VIDEO: U.S. Senate Candidate Trip Pittman addresses local Republicans

VIDEO: U.S. Senate Candidate Trip Pittman addresses local Republicans

PHOTO: Alabama Senator Trip Pittman (R - Montrose) addresses the DeKalb County Republican Breakfast Club. (Tyler Pruett | Southern Torch)

By Tyler Pruett, Managing Editor

tyler@southerntorch.com

FORT PAYNE, Ala. — (Video at the Bottom) This morning, candidate for U.S. Senate Trip Pittman (R - Montrose) addressed the DeKalb County Republican Breakfast Club at the Western Sizzlin' next to I-59 in Fort Payne. Several local candidates also made campaign announcements and briefly addressed the crowd. Candidate for County Commission District IV, Lester Black, opened the meeting, as event organizer, Jack Stiefel was ill this morning. Judge Shaunathan Bell led the group in prayer and District Attorney Mike O'Dell led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.

DeKalb County GOP Chairman Scotty Vaughn then briefed the group on upcoming events for the county Republicans. Vaughn reported that the breakfast at the Henagar Potato Fest was well-attended, and the county party would try to conduct a similar meeting at Fort Payne's Boom Days Festival. He also announced a Dove Shoot Fundraiser, which will be held the second weekend of dove season (September 17). The DeKalb Republican Party steering committee meeting will be held on Tuesday, at 6 pm.

Several elected officials were present, including Richard Minor, District Attorney for St. Clair County (and candidate for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals), Chris Kuykendall (District III Commissioner), Senator Steve Livingston (R - Scottsboro), Representative Nathanial Ledbetter (R - Rainsville), DeKalb County Probate Judge Ronnie Osborn, Circuit Judges Shaunathan Bell and Jeremy Taylor, Scot Westbrook (District II Commissioner) and Mayor Lamar Bray of Valley Head.

Judge Osborn announced that poll worker class would be held on July 25th for the special election for U.S. Senate, with the first class being at Crossville at 11 am, the second at the Bevill Center in Rainsville, and the final class at the DeKalb County Activities Building in Fort Payne at 5 pm. Osborn also announced he would be running for re-election in 2018.

Several candidates and representatives of candidates were also present. Citizens representing Congressman Mo Brooks and another representing Judge Roy Moore in the U.S. Senate race spoke briefly to the crowd. Valley Head Police Chief Nick Welden, who is officially running for Sheriff was present. "I appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Nothing comes easy in life, and I'm prepared to work for it. You can't have change without a change," said Welden.

Deputy District Attorney Scott Loyd, a candidate for Circuit Judge Place 2, addresses the crowd. (Tyler Pruett | Southern Torch)

Deputy District Attorney Scott Loyd of Rainsville, addressed the crowd on his run for Circuit Judge Place II, "I haven't had my official announcement yet, but the law says I'm a candidate, so I'm saying I'm a candidate. I have over 21 years of legal experience, with over 20 of that in the District Attorney's office."

Jeff McCurdy, who's also running for Circuit Judge Place II informed the crowd on his campaign, "I'm Jeff McCurdy, I've announced I'm a candidate for Circuit Judge Place 2, I'd appreciate everyone's support. We have a Facebook Page, Jeff McCurdy for Circuit Judge, and also a website, www.JeffMcCurdyforCircuitJudge.com. Go on there, and search around. There's a place on there where you can see the issues my campaign is on. I'll be glad to answer any questions."

Melissa Ledbetter, candidate for DeKalb County Circuit Clerk, also addressed the crowd, "I've already announced my candidacy also for DeKalb County Circuit Clerk, I have a bachelor's in Criminology, and I have a master's in Strategic Management, and through the tasks I've been given in private as well as government, I feel confident I can walk in and make our court system more efficient."

Arlon "Monk" Blevins announced he's running for Board of Education District III: "I sure would appreciate your help and support. I've thought about this a lot, and I feel like this is something where God wants me at this time, and I sure would appreciate your support."

Fort Payne Fire Department's Assistant Chief Ron Saferite announces his run for County Commission, District III. (Tyler Pruett | Southern Torch)

Fort Payne Fire Department Assistant Chief Ron Saferite announced his candidacy for DeKalb County Commission District III. Saferite is a lifelong resident of the Lookout Mountain area of Fort Payne. "I'd appreciate everybody's support," said Saferite.

Senator Livingston then introduced Senator Pittman: "I have one of my colleagues with me today in the Alabama Senate, Trip Pittman, who represents Baldwin County. Senator Pittman was the General Fund Chairman for the last two years, and has done a magnificent job in keeping us in somewhat of a budget balanced state. He survived a small plane crash in 2007. So God let him come to the Alabama Senate out of that, and he thinks he can make a difference in the United States Senate."

Pittman then discussed his background and his run for U.S. Senate, "I've been in business for 30 years. I'm the founder and owner of Pittman Tractor Company, and we haven't had a U.S. Senator from Alabama that's a businessman in 110 years, since 1907."

"The President, and thank God he was elected, he's got a big challenge, and he's going to need a lot of help. We need people who make good long term decisions, who try to deal with the new challenges we face," said Pittman.

"Here I am here today before you, to let you know that, I am a State Senator from Baldwin County, I made the decision early on, that I believe strongly in term limits. I supported term limit legislation every year since I've been there, and I've had some success in moving it, but never actually getting it passed. But I believe in leading by example, and I made the decision before I even ran this time, that this would be my last term. I wasn't going to run again. I was looking forward to getting back to run my business. I've been a businessman for 30 years," said Pittman.

Pittman continued, "All of a sudden, who would have thought it, but the miracle of the election of Donald Trump, a great surprise, and it shows there is a political revolution going on. Real people in this room will understand, we have to change, and re-entrench and re-establish the American Values. Because there are certain decisions we all make everyday that makes us great. They start with faith, family, and friends. They are the cornerstone and foundation of everything you do."

Pittman then explained what type of person Alabama needs to send to Washington, D.C.: "Primarily we need leaders, we need someone who will vote right, but someone who is able to speak to the morality of the free-enterprise system. Somebody who can speak to the foundations we need as a country. So I got into this race, because the people of Alabama, not the former governor or the crowd in Washington D.C., need to decide who their next United States Senator is going to be."

Pittman then discussed more about his personal background. He explained that he was born in Birmingham, but would move to Baldwin County and attended University of Alabama. Pittman received a commission in the Army National Guard as a Second Lieutenant and served 5 years in the Alabama Army National Guard and 11 years in the ready reserve after being discharged.

"The people of Alabama deserve to pick their leaders. I've been a businessman, I've served in the military, I've also got experience in serving in the legislator. I've got a record. The first year I was budget chair, we had to cut that budget by a billion dollars. $6.3 billion to $5.3 billion. We had to make a lot of tough choices. We had to reform tenure, to make sure we had the best teachers in the classrooms," said Pittman.

"We have to limit spending, we have to bring the deficit down. People have to get confidence in the future if they want to invest in whats going on," stated Pittman.

"I passed immigration law, toughest in the land. Since then the courts have repealed a lot of that. That's not a good thing. We need a law to make sure we know who is coming in and out of this country. I've passed bills for drug testing for welfare and Medicaid benefits. I've also passed laws to combat Medicaid fraud," he said.

Pittman would go on to say, "I think I'm uniquely qualified, because of my successful business experience, because of my military experience. We've got some serious foreign policy issues. The best thing for any country is to be strong economically. We all know throughout history, that most of the times a decline happens to a nation, it happens from within. That happens through financial instability and moral decay."

"I love this country, I served in the military, I was going to get out of politics, and this door opened, and I can not, not run. So I put my name in the hat, because I believe that somebody who can articulate the moralities of a free-enterprise system. Because when you have people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who have young people believing that socialism, that belongs in the ashes of history should be revived. It'll never work," explained Pittman.

"So we need somebody that will stand up to the next generation and say, 'we've got to protect free enterprise.' We need someone to promote the free enterprise system. That understands how important it is," he said.

"The other reason I'm running, is liberty requires responsibility. Without responsibility, you're truly not free, because you can't take care of yourself. In this nation, we need people who that are able-bodied, and capable to take care of theirselves," said Pittman.

For the rest of Pittman's comments, see the video below. For more information, visit http://www.trippforsenate.com, Pittman's Facebook at Tripp for Senate, or his Twitter Account, @TrippforSenate.

Watch the Full Video: