Dr. Angelo Mancuso, who was removed earlier this year from the Republican primary ballot in the Alabama House District 7 race, will appear on the Lawrence County Republican primary ballot for two internal party positions, including one contest against the same candidate he will face in November.
Mancuso is listed as a candidate for both the Lawrence County Republican Executive Committee and the Alabama Republican State Executive Committee. In the state executive committee race, he is running against HD7 Republican nominee Ernie Yarbrough.
The development follows the Alabama Republican Party steering committee’s decision to disqualify Mancuso from the HD7 Republican primary. After that ruling, Mancuso qualified to run as an independent in the November general election, where he is set to challenge Yarbrough.
Mancuso said he had filed and paid qualifying fees for the executive committee races before ballots were finalized, and that his name remained on those ballots when they were printed.
“When the ballots came out, there was a big flurry of activity,” said Mancuso. “They tried to get me off the ballot, but by law, they said you can’t. The ballots were already printed.”
Under Alabama law, once ballots are certified and printed, removing a candidate can present procedural hurdles. County probate judges oversee the administration of elections and counting of ballots, while political parties are responsible for certifying the results of their internal offices.
“The probate judges said the votes have to be counted,” said Mancuso. “But the party does the certification. If they don’t certify it, then nobody wins.”
The Alabama Republican Party has not publicly confirmed any refusal to certify results in the Lawrence County executive committee races. Efforts to reach party officials for comment were not immediately successful.
Mancuso will appear as a Republican candidate in the May primary for party governance roles while simultaneously running as an independent against the Republican nominee in the November general election.
“That’s the irony,” Mancuso said. “I’m on the Republican ballot in the primary, and then I’m on the general election ballot as an independent. You can’t make this stuff up.”
Mancuso framed the dispute as a matter of internal party governance and transparency, explaining that voters should be aware of how decisions on candidate eligibility are made.
“Whether I win or lose, it shows what’s going on behind the scenes,” said Mancuso.
The Lawrence County Republican primary is scheduled for May 19. Mancuso’s independent candidacy for Alabama HD7 will appear on the November general election ballot.
