At a political forum in Spanish Fort earlier this month, challenger Brad Bass set out to silence the social media chatter by making one thing clear: he’s a Republican and has been since he cast a vote for George W. Bush in 2000.
In nearby Fairhope, city council candidate Troy Vickers is campaigning with the GOP’s elephant on some of his campaign signage. Vickers has been accused of being part of a slate challenging four council incumbents, a group branded by critics as the “Moms for Liberty” ticket—a label he and his allies deny.
From Bay Minette to Daphne, the chairs of Baldwin County’s Democratic and Republican parties are weighing in, airing their support or concerns over candidates based on partisan leanings.
The political jockeying might make sense if the August 26 election were a partisan one. It’s not. It never has been. In Alabama, mayoral and city council races are legally nonpartisan, and there is no indication that it will change anytime soon.
Push to partisanship
Still, in an age of deep polarization, party lines are seeping into races where they’re not supposed to matter.
“You can call it what you will,” said Robyn Monaghan, chair of the Baldwin County Democrats. “There are people known to be Republicans, and people running who are known to be Democrats. Non-partisan is not a real thing.”
The most visible place in Alabama where partisanship has crept up is in staunchly Republican Baldwin County, one of the fastest-growing in the Southeast where challengers are looking to upend longtime incumbents. But the trend isn’t limited to the coast.
“When I ran for mayor before, I honestly do not recall being asked whether I was conservative or liberal,” said Bryan Taunton, who’s running again in Sylacauga after a 2016 bid. “Now, as I go door to door, I do, and I’m asked questions – ‘Where do you stand on national politics?’”
Proponents of the non-partisan status quo say removing the Republican and Democratic parties from the races increase the chance that experienced or highly-qualified officials with track records of community service will win elections. At that point, they say, the voters will look at quality over party affiliation.
“Our non-partisan elections have worked well in keeping the candidates and public servants cognizant of their role and responsibility to represent the entire community,” said Greg Cochran, executive director with the Alabama League of Municipalities. That group represents 466 municipalities statewide.
He said another big advantage is to keep the costs to taxpayers lower by having local contests determined during a general election.
“This keeps municipalities from having to fund party elections, primaries, before general elections,” Cochran said. “This saves taxpayers so much money, human resources, and time by not having partisan elections.”
This local trend reflects broader national movements where there is a push to increase partisan contests among the non-partisan elections. The focus has primarily been on local school board races, of which nearly 90% are determined during non-partisan races. Alabama is one of only four states with partisan school board races.
A constitutional amendment in Florida to make the Sunshine State’s school board elections partisan failed to receive enough votes for passage last November. Nearly 5.5 million voters, or 55% of electorate, supported partisan elections compared to 4.5 million or 45% who opposed. The amendment needed 60% support to pass.
Dan Thompson, assistant professor of political sciences at UCLA who has studied the effects of partisan and non-partisan local contests, said a growing number of states are pressing ahead with more partisan school board and judicial races, both which are the norm in Alabama.
In Tennessee and North Carolina, about half of the school boards have opted to conduct partisan elections over the past decade. Ohio and North Carolina have also added partisan judicial contests.
“There are quite a large number of places around the country where some state and local officials have made nonpartisan races recently or at least contemplated it,” he said.
Supporters say the advantage of partisan involvement in the contests helps voters determine how a candidate’s political ideologies might align with their own.
“People want to know where candidates stand on a multitude of issues, and not just infrastructure, overdevelopment, and traffic, which are certainly important,” said Kathy Morelock, chair of the Baldwin County Republican Party.
She added, “This election cycle, voters also want to know where candidates stand on social issues, which tend to be party-aligned, that plague our nation and trickle down to our local communities, such as illegal immigration, protecting law enforcement, protecting women’s sports, and sexually explicit materials available to children in libraries.”
In Baldwin County, GOP groups are organizing candidate forums and alerting voters about candidates who do not align to their ideological beliefs.
The county’s Democratic Party is outright endorsing a slate of candidates that includes Bay Minette mayoral candidate Josh Brown, who is running against longtime incumbent Mayor Bob Wills and is vying to be the city’s first-ever Black mayor.
The party is also endorsing Tyrone Thompson in a Bay Minette council races, and Terri Osborne and Steve McArthur for two seats on the Daphne City Council.
“This is the first time in a while that the Baldwin County Democrats have gotten involved in municipal elections,” Monaghan said.
Social issues
The library controversy, part of an ongoing national culture war issue, looms over the campaigns for City Council in Fairhope.
The issue on whether children and youth titles should be placed in adult sections, based on varying interpretations of “sexually explicit,” have animated council meetings and led to a withdrawal of state funding for the Fairhope Public Library earlier this year.
Critics claim that the funding halt that was approved by the Alabama Public Library Service board of directors occurred only after Rebecca Watson, a local Moms for Liberty representative, traveled to Montgomery to complain about certain books shelved in youth sections.
As such, challengers for the council seat have been labeled as “Moms for Liberty candidates.”
Moms for Liberty is a national conservative organization founded in 2021 with local chapters across the U.S. It has become a prominent and polarizing force in local politics, particularly around education.
Supporters view the group as a defender of parental rights and a necessary check on school systems and government overreach. Critics, however, label it as extremist, accusing it of targeting LGBTQ rights and creating a hostile environment for educators and librarians.
Watson, herself, says she is no longer the chairperson for Moms for Liberty Baldwin County, which she says is in the process of closing its county chapter. She now leads the Fairhope Faith Collective, an organization dedicated to advocating for children, preserving family values, promoting accountability in schools and local government, equipping parents and teachers with resources, and shaping legislation that reflects Biblical principles.
“This isn’t about politics – it’s about faith, truth and standing together for our families,” Watson said in announcing the group’s formation last week.
Watson’s new group is a co-sponsor of a candidates forum on Aug. 18, at a local Baptist Church, and her critics on social media are circulating a post that shows her support for the council candidates.
Also raising eyebrows is that another frequent council critic, attorney Brian Dasinger, posted an image to his Facebook page endorsing the challengers saying they will stand up for family values and opposed “woke” ideologies.
“It seems it is what it is,” said Councilman Corey Martin. “I am not sure who is pushing the information out, but there are several pieces out there pointing in that direction that they are endorsing these particular candidates whether the candidates want them to endorse them or not. That is what it seems to me.”
Two of the challengers, Vickers and Joshua Gammon, have both come back saying they have not received any endorsement from the group. Vickers says the messaging is meant to be a distraction. Gammon said he is unaware of the challengers running as a “slate,” adding that he didn’t know who was challenging the council incumbents until about a month ago.
“There is no official or formal slate of candidates, and I’m asking everyone to vote for each position on how they feel is best for the city,” he said. “I’m not linked to any group.”
Vickers, in a Facebook post, said he’s also unaffiliated with a political group. Some of his campaign signs, however, show the image of the Republican Party’s elephant, something which he said he has permission to use.
“It’s just a symbol,” he said. “I am very conservative, and I don’t agree with a lot of the stuff the Democratic Party is doing. I’m not a right-wing extremist that they would like me to be. I’m pretty middle of the road. I can see value in a lot of things, and I look at both sides of stuff to come to my conclusion.”
His opponent is longtime Fairhope City Council President Jack Burrell, who is also a Republican with a longtime connection to local party politics. But he isn’t running with the Republican name next to his, and he said he is not vying for support from a conservative organization.
“We want to serve everyone,” Burrell said. “ I don’t want to shun your opinion if you’re a Democrat or a Fairhope citizen. A city is non-partisan and I feel like we try to serve everyone. We are not trying to out-conservative others.”
Litmus test
Jess Brown, a retired political science from Athens State University and a longtime observer of Alabama state government, said he is concerned that if political parties start ramping up involvement in local races, a “litmus test” could be applied to future candidates.
A similar review is done by the state political parties before candidates are allowed to run in partisan contests featured on primary ballots.
“There is a reason we make some offices non-partisan,” Brown said. “The idea is that these officials are in charge of performing day-to-day routine functions that should be done in an efficient and prudent manner that is apolitical. You want good streets and drainage in Mobile whether (Donald) Trump is in the White House or (Kamala) Harris is in the White House. And you want safe streets and marvelous parks regardless of which party is in control of the state legislature.”
He added, “I found government to be more efficient and making more rational decisions when you didn’t have the environment contaminated by partisanship.”
Bass, in Spanish Fort, said he didn’t believe he would have to address his partisan affiliation while running for mayor. But as he has gone door-to-door in the city’s neighborhoods, residents peppered him with inquiries over where he stands regarding his political allegiances.
Bass said there had been misinformation that was spreading, and he wanted to quash any unfounded rumors.
He put those to rest during the candidate forum.
“In 2024, I voted for the greatest president of my lifetime, Donald J. Trump,” Bass told the audience. “I believe in conservative responsibility.”
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