By Samuel Mattison
Alabama Political Reporter
Two candidates qualified for state House seats as the deadline for party primary qualifications end on Friday.
U.S. Army Veteran Todd Rauch qualified for House District 38.
Raunch qualified Thursday for the seat currently held by incumbent William Whorton. The veteran, who was wounded while serving in Iraq, said he is running because he felt there was no representation in Montgomery that reflected his community.
“For the past few years,” Rauch said. “I’ve been attending city council and county commission meetings across our area. Not once have I seen a single elected official that represents us in Montgomery. I believe our communities deserve representatives that are not only active in Montgomery, but also active here, in our communities, to help solve the serious issues we are facing.”
Raunch is an alumnus of Auburn University where he earned a Bachelor of Psychology.
His previous work after the Army included working as an Intelligence Specialist for Missile Command in Huntsville. After finishing at Missile Command, Raunch returned to his native Opelika where he pursued being a veteran advocate.
In House District 45, Todd Crocket, a former 3-term Shelby county commissioner, is running against incumbent state Rep. Dickie Drake, R-Leeds.
Crocket, in the announcement from his campaign, said he is running on a platform to lower the sewer rates for Jefferson and Shelby Counties.
“Residents are paying ridiculously high sewer rates as high as $112 per month and this has to be taken under control,” Crocket said.
The former county commissioner also said he would make infrastructure, specifically roads, an issue he will tackle as a state representative.
“We need a State Representative who will fight for improvements to Highways 280, 459, and 20,” Crocket said. “Residents spend too much of their valuable time in traffic bottlenecks, some kids can easily spend two hours a day on buses and in cars to and from various schools.”
Crocket and Raunch join a growing list of candidates running for office in the lower house in the state Legislature. The Qualifying deadline is today for party primaries.
