UPDATE: Jones has added a Friday afternoon rally in downtown Mobile ahead of the Daphne town hall. His campaign’s event listing advertises “The People’s Rally — Mobile” from 3 to 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at Big Zion A.M.E. Zion Church, 112 S. Bayou St., several hours before the president’s 6 p.m. rally at the Mitchell Center. The Daphne town hall remains on the schedule; one campaign listing shows it beginning at 5:45 p.m., while others list it from 6 to 7:30 p.m. There has been no indication the Daphne event has been canceled.
DAPHNE, Ala. — When President Donald Trump takes the stage at the University of South Alabama’s Mitchell Center on Friday evening, the man trying to keep Trump’s ally out of the Governor’s Mansion will be across the bay, taking questions from Baldwin County voters in a room that holds about 150 people.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones will hold a town hall meeting Friday, Oct. 2, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at The Venue at Miracle Point in Daphne. The rally program in Mobile is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Jones, however, says the overlap is not a deliberate counterprogramming move.
“I don’t let him dictate my schedule,” Jones said. “Most all of our town halls are later in the day. We were going to be down in the area anyway for the Gulf Coast Challenge.”
The details: A free town hall, with reservations required
According to the Jones campaign’s event page, the Daphne stop is a chance for Baldwin County residents to ask questions about his candidacy and his plans for the state. A volunteer table will be set up before and after the program for people who want to help the campaign.
- What: Town hall meeting with Doug Jones, Democratic nominee for governor
- When: Friday, Oct. 2, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
- Where: The Venue at Miracle Point, 28007 U.S. Highway 98, Daphne
- Capacity: About 150 people, according to the venue
- Cost: Free and open to the public, but reservations are required
Jones said the meeting is meant for voters of every stripe. “We invite everybody. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, [it’s] just a community town hall. And it’s a good way to talk to voters and to listen to voters,” he said.
Miracle Point sits along U.S. 98 on Daphne’s Eastern Shore, overlooking Mobile Bay. Because the Daphne venue is on the opposite side of the bay from the Mitchell Center in west Mobile, anyone thinking about attending both events would find it difficult, particularly with heavy traffic, security closures around the South Alabama campus and rain in Friday’s forecast.
Why Jones is in the area
Jones tied the timing of his visit to the Gulf Coast Challenge, a week of events in Mobile powered by the Mobile Sports Authority that celebrates HBCU culture, education, athletics and community. The week’s lineup includes a college and career fair for local students at the Mobile Convention Center on Thursday, Oct. 1.
The Daphne meeting continues a pattern. Jones has made a string of town hall-style appearances across Alabama since July, and the evening slot he described is typical. In September alone, he held a town hall with lieutenant governor nominee Phillip Ensler at Bishop State Community College in Mobile on Sept. 16, headlined a “Rally for Alabama” at Crown Hall in downtown Mobile with Grammy-winning musician Jason Isbell on Sept. 23 and spoke to a packed audience at Brewton City Hall on Sept. 25.
At those events, Jones has focused on fuel and household costs, Medicaid expansion, rural health care, a proposed one-year moratorium on new data centers, a state lottery and teacher pay. He has also repeatedly criticized his Republican opponent, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, for declining to debate him and for appearing mostly before business and professional groups rather than holding open town halls of his own.
A contrast, according to local Democrats
Local progressive activists welcomed the Baldwin County stop and said the timing, whatever the reason for it, gives voters a clear comparison. Maura Mandyck of Indivisible Mobile, a local group that opposes the Republican agenda, said she was glad Jones is coming across the bay.
“I think it’s great for people to have options. And I think it’s also going to be a real contrast between Doug Jones, who’s speaking to voters directly, and Tommy Tuberville, who will be standing with Donald Trump,” Mandyck said.
Indivisible Mobile is affiliated with the national Indivisible network, which organizes voter participation efforts and protests against the Trump administration. The local chapter has scheduled a “No Kings — Get Out the Vote!” event for Saturday, Oct. 17, at Government Plaza in downtown Mobile.
What is happening across the bay
Tuberville, meanwhile, will be on the program in Mobile. The senator said this week that he will introduce the president at the rally, which is hosted by the Trump 47 Committee and is expected to include U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, U.S. Senate nominee Barry Moore, 2nd Congressional District nominee Rhett Marques and 1st Congressional District nominee Jerry Carl. Doors open at 2 p.m. for the 6 p.m. program, and the Mitchell Center seats about 10,000.
The Mobile stop is the president’s first rally in the city in nearly a decade. His August 2015 appearance at Ladd-Peebles Stadium was the first stadium-size event of his first presidential campaign, and he returned there in December 2016 to close his post-election “Thank You” tour. Republicans have said the visit is meant to energize voters in Alabama and in the Florida Panhandle, which shares the Mobile media market.
Jones had publicly invited Trump to Alabama before the rally was announced, offering at a Mobile news conference to pay for the president’s plane ticket and arguing that the president’s low approval ratings would help Democrats. A day later, the president’s team announced the Mobile rally.
The race for governor
The governor’s race is a rematch of sorts. Jones won a 2017 special election for the U.S. Senate, defeating Republican Roy Moore, and served until early 2021. Tuberville, the former Auburn University football coach, unseated him in 2020 with Trump’s endorsement. Tuberville is now leaving the Senate to run for governor, and the two men meet again on the Nov. 3 ballot, along with independent candidate Ronald Brunette Jr.
Republicans remain heavy favorites in Alabama. Aside from Jones’ 2017 victory, no Democrat has won a statewide race in the state since 2008, and no Democrat has held the governor’s office since Don Siegelman left in January 2003. Tuberville has said he leads every poll, while Jones and his supporters argue the race has grown more competitive than many expected.
Baldwin County, one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, is solidly Republican territory, which makes a Jones town hall there a test of his stated strategy of courting voters beyond his party’s base. Jones has said his events are open to anyone and that listening to voters, including those who disagree with him, is part of the point.
Latest developments: A full Gulf Coast schedule
Jones’ campaign has filled out a busy two days on the coast around the Gulf Coast Challenge and the president’s visit.
- Thursday, Oct. 1: Jones was scheduled to join voters at the Gospel Xplosion concert at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, 1621 Virginia St. in Mobile, part of the Gulf Coast Challenge festivities, and to briefly address the crowd at about 7:35 p.m. The concert lineup featured Fred Hammond, Titus Cody, Tyler Allen and the Alabama A&M University and Jackson State University choirs.
- Friday, Oct. 2, 3 to 4 p.m.: “The People’s Rally — Mobile” at Big Zion A.M.E. Zion Church, 112 S. Bayou St., downtown Mobile.
- Friday, Oct. 2, evening: Baldwin County town hall at The Venue at Miracle Point, 28007 U.S. 98, Suite 1, Daphne, listed as starting at 5:45 p.m. on one campaign schedule and running 6 to 7:30 p.m. on others.
The campaign describes the Daphne stop as part of a continuing town hall series in which Jones takes questions directly from voters about the issues facing Baldwin County and the state. According to the event page, attendees will be randomly selected to ask questions about “the issues, challenges and ideas that matter most to you and your community.”
Tuberville returns to Daphne Oct. 13
Tuberville is also scheduled to come back to Baldwin County before the election. The Baldwin County Republican Party will host him for a fish fry and rally on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 5 p.m. at the Daphne Civic Center. Tickets are available for that event.
Key dates for voters
- Friday, Oct. 2: Jones rally at Big Zion A.M.E. Zion Church in Mobile, 3 to 4 p.m.; Jones town hall in Daphne, 6 to 7:30 p.m. (some listings show 5:45 p.m.); Trump rally at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, program at 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, Oct. 13: Baldwin County Republican Party fish fry and rally with Tuberville, Daphne Civic Center, 5 p.m.
- Monday, Oct. 19: Deadline to register to vote or update voter information for the general election.
- Tuesday, Nov. 3: General election. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Residents who plan to attend the Daphne town hall should reserve a seat through the Jones campaign in advance, since space at the venue is limited.