One of Alabama’s most liberal Democrat lawmakers headed to Guntersville runoff election with Mayor Leigh Dollar

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September 11, 2025

(McLaughlin for Mayor/Facebook, City of Guntersville, Alabama/Facebook, YHN)

Guntersville’s 2025 mayoral race will be settled in a head-to-head runoff between incumbent Leigh Dollar and former State Rep. Jeff McLaughlin after a vote earlier this month ended in an ultra-rare tie.

Dollar has served as Guntersville’s mayor since 2012. During her tenure, she’s navigated growth, lake-driven tourism, and core services for a city that continues to punch above its population size in terms of state and regional influence.

Ahead of a September 23 runoff, Guntersville residents are vocalizing concern over Jeff McLaughlin’s time as an elected official in Montgomery.

Melanie Goff, President of the Marshall County Republican Women, recalled publicly yesterday that McLaughlin was identified as Alabama’s “2nd Most Liberal Legislator” during the 2010 campaign cycle, drawn from vote scorecard data issued by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

“While this a non-partisan race and based on Alabama law, candidates running in the Municipal races do not have to declare party affiliation, but Mr McLaughlin has a long established record as a Democrat,” Goff wrote.

The Marshall County Democratic Party is publicly backing McLaughlin’s bid for mayor.

McLaughlin was an elected Democrat for House District 27 from 2001 to 2010 before being defeated by former State Rep. and current Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth in 2014. He was one of the last remaining white Democrats in the Alabama Legislature.

In addition to having a public, left-leaning record during his time in office, records also show McLaughlin donated to fellow Democrats Hillary Clinton and Doug Jones.

In 2016, McLaughlin’s law firm donated $1,200.00 to Clinton’s failed presidential campaign.

One year later, he also made a $1,000.00 donation to Doug Jones’s campaign for U.S. Senate against Roy Moore.

Just yesterday, a group that is backing McLaughlin’s bid for Guntersville mayor, “Liberal Agenda for North Alabama,” posted a despicable message in the immediate aftermath of conservative political icon Charlie Kirk’s assassination on a Utah university campus.

“I have no sympathy for him,” the group wrote. “He can live–or die–by his own words.”

The post, censored below by Yellowhammer News, included an image that has been glorified by left-wing social media users, capturing the moment Kirk was fatally shot.