Sessions makes U.S. Senate pitch to Huntsville — ‘I’m the North Alabama candidate’

MADISON — Without a local favorite, the northern part of Alabama is believed to be wide-open for the taking in the March 3 U.S. Senate primary. All three of the front-runners claim home hundreds of miles away from Madison County, the center of North Alabama.

Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions claims Mobile as his hometown. Former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville claims Auburn as home. And U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (R) claims the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay’s Fairhope as home.

During an appearance before the Tennessee Valley Republican Club on Saturday, Sessions argued that he was the North Alabama guy, noting that his tenure as a U.S. Senator, before becoming the U.S. Attorney General, paid dividends for Huntsville and its surrounding areas.

.@jeffsessions speaking to the @TVRCRepublicans Club this morning in Madison, Ala. #alpolitics pic.twitter.com/41bKl2GYjD

— Jeff Poor (@jeff_poor) February 8, 2020

“I said last night to the Young Republicans, I’m the North Alabama candidate,” Sessions said. “I’m the one that knows all about this place. I served on the Armed Service Committee 20 years. I chaired strategic subcommittees – missiles, THAAD [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense] – all the programs. We worked with Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon – all of these great companies that are here. I knew them. I knew the developments of how it happened. I remember the United Launch Alliance with Boeing in Decatur – the biggest industrial development in the country that year. “

Sessions stressed the importance of Huntsville and Madison County, noting its importance to the state of Alabama’s economy, and its importance to the federal government.

“I just want to tell you that nobody understands the importance – no Senator can fail to understand the importance of this area to Alabama, the whole state, the whole region to the United States,” he said.

Sessions also noted that while U.S. Attorney General, he worked with Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa) to bring the 4,000 FBI jobs from Washington, D.C. to Huntsville.

“I consider the moving of 4,000 people here – I consider that a draining of the Swamp,” Sessions said to a round of applause, noting the cost of a GS-15 federal employee in Washington, D.C. was $10,000 a year more than it was in Huntsville.

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.