Another special election is scheduled in Marshall County after state Rep. Wes Kitchens (R-Arab) was elected to the state Senate last week.

This morning, Gina Ross, who served as Secretary of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education under two governors, announced her candidacy for the vacancy in House District 27.

Ross is a Republican from Guntersville and the state'sfirst class”, whose preschool program has been rated the best in the nation for 14 consecutive years, said she stands ready to continue providing leadership in the Alabama Legislature on a wide range of urgent issues.

“As a career educator, continuing to improve Alabama’s public schools is a passion of mine, but I also have a passion for others, including fighting illegal immigration, creating jobs, and protecting traditional morals and conservative values. We will also focus on important issues,” Ross said.

“If we start teaching our children essential life skills at an early age, they will be better prepared for long-lasting, high-paying 21st century jobs as adults, which will grow Alabama's economy for years to come.” I strongly believe that it will continue.”

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Ross, an education policy veteran, pointed to his accomplishments in Alabama's classrooms, saying the availability of high-quality early childhood education programs has increased from 217 classrooms when he took office in 2012 to 2020, when he took office in 2020. By the end of 2019, the school had expanded to 1,250 classrooms in all 67 counties — an increase of 470 percent.

Ross is proud of her political acumen as a “committed Christian conservative.” She served as the Marshall County Republican Party Chair, a member of the Alabama Republican Party Executive Committee, and was instrumental in electing dozens of Republican candidates at the state and local level.

Ross began her 26-year career in public education in 1975 as a classroom teacher at an elementary school in Jackson County, and after taking time off to start a family, moved to administrative positions in schools in Marshall, Boaz City, and Madison counties. Ta. system.

She graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a bachelor's degree in early childhood education and received a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of Alabama.

She and her husband, Carrie, have two sons and twin grandchildren.

Grayson Everett is the state and politics editor for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @Grayson270