Alabama Democrats have found their candidate for one of the state’s largest legislative districts, and she comes from the Escambia County city of Atmore. Party leaders named Atmore City Councilwoman Susan Smith to run in state Senate District 22, filling a void left when incumbent Sen. Marc Keahey abruptly withdrew from the race after the regular qualifying period had closed.
State party Chairwoman Nancy Worley said Smith was the only person who applied to fill the slot. The party planned to formally designate her as its nominee when it certified the candidates who won the recent Democratic primary. “She’s just a very intelligent woman. We think she has the background and skills to handle being a senator,” Worley said. “We were very excited when she qualified.”
A sprawling district
Smith, 67, will face the winner of a Republican runoff between former state Rep. Greg Albritton, of Conecuh County, and Bay Minette attorney Harry D’Olive. The seat covers an enormous swath of southwest Alabama, stretching from Choctaw County in the north all the way to the Lillian community in Baldwin County along the Florida border, and from the Mississippi state line in the west to the Covington County border in the east. In all, the district takes in all or parts of eight counties.
Smith, who retired on June 1 as nursing supervisor for the Escambia County Board of Education, said she believed strong and even representation across such a varied district was essential. She said she would draw on earlier experience as a blood service supervisor and account manager for the American Red Cross, a role in which her territory once included the same counties that now make up District 22.
“I’m very concerned about that district,” she said. “I’m really concerned everybody will get fair representation.”
Where she stands
On the broad strokes, Smith echoed her Republican rivals, identifying education and economic development as the district’s most pressing needs. “These are the two driving forces we’re dealing with,” she said. She voiced support for expanding dual enrollment programs that let students take community college classes before finishing high school.
On specifics, though, she drew contrasts. Smith expressed stronger backing for a teacher pay raise and raised concerns about the Alabama Accountability Act, which offers tax breaks to help parents move children out of failing schools. While the law might help a small number of students, she said, it did nothing to fix the underlying problems that led families to seek transfers in the first place. “Rather than try to solve the problem, they run from the problem,” she said.
She also faulted the Legislature for what she called misplaced priorities, saying she would have supported a 2 percent pay raise that failed in the most recent session. Both Albritton and D’Olive had said they would support a raise if the money were available. “I think we have to learn to manage our budget better,” Smith said. “We’re spending money like crazy on things that don’t have much value.”
On gun rights
Smith described herself as a supporter of the Second Amendment. “I believe in the right to carry a gun. I carry a gun,” she said. She added, however, that she did not yet know enough to comment on a pair of recent firearms bills that had come before lawmakers, one of which passed and one of which failed. Her Republican opponents had said they supported the legislation.
With her nomination, the general election contest in District 22 took shape as a race between a longtime Atmore public servant and the eventual Republican runoff winner, contested across a district so large that reaching every corner of it would be a campaign in itself.