Mobile County Commissioner Jerry Carl on Saturday held the grand opening for his campaign headquarters in the race for Alabama’s First Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne’s (AL-01) bid for the U.S. Senate.

Carl, a Republican, is running in a field that includes State Rep. Chris Pringle (R-Mobile) and former State Sen. Bill Hightower (R-Mobile).

As the tightly contested primary gradually approaches, the Carl campaign team this weekend welcomed over 75 people to their Mobile headquarters for a grassroots kickoff. At the event, Carl thanked his campaign’s volunteers in advance for the work they will do leading up to March 3, 2020.

Additionally, his campaign was especially proud to announce that Pete Riehm, a retired U.S. Navy commander, has formed a “Veterans for Jerry Carl” group.

The group, which has a Facebook page, consists of nearly 30 veterans from multiple branches of the military who strongly support Carl and are volunteering on his campaign’s behalf. Included in this group is AB Grantham and Sy Lichtenfeld, the latter a WWII veteran and former prisoner-of-war.

“Veterans for Carl” bumper stickers are also being made available.

In a statement to Yellowhammer News, Carl said, “I am humbled by such strong support from our veteran community. These warriors are a key part of our grassroots team that is working hard to help spread my conservative message to the voters of Alabama’s 1st congressional district. I look forward to fighting for them in Congress.”

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn