Republican candidates for Alabama's 2nd Congressional District announced their positions Sunday night at a forum hosted by WSFA, just one week before the primary.

State Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, and former state Sen. Dick Brewbaker, R-Pike Road, joined political newcomer Caroleen Dobson on one side of the forum stage as front-runners in the race. Joined the. Candidate Belinda Thomas, who claims to be the only African-American woman elected as a Republican in the state, businesswoman Carla DuPriest and attorney Hampton Harris were also in attendance.

The candidates sought to differentiate themselves while sharing largely similar views on the topics discussed at the forum.

Dobson positioned himself as an outsider who had come to shake things up.

“I'm the first Republican to enter this race, but I've never been involved in politics,” Dobson said. “…There's real work to be done, and we don't need more career politicians in Washington.”

Brewbaker said he thought he was done with politics when he resigned from the Alabama Senate in 2018, but decided to run for Congress because of the state of the country.

“We're more at risk now than we were after World War II,” Brubaker said. “And the inflation that is hurting our families is a direct result of bad policy from Washington.”

DuPriest is the only candidate who has spent much of his time on redistricting, denouncing “gerrymandering” from the state and vowing to represent the district.

“I will support the party respectfully and with integrity and uphold our values,” Thomas said.

gridlock

The candidates said they would work to break the deadlock in parliament but would not sacrifice Conservative values ​​to do so.

“The way we deal with it, as we often hear about Congressional gridlock, is that you can't sacrifice your values ​​to be able to say you worked with the other side,” Brewbaker said. “But when I was in Congress, I always took a problem-solving approach to legislation. And if you approach a problem with the idea of ​​solving it, you're usually happy to solve it.” You can find reasonable people to help you.”

Albritton said participating in Congress is as much about relationships as it is about policy.

“A lot of times it's not a question of what's right or wrong, it's a question of what you can overcome and how you can achieve good outcomes,” Albritton said. “You may not have a great performance, you may not even have the best performance. But you have to be able to work with your party members, not just across the aisle. I'm sure you've noticed. But our own battles continue.”

Dobson said the key to avoiding an impasse is increasing the Republican majority in the House.

“Send me to Washington and I will work fully with President Trump to rebuild our economy and secure our border,” Dobson said. “And look, I'm running to fight for the families of Alabama. So, of course, I'm going to make this country safer, more secure, more prosperous, more faith-based. I'm willing to work with those who are, but I'm not going to compromise my conservative values ​​to do that.”

immigration

Dobson called the crisis at the Mexican border a “full-scale invasion” and said, “The person who is plotting this insurrection is Mr. Biden, who has an open border policy.”

“It's not just crime, drugs, terrorist organizations and disease that are coming across our borders, we can't even begin to deal with all of those problems. of non-taxpayers,” Dobson said. He said. “If we don't do anything, this country will collapse.”

Each candidate was asked about immigration regarding the recent bipartisan immigration bill that failed in the House.

Albritton said no new laws are needed for border control.

“There's no need to pass new laws. Another law that's passed and ignored doesn't help,” Albritton said. “We already have laws in place. We already have laws to police our borders. The executive branch and the executive branch are simply not enforcing them. That's our problem. Separate. It's not a question of we need to pass a law. It's not that we need additional taxes or additional funding. We already have those resources.”

Brewbaker said the situation isn't complicated, but that lawmakers don't seem to have “the will to do it.”

“We must build the wall, complete the wall, and aggressively patrol our border, including with the National Guard and military if necessary,” Brubaker said. “And when people come into our country illegally, we have to send them home. What we're doing now is encouraging illegal immigration by providing housing and debit cards. …And I think you would think that if people knew that once they got to America, they were going to take the first flight back to where they came from, so fewer people would try to get in.”

education

Brewbaker advocated dissolving the U.S. Department of Education and sending its funds back to states in the form of block grants.

Each candidate expressed support for a federal tax credit that could be used to pay for private education.

Dobson said school choice is important because public school students “may be learning critical race theory in school, and schools may have separate bathrooms for boys and girls.” .

“Parents need more choice, and I absolutely support national school choice so parents can take a more active role in determining where and how their children succeed. I support this,” Dobson said.

residence

Whether candidates reside within the borders of the new 2nd District has been a key issue for Democrats in the race, and Republican candidates have no idea whether location matters. asked.

The greater the majority of Republican candidates running in the district, the less likely residence will have a significant impact on the Republican primary. The majority of Democrats live outside the district.

Although Republican candidates generally agreed that it would be better for candidates to reside within district lines, the law allows candidates to run from any part of the state.

Other topics touched upon during the forum included agriculture, inflation, and government spending.

The primary election is just over a week away, ending on Tuesday, March 5th.