State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) on Monday officially announced his 2020 Republican candidacy for the United States Senate, confirming Yellowhammer News’ reporting.
In an interview on Talk 99.5’s “Matt & Aunie Show,” Mooney said he would be running for the seat currently occupied by Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL).
This came after Yellowhammer News on Friday advised that Mooney had put together a campaign team and was set to announce his bid this week.
Mooney, 68, also addressed the Friday interview by Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) on the same show, in which Brooks said Mooney was the one candidate he could envision himself endorsing in the 2020 primary.
“Mo’s a dear friend, he and Martha are very special people to my wife, Kelly, and myself,” Mooney said. “We’re very proud to have served as his campaign chair in 2017 in the [special] election.”
He later said he was honored by what Brooks had said about him.
Co-host Andrea Lindenberg then asked Mooney directly if he was ready to declare his candidacy.
“That’s what I’m here for today,” Mooney said. “I’m here to declare to run for the United States Senate.”
“I believe that Alabamians want a conservative who can beat Doug Jones, but they want an outsider. They don’t want someone who’s just going to Washington and be the same old type of person up there. They want somebody who’s going to stand up, somebody who’s going to stand on principle and stand up to the corrupt establishment,” he continued.
Mooney then named dealing “with the rising tide of socialism we’re seeing on the left” as a key priority of his.
He outlined that the world was becoming unrecognizable and that he wants to “right the ship” for future generations.
“Freedom isn’t transmitted through the bloodstream, it has to be taught, it’s something that’s got to be protected in every generation,” Mooney emphasized. “And that’s why I’m doing this.”
He added that the decision came after a lot of careful thought, discussion and prayer.
Representing parts of Shelby County, Mooney has the smallest Alabama House District geographically out of the chamber’s 105 members. He has been serving in the state legislature since 2014.
Mooney pledged to be “a strong constitutional conservative.”
“I’m a Republican, but I’m a conservative first,” he remarked.
Prompted by co-host Matt Murphy, Mooney then commented on the 2017 special election primary, in which Brooks came under fire and ultimately finished third.
Mooney called the negative ads against Brooks in that cycle “an attack on our state, our people, the very fiber of the things we believe in, what we stand for — the conservatism that we represent to our nation as the reddest state in our country.”
He decried “outside forces” getting involved in 2017 and stressed that voters need to “stand up” to the Washington, D.C. “establishment” in who Alabama Republicans nominate this time around.
Mooney also appeared on WVNN’s “The Dale Jackson Show” on Monday morning to discuss his Senate run.
Listen to that interview here:
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
