State Sen. Trip Pittman, a Republican from Montrose, faced a challenge from independent candidate Kimberly McCuiston of Foley in the race for Alabama’s State Senate District 32, a seat that covers part of Baldwin County, in the November 2014 general election.
Pittman first won the seat in a special election, stepping in to finish out the term of Bradley Byrne after Byrne left the Legislature to become chancellor of Alabama’s two-year college system. Since taking office in 2007, Pittman has built a reputation around budget issues, eventually rising to chair the Legislature’s powerful education budget committee, which controls how the state funds its public schools. The position carries a salary tied to the state’s median household income, a figure that adjusts from year to year.
Pittman brought a background in small business to the Senate, having spent years running Pittman Tractor Co. A graduate of Bayside Academy, he went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama before entering elected office.
McCuiston, running as an independent with no prior political experience, offered voters a very different resume. A retired hospice nurse from Foley, she also spent time teaching special education students during her career. She is a graduate of Pelham High School and holds an associate degree in nursing from a community college in Illinois.
The District 32 contest drew attention in part because of Pittman’s influential role overseeing education spending in Montgomery, a responsibility that touches school funding decisions across Baldwin County and the rest of the state. McCuiston’s campaign leaned on her decades of hands-on experience in health care and special education as a contrast to Pittman’s longer record in elected office and business.
Voters in the Baldwin County portions of District 32, including areas around Montrose and Foley, weighed in on the race as part of the broader Nov. 4, 2014 general election ballot, which also included statewide and other legislative contests across Alabama.