In his campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives, candidate Jeremy Devito is seeking to bring “unapologetically” left-wing representation to Alabama’s 5th Congressional District.
Devito, a Democrat contender for the U.S. House seat currently held by U.S. Representative Dale Strong, R-Ala., told APR he believes his progressive stances will ignite support from District 5 Democrats disenchanted with the political establishment.
Devito is a U.S. Army veteran, originally from Clarksville, Tennessee. The candidate moved to District 5 following his military service. He currently lives in Athens and works as a procurement agent at Boeing.
He has also served as the chair of a nonprofit that promotes connection and well-being among veterans through soccer in partnership with the Nashville Soccer Club.
“I’ve always been politically active. I’ve always been watching from the sidelines and voting,” Devito said. “And ever since I was a young man, my dad had always instilled in me the power of democracy and the importance of voting.”
“2024, I felt like was going to be a very defining year. I spent as much effort as I could trying to mobilize the local Democratic Party here,” he added.
Throughout last year, Devito was involved in supporting Limestone County Democratic candidates and organizing protests against Moms for Liberty and attempts to restructure the Athens Library’s bylaws.
“What drove me to run was people are dissatisfied, myself included, with the level of representation that we have at the government level; they don’t serve the people,” he said. “They serve the corporate interests, the wealthy donor class and the fringes of our society. It seems like that’s where it’s been the last 10 to 20 years.”
Devito said that as a millennial, he has seen members of his generation express dissatisfaction with the government’s responses to political and economic crises throughout his adulthood.
“We’ve, you know, been through economic crisis after economic crisis, war after war. We’ve lived in a constant state of urgency and instability and chaos, and it doesn’t seem like our elected leaders are interested in coming together to solve those problems for the average person,” he said.
The candidate went on to explain that he felt the need to run for public office after witnessing the second Trump administration’s immigration policies.
“My duty to the Constitution, the oath that I took, is paramount,” Devito said. “I can’t stand by and watch people be locked up in cages, kidnapped and deported for no crime, you know, or for whatever they deem to be a crime, without any warrant, any due process. It’s a direct violation of the Constitution. It’s the number one reason why I decided to run for Congress.”
Describing how he believes his approach to serving in the House would differ from Strong’s, Devito argued the District 5 incumbent has done a poor job representing his constituents and that, if elected, he would be less beholden to the interests of large donors and the presidential administration.
“[Strong] clearly does not represent everyone in the district like he should—doesn’t even seem interested to do so,” Devito said. “Accessibility and accountability are the two things that Dale Strong does not do. He represents the administration.”
The candidate similarly criticized Democrats’ congressional leadership as oftentimes complacent and reliant on donors at the expense of their constituents.
“I think that a lot of the criticism I gave to Dale Strong would apply to a lot of the Democrats, too,” he added. “They’re beholden to donors. They don’t seem to respond as well to, you know, constituent concerns.”
Devito has emphasized congressional finance reform as one of his major policies, arguing that “removing money from politics” is the first step for improving political participation and the quality of elected representation.
“It is the most, like, burning topic,” Devito said. “I’ve been participating in lots of forums and town halls, and we all try and figure out, where do you start? Where do you start on fixing this government? And for a lot of people, myself included, it’s, you know, getting money out of politics.”
“I approach it from a disenfranchisement perspective. Yeah, voter turnout is low in Alabama, traditionally, because people don’t think their vote matters,” he continued. “People want to participate in democracy. They want a reason to get excited to participate. But right now, they don’t feel like their voice is being heard.”
“I don’t believe that, you know, just because you have the most money, you shouldn’t be the loudest voice in the room,” Devito added. “And so, we need some equity, some parity.”
The candidate has also vocally opposed the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency and Strong’s support for the agency, which he characterized as harming the district’s community of federal employees.
“At the beginning of this year, it became very clear to most people that DOGE was running rampant throughout Huntsville,” he said.
“They’re devaluing public service, by the way they talk about it. They’re lazy, incompetent, it’s wasteful, it’s none of those things,” Devito added. “So, it’s important that we protect our federal workers against illegal firings, and Congress has that ability to do it.”
The candidate, however, reiterated that his opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement remains the strongest factor in his decision to run for office.
“It’s absolutely terrifying to live in a country where they can decide just because you’re not a citizen, that you don’t have rights,” he said. “That’s why I decided I had to run for office, because that is essentially, for me, the gateway to full authoritarianism, full fascism, period, the end. And so, we have to stop this.”
“Now, do I think that we should have open borders? No. I believe that we should have strong borders and good immigration policy and a clear pathway to citizenship,” he continued.
Devito called for reform to speed up the asylum process and make the process’s requirements clearer for prospective immigrants.
“The biggest problem with immigration isn’t that people are coming here, it’s that they’re following our laws and they’re granting asylum, but we’re not adjudicating that asylum claim fast enough,” he said. “The only way you can do that is strengthen your laws, make it clearer, pass bipartisan legislation, which is very popular, and stop running on it as some sort of xenophobic trope to get people elected.”
Devito said he would support amnesty policies for immigrants who have been in the country for a certain period of time; however, the candidate stressed that he is pushing for greater consideration of how the U.S. immigration system may be improved to support legal immigration to the country.
“This isn’t up to me to develop solely. This legislation has already been written. What it requires is people with a conscience, people with integrity, like myself, to vote for it, to champion it, and to push back against the false narratives that exist,” Devito said.
The Devito campaign has sought to develop working-class support from District 5 residents, with the candidate telling APR, despite economic and population growth in Madison County, he believes elected officials aren’t doing enough to address the impacts of poverty in other areas of the district.
“We’re more than just Huntsville and Madison,” he said.
Devito cited higher poverty levels in areas outside of Madison and Huntsville, saying he feels working-class voices have not been adequately represented by Strong. He went on to argue that healthcare policy reforms he has endorsed, such as Medicare for all, will benefit working- and middle-class Alabamians and reduce burdens on the state’s healthcare system.
“We have to pass [Medicaid for all]. It’s a massive burden on the people of Alabama, on the people of this country,” Devito said. “One of your number one expenses of a small business is your health care. You know, providing health care. People expect their work to provide them with healthcare, and that limits competition in the market.”
The Devito campaign has also emphasized the candidate’s opposition to Alabama’s reproductive healthcare policies throughout his campaign.
“These restrictive policies harm women. They create danger for 51 percent of the population,” Devito told APR. “It’s important to understand what abortion is. It’s a medical procedure, and it’s lifesaving care in a lot of instances, and I can’t stand idly by as a father of two daughters who are in their teenage years, watching a country strip their rights away to bodily autonomy.”
“It’s a healthcare issue, and it’s become an inflammatory, emotional topic for people. But generally speaking, it’s considered health care,” he added.
Devito said that while in the past, people in his life have been able to decide whether or not to pursue a pregnancy judged to be potentially dangerous to their health, he feels Alabama’s current restrictions on abortion have made the state more dangerous for women.
“That option does not exist anymore,” he said. “Women are now being reduced to vessels, essentially, and that’s inhumane. It’s unjust, and they should have the right to determine so I would support, fully, access to abortion, federalized, codified.”
“Might I add, this is another one of those areas, or what I call squishy Democrats. Establishment Democrats had the opportunity to do this, and they didn’t do it because they were scared and weak. I’m not scared to do that,” Devito continued.
When asked what sets him apart from other Democratic nomination frontrunners, Candice Duvieilh and Andrew Sneed, Devito highlighted his strong support for progressive policymaking.
“It’s very clear what lanes we’re picking, all three of us,” he said. “You need a representative that’s willing to inspire and lead. I also think that what separates me is, I’m unapologetically left. I’m very comfortable with how they’re going to attack me. I’m very aware of what Republicans like Dale Strong are going to do.”
The candidate argued that since Strong will attack all his opponents as radical leftists, his strong stances in favor of progressive policies make him the candidate best able to stand against the incumbent’s criticisms.
“It doesn’t matter if they were the most moderate person, you’ve ever seen; they will attack you. So, my goal, and what I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback here, is I’m standing on business,” he said.
“I’m telling you where my positions are very clearly on the issues that are important to everyone across the spectrum,” he said. “I’m taking some bold, unapologetic positions on them, because I think I have to be, have to build the trust, not only as a Democrat, but in the Democratic Party, in a place where Democrats have underperformed consistently, in a state where the Democratic Party is fighting within itself on what kind of party it wants to be.”
“I’m unapologetically left—very clear about where I stand on these issues. But I’m also willing to have conversations with folks about things that I don’t know,” he added.
The candidate went on to relate his defense of progressive policies to values he gained during his time in the military.
“As a veteran, you understand the mission, and you go, and you carry it out. The mission is Washington’s broken,” Devito said.
“We need to fix it. The mission is we’re broke, we’re tired, we’re sick, we’re poor,” he continued. “We need relief. And you know, being able to describe what that relief looks like and how we get there, and having people just trust and believe that we can do this, it’s not an impossible task.”
“I think that’s why people haven’t been excited to vote for a Democrat in a long time, you know, they Democrats have traditionally just tried to appease and find this mystical middle, you know, and it doesn’t really exist in the way that they think it does,” Devito added.
Devito emphasized, however, that he would lend his support to another Democratic candidate for Strong’s seat, should another candidate be nominated.
“There’s no question,” he said. “I think we need to have a Democrat; that the time is now.”
“It will be me, because I think this is the kind of fight that requires someone with great and determination and just clear eyed, you know, demonstrating the values associated with my campaign, not just the policies, but the values that I stand for, human rights, corrupt, anti-corruption, enforce the Constitution, economic, affordability, these are the things that I stand for that will guide me through that outlast policy,” Devito said.
In September, Strong had raised more than $730,000 for his campaign, with more than $1 million in cash on hand.
As of the end of September, the Duvieilh campaign had raised roughly $9,700, with roughly $4,000 on hand.
Reports from the same month show that Devito had raised roughly the same amount as Duvieilh, with around $6,000 on hand, and Sneed leading Democratic contenders with $230,000 raised and $175,000 on hand.
The Democratic primary for District 5 will take place on May 19, 2026. The general election is scheduled for November 3.
