Alabama Democrats smell blood in the water. And a very familiar face is helping to lead the attack.
Over the past several weeks, as the Trump administration’s scandals, poor decisions, arbitrary firings and general ineptitude have confused and angered voters across the country, a not-so-odd thing has happened – Democrats have suddenly become much more popular.
Even in blood-red Alabama.
Town halls, rallies and protests hosted by Alabama Democrats, which would typically struggle to draw enough people to fill a living room, have experienced unexpectedly large crowds. A rally last week in Tuscaloosa to protest Donald Trump’s visit to town drew in more than 1,500. A telephone town hall hosted by Rep. Terri Sewell had more than 2,000 people on the line. Democratic legislators’ scheduled town halls have received surprising interest.
“You got a lot of outrage out there right now and I think it’s something we can take advantage of,” said Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Randy Kelley. “Trump has made everyone angry. DOGE has made people angry. I’ve got people calling me who voted for him – I’m talking about white, Republican people – and they’re saying they have buyer’s remorse.
“Trump has done a good job in his first 100 days of destroying the support he had even in Alabama. We are going to use that to our advantage.”
The questions, of course, are how and how well. After all, we’ve seen this play before – Democrats in the state catch lightning in a bottle, make meaningful, short-term gains and then fizzle and falter as Republicans reassert control. This time, they’re hoping to use lessons from other states, such as Georgia, to build from the ground up, focus on attainable goals and target winnable races in vulnerable Republican-held districts.
But perhaps most importantly, to lay a foundation for the future.
“The steps have to be incremental,” said ADP vice-chair Tabitha Isner. “Yes, there can be occasions where you take big steps, but if you look at other states that have done this, it’s mostly incremental gains starting at the ground level.”
One way to assist in such an effort, particularly in a year in which the Democrats’ pro-worker messaging is certain to be popular, is to use a popular, well-known candidate at the top of the ticket as a voter magnet. To that end, a number of Democrats are looking to one person – former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones.
Jones has recently taken on a more prominent role in state politics, helping to recruit and fund candidates through his political action committee, headlining a number of rallies and generally taking on a much more public role to aid state Democrats. During an interview on the Alabama Politics This Week podcast this week, Jones said he feels it’s the perfect opportunity for Democrats to make a move.
“I think that what you feel out there is a momentum right now with Democrats from one end of the state to the other,” Jones said. “There is a palpable feeling of energy out there. And it is time that we can not only build as Democrats, but we can also persuade and persuade those more independent voters, voters who don’t vote very often and others to kind of, you know, we need to do something different here.”
It is, perhaps, natural that Jones’ name has been floated as a potential gubernatorial candidate. The idea of setting up another contest with Tommy Tuberville, who beat Jones for the Senate seat in 2020, is almost too perfect for Democrats.
In one contest, you feature a microcosm of what the two parties are offering: Tuberville’s flashy, far-right, outrageousness, which rarely manages to contain even a smidge of substance, versus Jones’ serious, I’ll-work-with-anyone, pro-worker message that is all about substance over style.
“It would definitely be an exciting, top-of-the-ticket race,” Isner said. “And it would help drive turnout for a lot of districts where we have a chance to pick up seats.”
Jones, though, isn’t ready to commit. While he didn’t rule out a potential run for governor, he said he’s still trying to determine what role for him would best serve the party and the state.
“There’s a fight right now – it is a fight for the heart and soul of America, for the heart and soul of Alabama,” Jones said during the podcast interview. “I’ve got a lot going on. I am looking at how best to stay in that fight with the groups that I’m working with on a national level, the groups I’m working with on a state level. You know, I’m going to stay in this fight one way or another. What that means at this point, I can’t say.”
It seems as if Jones would be welcomed by ADP leadership should he choose to run. Despite a long history of disagreements and accusations, Kelley said he wouldn’t oppose a Jones run, but also that “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Kelley also agreed, though, that the party needs a big name at the top of the ticket to drive turnout and help with candidate recruitment. He said he knows of three potential candidates, including Jones, who would fit that bill and who have expressed some interest in running.
“I don’t want to put their names out there in the media at this point, but we’ve seen good interest in that race,” Kelley said.
The same can’t be said for races down the ballot, however. Kelley said he’s been somewhat disappointed that more solid candidates haven’t taken a step forward.
“The one thing I’ve always said is that a successful candidate has three things – a message, money and a machine,” Kelley said. “We have some candidates who have those things. But we also have a good many candidates who don’t have any of them.”
Both Jones and Isner, though, said they believe the involvement of various Democratic groups around the state, along with funding from PACs, such as Jones’, will push more quality candidates into the ‘26 cycle. Jones predicted that people will be “shocked” by the number of quality candidates that are on the Dem ticket in this cycle.
But at the same time, he noted again that the goal isn’t to shock the world and create a Democratic takeover overnight. It’s incremental gains, spread the message, build the donor base, take a few seats, start pushing to break the Republican super-majority.
“Where the rubber meets the road, and this has been true of the Democrats for a long time, is at the local level,” Jones said. “We have got to strengthen our counties. We’ve got to strengthen our local clubs. Look, it would be wonderful to win statewide elections. Don’t get me wrong. But it’s also going to be wonderful to just be competitive statewide if we can do it. But where we really have to focus, ruthlessly focus, is on some of our House and Senate districts where we’ve got a chance to win. Democrats have got to focus on breaking the supermajority in this legislature so that they can really have an effective voice.”
