Baldwin County voters will see at least one new face on the County Commission after next year’s elections, with three incumbents seeking to hold onto their seats and ten total candidates now in the running across the commission’s four districts.
District 1 Commissioner Frank Burt and District 4 Commissioner Skip Gruber are both seeking re-election, as is District 3’s Tucker Dorsey. District 2 Commissioner Chris Elliott, meanwhile, is not seeking another term on the commission — he has announced a run for the Alabama Senate seat that Trip Pittman is voluntarily vacating next year.
Baldwin County’s primary election is set for June 5, 2018, with runoffs scheduled for July 17 and the general election on Nov. 6. Every declared candidate in the race is a Republican; no Democratic candidates have entered any of the four commission contests.
Each of the four seats drew at least two candidates, and the crowded southernmost District 4 has three contenders. There, Christopher Callaghan and Orange Beach City Councilman Jerry Johnson are both looking to unseat three-term incumbent Gruber.
Gruber said the county is facing significant infrastructure challenges, both on its roads and within the school system, and that he wants to remain on the commission to help find solutions.
“The citizens voted down the toll authority for the county, which would have helped us a lot finishing up the beach express from I-10 to I-65,” Gruber said. “We could’ve been moving along with that project a lot better. Tax dollars are just not there to do a $200 million project. We need to look at alternatives.”
Callaghan, an attorney who serves on the Orange Beach Planning Commission, described his decision to run as an exciting and serious step.
“I believe that my skill set makes me uniquely qualified for this opportunity,” he said.
Johnson, now in his second term on the Orange Beach City Council, said leadership will be central to his campaign.
“Leadership is not about the leader; it is about the people they serve,” Johnson said. “I espouse servant leadership, which means I will work to help the county employees and the residents.”
In District 1, Burt is seeking a ninth term on the commission, having held the seat in every election since 1988 — nearly three decades of service across numerous boards and panels. Challenging him is Jeb Ball, program director for Baldwin Substance Abuse Services Inc. in Bay Minette. Ball previously worked in the Baldwin County District Attorney’s office from 1998 to 2007 and went on to found Baldwin Substance Abuse Services, a company certified by the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts to provide court-ordered drug and alcohol education classes.
In District 2, the race to succeed Elliott features a sitting Daphne councilman and a former one. Joe Davis, appointed to the Daphne City Council in 2013, said continued economic development and job growth in the county are priorities he wants to keep pushing. John Lake, who served on the Daphne City Council for 24 years before an unsuccessful 2016 mayoral bid against incumbent Dane Haygood, is also in the race.
In District 3, incumbent Tucker Dorsey, a real estate developer who has served on numerous boards and commissions throughout Baldwin County, faces challenges from Billie Jo Underwood and Will McDaniel. Underwood is a certified public accountant from Summerdale who has served on that city’s planning commission.
The stakes for whoever wins are set to rise along with the pay. In June, the Alabama Legislature passed a bill raising Baldwin County commissioners’ salaries from $33,600 a year to $50,240 — matching the county’s median family income. The new pay takes effect in November 2018 and will be reviewed every four years afterward.
Baldwin County has seen rapid population growth in recent years, driving increased demand on roads, schools and other infrastructure — issues that are shaping up to be central themes across all four commission races heading into next year’s elections.