BREWTON, Ala. — Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones brought his campaign to Brewton on Friday afternoon, telling a packed auditorium at Brewton City Hall that Medicaid expansion, rural health care, workforce development and a state lottery will be at the center of his agenda if voters send him to the Governor’s Mansion on Nov. 3.
The crowd greeted the former U.S. senator with cheers and applause as he arrived for the Friday, Sept. 25, stop in the Escambia County seat, one of a string of town hall-style appearances he has made across the state since July.
“There is a new day coming to Alabama,” Jones said. “With your help on Nov. 3, we’re going to shock the state and the nation. We will let everyone know that Alabama is ready for change!”
Jones faces Republican U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville and independent candidate Ronald Brunette Jr. in the general election.
At a glance
- Who: Doug Jones, Democratic nominee for governor of Alabama
- Where: Brewton City Hall, Brewton
- When: Friday afternoon, Sept. 25
- Issues he highlighted: Medicaid expansion, rural health care, workforce development and a state lottery
- General election: Tuesday, Nov. 3, against Republican Tommy Tuberville and independent Ronald Brunette Jr.
‘I took a leap of faith’
Jones told the Brewton audience that he decided to run after watching a slate of Democratic candidates come together last year, despite doubts that a Democrat could win statewide in Alabama.
“Last summer, I saw a ticket forming that showed me that we have a chance to see change,” Jones said. “Some said that a Democrat can’t win and some people started believing it. I took a leap of faith that there are people who want to see change in the state and I jumped in. I believe there are enough people that are satisfied with the way things are that will vote for that change.”
He argued that the timing of his run is right, pointing to the breadth of the Democratic ticket this year.
“This is the first time since 2006 that a Democrat is running for every constitutional office in the state,” Jones said. “It’s about giving people opportunity and choices in this election.”
Alabama’s statewide constitutional offices include governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor and commissioner of agriculture and industries. Republicans hold all of them, and in several recent election cycles Democrats have left some of those races uncontested.
Common ground on the campaign trail
Jones said the concerns he has heard at town halls since July have been strikingly similar from one community to the next.
“Since July 1 at many town hall meetings like this, I’ve seen that we have more in common than what divides us,” Jones said.
At an earlier town hall at Bishop State Community College in Mobile on Sept. 16, Jones listed gas prices, health care, Medicaid expansion, prison reform, education, data centers and retirement as recurring themes. He launched the final stretch of his campaign with a Sept. 23 rally in downtown Mobile that focused heavily on fuel and household costs.
Medicaid expansion and rural health care
Medicaid expansion has been one of the most persistent issues in Alabama politics since the Affordable Care Act allowed states to extend coverage to more low-income adults. Under the law, the federal government pays 90% of the cost of covering the expansion population. Alabama is one of a small number of states that have not expanded the program, and Republican leaders in Montgomery have long cited concerns about the state’s long-term share of the cost.
Supporters of expansion, including Jones, argue that it would bring more federal dollars into the state and help stabilize hospitals that treat large numbers of uninsured patients, particularly in rural areas.
That debate carries local weight in Brewton. The Escambia County Health Care Authority, which operates D.W. McMillan Hospital in Brewton, has asked the city to consider co-signing for a possible line of credit to keep the hospital operating if the authority needs additional funds. The Brewton City Council has scheduled a public hearing on that request for Oct. 12 at 4:30 p.m. during its regular meeting. Mayor Frank Nalty has said residents would not see new taxes if the city signs on.
Jones did not detail a specific plan for Brewton’s hospital during Friday’s stop, but he listed rural health care among the issues he said will remain at the front of his campaign.
Workforce development
Jones also named workforce development as a priority. At his Mobile rally earlier in the week, he said the state should make sure it is getting good value when it offers incentives to businesses.
“We’ve got to do a cost benefit and make sure that we are getting a good value for that. And that means, again, investing in the workers, not just for the folks sitting in the boardroom or the C-suite. We want to make sure that they’re giving good benefits, they’re giving good wages,” Jones said at that event.
In rural counties such as Escambia, where timber and forest products have long anchored the local economy, workforce training through community colleges and industry partnerships has been a recurring focus for local leaders of both parties.
The lottery question
Jones has also campaigned on bringing a state lottery to Alabama. Alabama is one of only a handful of states without one. Voters rejected a lottery in a 1999 statewide referendum, and proposals in the Legislature since then, including a broader gambling package considered in 2024, have failed to make it onto the ballot.
At his Mobile town hall, Jones said he would use lottery revenue, along with money redirected by phasing out the CHOOSE Act, the state’s education savings account program, to pay for a “meaningful raise” for teachers and education support workers and a cost-of-living raise for retired teachers.
Gambling is a familiar issue in Escambia County, home to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, whose Wind Creek casino operates in nearby Atmore. The tribe has been a participant in past statewide debates over lottery and gaming legislation.
Who is Doug Jones?
Jones, a Birmingham attorney, served as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama during the Clinton administration. In that role, and later, he became known for the prosecution of two former Ku Klux Klan members for the 1963 bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church, which killed four girls.
In December 2017, Jones won a special election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions, defeating Republican Roy Moore. That win made him the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Alabama in nearly a decade. In 2020, he lost the seat to Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach who ran with the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
Jones won the Democratic nomination for governor in May, taking nearly 79% of the vote in the primary.
The race so far
The contest is a rematch of sorts between Jones and Tuberville, who is leaving the Senate after one term to run for governor. Gov. Kay Ivey is term-limited.
Republicans have dominated Alabama’s statewide elections for nearly two decades. Aside from Jones’ 2017 special-election victory, no Democrat has won a statewide race since 2008, and the last Democratic governor, Don Siegelman, left office in 2003.
Tuberville has pointed to polling that shows him in the lead. One July poll showed Tuberville ahead of Jones 49% to 41%, a narrower margin than many early projections. Jones and his supporters argue that frustration over fuel prices, electricity rates and other household costs has made the race more competitive than it once appeared.
The two candidates have also sparred over energy costs. Jones has blamed rising fuel prices on the policies of the Trump administration and said Tuberville has not done enough for coastal industries such as shrimping. Tuberville has rejected that criticism, arguing that Democratic energy policies helped drive up fuel prices and calling for more domestic oil production.
The governor’s race will share the spotlight next week when Trump holds a campaign rally at the University of South Alabama’s Mitchell Center in Mobile on Friday, Oct. 2. The president is expected to campaign for Tuberville and U.S. Senate nominee Barry Moore at the event.
What voters should know
- Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls in Alabama are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Voter registration: The deadline to register for the Nov. 3 election is Monday, Oct. 19, 15 days before Election Day. Residents can check their registration status and polling place through the Alabama Secretary of State’s office.
- Absentee voting: Voters who qualify for an absentee ballot can apply through their county absentee election manager, which in Escambia County is the circuit clerk’s office.
- Photo ID: Alabama requires voters to show an acceptable photo ID at the polls.