One of the most competitive races in Alabama this election cycle is State Senate District 2 in Madison County.
Incumbent State Sen. Tom Butler (R-Madison) is facing a tough challenge from Democratic businesswoman Kim Lewis in an area the Democrats believe they might be able to turn blue in the near future.
Thursday on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program,” Butler discussed why he believes Lewis is the wrong candidate for North Alabama.
“She is a liberal Democrat,” Butler said, “she cannot run away from that. She is a business woman, I applaud her for the work she’s done, I’ve always counted her as a friend. I was surprised when she announced she was running.
“The realistic situation here is we need someone with experience, someone with relations in Montgomery.”
Butler’s campaign has paid for billboards in his district that display a picture of his opponent next to President Joe Biden and reads “Kim Lewis PROUD Democrat.” According to Butler, the billboard was necessary because the Lewis campaign was trying to downplay her party status while talking with voters.
“People that were going door to door for her were refusing to tell the people they were calling on,” he said. “They just said ‘we’re concerned citizens and concerned about this race.’ They never mentioned that she was a Democrat, would not mention that, talk about it at all … I said to the guys who were putting up the billboard ‘… whatever goes on there has got to be the absolute truth…’ The bottom line is she’s a liberal Democrat.”
Lewis responded to the billboard on her campaign’s Facebook campaign saying “The secret is out! I’m pro-growth, pro-working class, pro-small business, and pro-Alabama families, and that makes me a proud Democrat.”
Butler said one of his projects he got through the Legislature is helping his opponent’s business.
“I think she recently moved her business over to Redstone Gateway,” he explained, “which is a project I led the leadership on and sponsored the legislation while working with Redstone Arsenal and the city of Huntsville. So I’ve got a record I’m proud of. I can’t understand why my opponent is running.”
Butler said his opposition to Lewis isn’t anything personal, but he just believes she’s not the right person for the job.
“She’s a nice lady,” he said, “but this job requires experience and relationships in Montgomery here locally that I have that she does not have, would take her years to get to where I am with the relationships with the governor’s office, the agency offices, departments, and within the Legislature, the House and Senate.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
