Get out and vote for Micah Messer in D38 Special Election today!

Micah Messer has outstanding qualities of his character that have set him apart from a certain opponent in the special election for Alabama State House in District 38. First and foremost, he did not not take money from the Poarch Creek Indians. Second, Messer completed the APA survey from the Alabama Policy Institute which one of his opponents did not. Third, Messer has personally knocked on over 2,000 doors in district 38 and volunteers for his campaign have knocked on an additional 1,000 doors.

Polls are open until 7pm today for the special election, get out and vote for Micah Messer!

Messer took the time for an exclusive interview with the Examiner earlier on in his campaign and it our pleasure to share it with you all here.

Governor Kay Ivey recently set the date as Oct. 21 for the special election to replace state house representative for district 38 Debbie Wood following the announcement of her early retirement.  Micah Messer ran against Wood in the 2022 Republican primary for that seat and was able to secure over forty-two percent of the votes despite ultimately losing that election.  One of the key factors in Messer’s strong showing in 2022 was a campaign activity known as door knocking which he is again employing in both Valley and Lanett while he is currently running as a candidate for that same house seat in district 38 in the upcoming special election.

Valley is one of the key population centers in district 38 that is essential to winning that seat in the state house, however, it also has personal significance to Messer which he expressed in an exclusive interview with the LaFayette Sun.

"Me and my wife, we lived in Valley for our first year of marriage.  Valley is a very special place to me.  I have told my wife this many times that when we are driving by where we had our first apartment, that still almost feels like home to me.  Even though I don't live in Valley any more, there is still a very special part of me that is there in Valley.  It is where my wife and I learned a lot about each other."

Appreciating what Chambers County has to offer is another point of understanding for Messer.  "I think a lot of people miss the gem that is the Valley-Lanett area where you have rolling hills, a river, beautiful trees, everything is green and flowering.  It is just a beautiful place.  The people there are very special.  There is a lot of history in the Valley area.  The people there are very hard working.  They are dedicated and they deserve representation that matches that."

Equipped with that familiarity with the local area, Messer explained the value of door knocking in politics for those who may not be acquainted with it fully.  "Door knocking is where you are going to people in the district and you are knocking on their doors.  There is a lot of different reasons that you might do that.  First and foremost, primarily is making contact with the voters of the district because they are the ones who are going to decide whether or not they believe you are qualified enough to be the candidate for the Republican party or the Democrat party, depending on which side you are on."

What some may refer to as “retail politics” is a concept that Messer is well familiar with as well.  "It is important for them to put a face to a name.  Then for you to talk to them, to hear their concerns, what they are seeing as their problems.  On top of that, it is a great way to make connections with people who might want to volunteer, might want to donate or might want to help with the campaign in some way.  Having that one to one personal connection is way more effective than me sending you a text message the day before the election."

Running as a candidate for the same state house seat in the 2022 Republican primary has been another resource that Messer draws on.  "Having done it before, I am coming with greater experience this time around.  The experiences I had in the first go round were overwhelmingly positive.  Most people at the time were very happy to see you come to the door.  At that time we were in the middle of covid so there was a lot of isolation going on.  Having someone actually come to their door was something that they didn't expect but they were very happy to see."

Technology is pervasive in so many aspects of modern life today, however, Messer has found success with certain tried and true methods of the analog variety.  "I think it goes back to what we have tended to have lost in our culture which is that personal one to one connection.  Social media has done a number on our connection as humans.  I think that getting back to the roots of talking to individuals is what is different.  Sometimes there is tears, sometimes there is justified anger."

For anyone considering the possibility of one day running for public office, Messer highly recommends door knocking.  "If they want to get elected, they need to be door knocking.  Whether or not they knock every door in their district or ward or whatever they are running for.   If they only knock a certain percentage or they only knock a hundred doors, they need to go out there and talk to the voters because you are going to get a perspective by doing that better than anything else."