Russell County is as blue as any Democrat controlled territory in decline

Russell County was one of only twelve counties in Alabama where Democrat candidate Kamala Harris won the majority of votes in the 2024 presidential election. While that political reality is an obvious red flag regarding the status of Russell County as a blue Democrat outlier in an otherwise red state, when reviewing the recent results in local elections there it is only the tip of the iceberg. One of the deciding factors in this political malaise has been the ineffectiveness of the Republican party organization in Russell County in upholding conservative values in order to win elections.

One low point in Russell County Republican politics was when Jay Hovey had the unmitigated temerity to boldly proclaim during his speech before a meeting of the East Alabama Republican Club at T-Bones Steakhouse in Phenix City that his "religious convictions" would prevent him from ever supporting a gambling expansion. Hovey went on to support casino expansion in the 2024 legislative session.

Russell County Probate Court Judge Belinda Strickland won a hotly contested political race against Republican candidate Kristi Mott in the November 2024 general election. During that political campaign serious questions were raised through a number of comments to posts on Mott's facebook page in regards to what were characterized as Strickland's checkered past which allegedly included an exhaustively voluminous rap sheet of arrest warrants, criminal charges, mugshots, civil lawsuits, bounced checks, moving violations scofflaw, expired tags, driving with a suspended license and bankruptcy filings which have spanned the past few decades across multiple states including Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Texas. Claims were made that Strickland has been married three times, with most of these charges allegedly being filed against her under the married name of Belinda May Lang. Unless this had been a case of mistaken identity, these legal woes could have derailed the Strickland campaign in the runup to election day or more ominously come back to haunt her after successfully being elected as Probate Court Judge of Russell County.

Another failure of the Russell County Republican party was losing the November 2024 race for the district 7 County Commission seat held by Democrat Larry Screws. Brent Comer was the Republican candidate in that race who despite having excellent prospects due to his outstanding career credentials and political acumen failed to receive the necessary support from his own Russell County Republican party in order to secure the win. When looking back at the recent history of the Russell County Republican party failing to deliver electoral political victories, it begs the question who exactly is the problem there? Is it the voters or the leadership?