Just three weeks after saying he wouldn’t seek reelection, state Rep. Will Dismukes, R-Prattville, told APR he’s in the running.
Dismukes was indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury and charged with felony theft in June 2021. That court case is ongoing, and if convicted, he would be removed from office.
Dismukes faced calls to resign in June 2020 after posting to Facebook an image of himself attending a birthday celebration for the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, Nathan Bedford Forrest.
“I’ve had so many people in my district reach out to me and ask me to stay in there and run,” Dismukes told APR on Saturday. He qualified to run for his District 88 seat on Friday.
“After just discussing it with my family and looking at the obligations that my family will always come first, I still feel that I can fully serve my district and continue to go to Montgomery and do good things for my district,” Dismukes continued.
Dismukes on Jan. 6 told The Montgomery Advertiser that he would not be seeking his seat back.
“I want to thank the people of Autauga and Elmore county for supporting me through four years as their representative. I have three small children, and it’s time for me to give all my focus to my family and my business,” Dismukes told the newspaper. “The Lord will let me know when it’s time to once again get involved in public service in some capacity. I want to thank my family for the sacrifice they have given in my time as representative. To serve the people of District 88 has been the honor of a lifetime.”
Asked how his court case was progressing, Dismukes said “I think we’re moving in a really good direction.”
Dismukes charge in connection with a theft that occurred at his former place of employment, Weiss Commercial Flooring Inc. in East Montgomery, between the years 2016 to 2018, according to the district attorney prosecuting the case.
“We’re just going to continue moving in a positive direction, and I believe that we’ll see innocence come through at the end of it,” Dismukes told APR of his charge.
