Republican candidates running for office in the March 5 primary election shared their values at the Autauga GOP candidates forum Wednesday night, and sometimes took jabs at their opponents.
The judicial races saw candidates taking the biggest shots at each other, outside of the race for Alabama’s sixth Congressional district.
19th Circuit Judge Place 4
“Words mean something,” said Dee Dee Calhoon, one of three candidates running for a new circuit court judgeship that includes Autauga County. “Listen to what the candidates say: they have only practiced domestic relations law … They’re using words loosely and carelessly; neither of them is giving you the truth.
Opponent Jacquleyn Tomlinson had said she has the most experience of the three candidates.
“I have heard on this campaign experience matters,” Tomlinson said. “I have three times the experience of my opponents, point blank. I’ve done this three times longer than either of my opponents. I’ve been a Guardian Ad Litem; for 15 years I’ve only been a family law attorney.”
The new circuit judgeship, created by the Alabama Legislature last year, focuses solely on domestic relations cases.
Candidate Nicole Clark said she brings a different kind of experience, not only from her work as an attorney practicing family law, but as a child of divorce and as a step-parent in a co-parenting situation. “My parents divorced when I was 2 years old; they fought for custody of me until I was 17,” Clark said. “I knew that I wanted to help other kids like me.”
Calhoon, who spent 12 years working for the U.S. attorney’s office in the Department of Justice, said that she actually has the most experience practicing law overall, both in terms of years practicing and in caseload.
“It’s disturbing, they are trying to sell you something provable and untrue,” Calhoon said. “Facts will show you ing private practice I’ve tried 1,800 cases compared to Nicole’s 400 and Jacquelyn’s 800. You decide who is the most qualified for a judicial position.”
Each of the party’s generally supported the court assisting with co-parenting and counseling, but Tomlinson said it has to be on a case-by-case basis, not a “blanket order.”
“I’ve seen plenty of cases where counseling made it worse,” Tomlinson said. “Not every set of parents needs counseling.”
She also said a judge has to take into account the financial situation of the family.
“If we assign them to a counselor that does’t take insurance, how are we assisting that family?” Tomlinson asked. “We are now financially burdening them, while they’re already in the middle of a divorce.”
Clark echoed the importance of looking at that case by case.
The issue of campaign finances were also brought up, and Clark encouraged voters to check each candidate’s donors.
“You’ll see I have not really taken money from other attorneys because I don’t want to owe them anything,” Clark said.
Clark clarified that she has taken less money from attorneys than the other two candidates, and that she didn’t actively solicit those donations.
To view campaign finance reports for this race, click here and choose the “2024 Election” from the first dropdown box, “Circuit Court Judge” from the second box, and “19th Judicial Circuit” from the third box.
Autauga County District Judge
Kyle Shirley came swinging at incumbent District Judge Jessica Sanders on the forum stage Wednesday night as he attempts to garner the votes to replace her.
“Yesterday, a child went home with their offender until DHR stepped in,” Shirley said. “That is unacceptable and the people of Autauga County deserve better.”
Shirley told The Post that Sanders had sent a child home pending an investigation in a case in which the child was allegedly molested.
“While it’s certainly disgraceful that my opponent attempted to misconstrue facts, judges are held to a higher ethical standard and I’m simply not permitted to comment,” Sanders told The Post. “I’ve devoted my life to protecting the families and children of our community and nothing has changed.”
Sanders has served 13 months as Autauga County district judge since being appointed to the seat by Gov. Kay Ivey in January 2023.
“That has let me, in a very short amount of time, be proven fair and conservative, and tough enough to stand in the way of judicial activism,” Sanders said. “When I got the appointment, there were five of us and Ivey chose me because of my experience and commitment to the county.”
Sanders previously served 10 years as an assistant district attorney within the county.
Shirley said that while Sanders got the appointment from Ivey, that he had more support during that campaign for the governor’s pick.
“When we put in applications, one candidate had more than twice the letters—not the lobbyist,” Shirley said.
Shirey highlighted his work in the district court over the past 10 years, which has included custody cases, work as a Guardian Ad Litem and civil work.
Sanders said she is set apart by her “straightforwardness” and said she “tolerate crap, but (treats) people fair.”
Both candidates also agreed with starting court with prayer.
Autauga County Commission
The two incumbent Autauga County Commissioners facing election challenges, Bill Tatum and chairman Jay Thompson spoke about their stances Wednesday night, and even a couple of uncontested commissioners showed up to speak. Only one challenger, Don Meeks, spoke about his campaign.
Meeks is challenging Tatum, and emphasized response times of ambulances to Billingsley.
“It takes 45 minutes for an ambulance to get to Billingsley when we’re only 8 minutes away,” Meeks said.
Tatum said discussions are already being held to improve ambulance response times and admitted it is a challenge, but “not one that can be solved overnight.”
Each commissioner answered a question about wasteful spending, with Thompson and Tatum telling the crowd there really isn’t wasteful spending in the county’s tight budget.
“We’ve reduced county debt 35 percent over the last eight years,” Thompson said. “I don’t think there’s another county that can say that.”
However Meeks argued that every government has wasteful spending and pointed to a $625,000 grant from Gov. Kay Ivey that he said went to pay lawyers. Tatum clarified that the firm is with the Association of County Commissions of Alabama and is crucial to ensuring the county’s $20 million in grant funding is managed legally.
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