By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Tuesday, June 20, 2017, the Calhoun County Republican Party will be holding a debate of GOP Senate Special Election candidates. Not all of the Republican candidates however will be present though. GOP Senate candidate Dom Gentile said that he was not invited by the Calhoun County Republican Party which is hosting the debate at the Oxford Civic Center Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.
Dom Gentile said on Facebook, “Like you, I am tired of the backward good ole boy politics in Alabama. My own crooked party, the GOP, is keeping me off the debate stage next week in Anniston. They know I will beat down their preferred cronys, who have been crying to the party because I have been too tough on them. Thats right, I care about YOU and they don’t like it.
The Calhoun County GOP is using an invalid old poll, or maybe even no poll at all, as an excuse. This is a set up!”
Gentile called on his supporters to call James Bennett, head of the Calhoun Co Republican Party, and ask him to explain the decision to leave Gentile out of the debate.
Gentile said, “Folks, at what point are you going to rise up and say enough is enough! This state won’t change till we get the establishment out.”
Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville), State Senator Trip Pittman (R-Montrose), former Alabama Christian Coalition President Randy Brinson, and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (R), have all agreed to attend. US Senator Luther Strange (R) has a scheduling conflict.
Dom is originally from Miami, Florida. He attended the University of Alabama where he studied political science. At the University he was elected to the Student Government Association as a senator and played football for the Crimson Tide. Karen, his wife, is also a fellow University of Alabama alum Karen.
Gentile has held senior positions with Fortune 500 companies Duracell, Gillette and Sara Lee. Dom has worked and lived from coast to coast, including stints in the south, east and west coast. He grew businesses in the US and around the world, worked in over 25 countries, and lived in Asia. He is an internationalist with a global perspective. Dom is also an adjunct instructor and teaches marketing to college students. Gentile says that over the last 13 years, he has grown his own business from nothing to a multi-million dollar enterprise. Dom says that he knows how to create jobs and make a payroll.
Dom Gentile says that he is self-funding his campaign, and that that means he isn’t under the influence of special interests.
Gentile is one of ten Republicans running for the Senate seat vacated by Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III, when he was confirmed to be US Attorney General. The Republican candidates for the US Senate seat are: James Paul Beretta, Joseph F. Breault, Randy Brinson, Mo Brooks, Dom Gentile, Mary Maxwell, Roy Moore, Bryan Peeples, Trip Pittman, and Luther Strange.
Karen Haiden Jackson was disqualified by the Alabama Republican Party because she had run as an independent in a judicial race last year.
Eight candidates qualified with the Alabama Democratic Party to run in the US Senate Special Primary Election. Qualified candidates are Will Boyd, Vann Caldwell, Jason Fisher, Michael Hansen, Doug Jones, Robert Kennedy, Jr., Brian McGee, and Charles Nana.
The Special Primary will be August 15 and the Special General Election will be December 12.
