SYLACAUGA, Ala. – As election season heats up, the Talladega County Republican Party will host a meet and greet event in Sylacauga at the J. Craig Smith Community Center Thursday night.
The list of attendants is long is quite long, featuring many state and local elected officials for citizens to meet with and build relationships. None, however, compare to the meeting’s headliner, Governor Kay Ivey.
Ivey will be the night’s keynote speaker. She will arrive in Sylacauga at 6:15 and speak to those in attendance at 6:30. In 2002, she became the first Republican elected State Treasurer since Reconstruction and she was re-elected in 2006.
Ivey was elected Lt. Governor in 2010, becoming the first Republican woman to hold the office in Alabama’s history. She again made history on November 4, 2014, by becoming the first Republican Lieutenant Governor re-elected to the office. On April 10, 2017, Ivey was sworn in as the 54th Governor of the State of Alabama.
Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Tom Parker, is also scheduled to speak Thursday night.
The following are political figures attending:
- Gov. Kay Ivey
- Representative for Gubernatorial candidate Scott Dawson
- Chief Justice Tom Parker
- Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth
- Attorney General candidate Chess Bledsoe
- Representative for Attorney General candidate Alice Martin
- Representative for Sec. of State John Merrill
- Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate
- State Treasurer candidate David Black
- Representative for State Treasurer candidate John McMillan
- State Auditor Jim Zeigler
- State Auditor candidate Stan Cooke
- State Auditor candidate Elliot Lipinsky
- District 12 Senator Del Marsh
- District 33 Representative Ron Johnson
- District 33 Representative candidate Ben Robbins
- Supreme Court candidate Debra Jones
- Supreme Court candidate John Bahakel
- Criminal Court of Appeals candidate Rich Anderson
- Criminal Court of Appeals candidate Richard Minor
- Talladega County Probate Judge candidate Randy Jinks
- Talladega County Probate Judge candidate Mark Nelson
- Talladega County Probate Judge candidate Chuck Roberts
- Talladega County Probate Judge candidate Jackie Swinford
- Criminal Court of Appeals candidate Riggs Walker
- Criminal Court of Appeals candidate Dennis O’Dell
- Civil Court of Appeals candidate Judge Michelle Thomason
Talladega County Republican Chairwoman Gina Grant organized and coordinated the event and is encouraging everyone in the community to attend. She said this event will enable people to meet the candidates and make decisions on their own.
“It’s important for every individual to make up his or her own mind. The best way to make your mind up is based on your impression of a candidate face to face,” Grant said. “one of our goals for Talladega County Republican Party is to educate the public, and this is how we accomplish this goal.”
“We have a lot of new faces in the republican primary election and I think we have some excellent candidates,” Grant explained. “It is more important than ever to meet these people to have an easier time deciding.”
With many local candidates present on Thursday, Grant wanted to remind the public of the Supreme Court races and the Court of Appeals races that she believes are being overlooked because of the race for governor.
The meet and greet will begin at 5:30 Thursday night.
