first congressional district in Washington, D.C. and was also in attendance in Thursday, summed it up as “red wave.”

“I’ve been hearing in Washington about the ‘blue wave,’” Byrne said to Yellowhammer News. “What I’m seeing here in Monroe County right now is a red wave, which is a really good sight.”

Rep. Bradley Byrne speaks at Monroe County GOP event (Jeff Poor/YHN)

“This has been a Democrat county,” he added. “This county could turn red this time. We’ve got really good candidates for probate judge, district judge and sheriff. I’ve been here for Republican functions before. I don’t believe I’ve seen this many people or close to this many people for a Republican event in Monroe County. This is a great sign for us.”

Headlining Thursday’s event was Gov. Kay Ivey, who is facing Democratic challenger Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox in November’s election.

Ivey, a native of nearby Camden in adjacent Wilcox County, has expanded the map and has been targeting rural counties in the state with appearances. Last week, the incumbent governor was in Choctaw County’s Butler and is slated to appear in northwestern Alabama’s Marion County for Winfield’s Mule Day festivities on Saturday.

“Were out on the campaign trail – that’s for sure,” Ivey explained to Yellowhammer News. “We’re out in Monroe County tonight, and we were in Choctaw County recently as well. We’re out and about among the people learning and proud to be out among the people relating to our message, and we’re very supportive.”

Kay Ivey hands out stickers in front of the old Monroe County Courthouse (Jeff Poor/YHN)

Ivey’s focus on these places beyond the population centers of Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery and Huntsville is a departure from traditional statewide political campaigns.

“Everybody in Alabama that is a citizen and able to vote is worthy,” she added. “And I just like to go where people are, and if they’re interested, I’m proud to talk to them and engage. So, I’m proud to be here.”

David Steele, Jr., a local attorney and the chairman of the Monroe County Republican Party, explained why this could be a turning point for his county and said the event was an effort to show the entrenched local Democratic Party power structure the GOP is a serious threat to the status quo.

“Monroe County is poised to make history and elect the first Republicans they’ve elected since Reconstruction,” Steele told Yellowhammer News.

Steele said there were 30-40 volunteers involved in putting the courthouse lawn rally event together and noted that it took help from others to bring in high-profile figures like Ivey and Byrne to participate in the event.

“It wasn’t just having a lot of volunteers involved,” he said. “It was having the right volunteers – business owners, the past president of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association Phil Hardee, the Nettles, a close friend of the governors and we always have a close connection with Congressman Byrne. I hope the Democrats understand we’re going to throw everything at them in Monroe County this year. We’re going to empty the bank account. We’re going to replenish it, and we’re going to keep coming. That is the goal.”

Rallygoers at Monroe County GOP event (Jeff Poor/YHN)

On the local level, Steele said he believed Democratic policies were holding Monroe County back economically. As Alabama thrives in the age of Trump, the not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Monroe County is at 6.7 percent, while the statewide average for the same criteria is much lower at 4.2 percent.

Steele contrasted Monroe County’s neighbors, heavily Republican Baldwin County to the south and its low 3.7 percent unemployment rate, and heavily Democratic Wilcox County to the north and its 10.1 percent unemployment rate, currently the highest in Alabama.

“To our south, we share a border with Baldwin County, one of the most conservative places in Alabama,” Steele said. “To our north, we share a border with Wilcox County, which is consistently one of the poorest counties in America, and one of the bluest, most Democratic counties in America. We’re right there. We’re sandwiched between the two of them and our county has to decide if we want to be prosperous and led by good policies and good government, or if we want to shift further toward Wilcox County and some of those Democratic policies and obviously, poverty and hopelessness.”

Steele offered Yellowhammer News an example of how in his view the Democrat-controlled Monroe County Commission has failed its citizens with tax policy and neglect of the county’s infrastructure.

“The current county government that’s led by Democrats – our current county government has been at war with our number industry, forestry,” Steele explained, “with people that produce jobs. Almost everyone that works in Monroe County is connected in some way with the forestry industry. Our county commission has gone to war with Georgia-Pacific over the taxes they pay. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you and the best employer in the county. We’ve put in programs that don’t reflect our values. We’ve spent money on worthless projects. And the roads and infrastructure that we rely on to get our crops and our timber – our farm-to-market roads – are deteriorating while we waste money on frivolous stuff doesn’t matter and we just pour it down a drain.”

“It’s time for us to turn that around, get a bunch of conservative people in the courthouse and have a value system in place that reflects what the people in our county really think,” he added.

Among the Republicans candidates up for election on the Monroe County ballot in November and all in attendance on Thursday night were District Judge hopeful Emily Steele, incumbent Republican Monroe County District 2 Commissioner Joe McKissick, Monroe County Sheriff hopeful Alfred Carter and Monroe County Probate Judge candidate Melvin Foukal.