Meet the candidates running in Alabama House District 27

Voters in Marshall County will choose a Republican nominee for the Alabama House in a special election Tuesday.

Six Republicans will compete for the party nomination in House District 27. The seat is solidly Republican: Former Rep. and current Sen. Wes Kitchens, R-Arab, got 84% of the vote in the 2018 election and 89% of the vote in 2022.

With no Democratic opponent, the Republican candidate who wins — either with 50% in the primary or in the run-off — will become the presumptive representative for House District 27.

The seat became vacant after Kitchens won an election in January to represent Senate District 9, which had previously been represented by former Senate Majority Leader Clay Scofield, R-Arab. Scofield left the Senate in November to join the Business Council of Alabama after about 13 years in the Alabama Legislature.

If none of the candidates win at least 50% of the vote, a run-off for the two top candidates will be held on April 30.

Stacey Lee George

Age: 55

Residence: Arab

Occupation: Business owner of Let George Do Produce and Notary on Wheels

Education: Attended Calhoun Community College and Auburn University

Party: Republican

Previous political experience: Republican candidate for Alabama Senate, 2024; Republican candidate for governor, 2022; Republican candidate for governor, 2014; Morgan County Commissioner, 2000-2008.

Fundraising:  George has raised $1,389 and spent $0. He had $100 on hand as of March 22.

George said his campaign for the Alabama Senate earlier this year helped him build name recognition, which he hopes will help him in the current race.

“This race happened so quickly afterwards, that we just prayed, my wife and me, and we decided to go ahead and run this race, as well,” George said, “and we’re just going to see what happens.”

George strongly opposes legalizing gambling, an issue currently before the Alabama Legislature. He said that is an issue he sees as a current “hot topic” and spent time from his campaign to travel to Montgomery to oppose a gambling package that was moving through the two chambers.

He criticized the House for moving the bills in the package and said he was glad the Senate slowed the process down.

“I don’t like any version passing, but the way [the House Speaker] ran that through, I would have created debate on that issue more if I was in the House,” he said.

George also wants to completely eliminate the state sales tax on groceries and expressed concerns over rising prison costs. 

“When you get that much money involved, you need to look at who’s doing the bonding; who’s the construction manager. You need to look at who is actually getting these bids. Who’s drawing up the bid specifications? So, what happens is you got a real big hole for corruption on these things,” George said.

Alan Miller

Age: 62

Residence: Arab

Occupation: Retired, banking management

Education: B.A., Psychology, Auburn University, 1985; M.B.A., Finance, Florida State University, 1992.

Party: Republican

Previous political experience: Arab City Council, 2014-2016; 2020 – present

Fundraising: Miller has raised $8,530 and spent $367. He had $8,163 on hand as of March 22. 

Miller said his time on Arab City Council helped him get his “feet wet with public service.”

“I like trying to make a difference, and so it’s just what I want to do for my next act, as they say. I really feel it to be a calling,” he said.

Citing his experience on the city council’s finance committee, he said he can keep an eye on public expenses.

“I was in the financial services organization field, and I managed a revenue center for 23 years. I know about having and abiding by the budget, so just common-sense government,” he said.

Miller said he hears concerns from voters about immigration, which he described as concerns over the potential for terrorism and not prejudice against Latinos.

“I think a lot of people have concerns about extremists, maybe even terrorists, from other parts of the world coming into our country by way of our southern border, and I agree that that’s a concern,” he said.

The New York Times reported in Nov. 2023 that an increasing number of migrants apprehended at the southern border over the past year are on the United States’ terrorist watch list, but the figure represents a fraction of the total migrant arrests at the border over the past year, with 169 encounters out of 2 million border crossings.

Miller said there is confusion among voters on what are federal issues versus state issues. He said Alabama doesn’t have jurisdiction over the U.S.-Mexico border, but Alabama does have control on how the state treats immigrants within the state. He said that he would support legislation that gives law enforcement more power to keep immigrants who commit “vile crimes” such as assault incarcerated instead of deported.

“Anything I would do, I’m sure it would have to do with helping our law enforcement personnel treat illegal immigration the way it should be, where they pay the duty or whatever for what their infraction is,” he said.

Jeana Ross

Age: 69

Residence: Guntersville

Occupation: Education consultant, former secretary of Early Childhood Education

Education: B.S., Early Childhood Education, University of Alabama in Birmingham, 1975; M.A., Educational Leadership, University of Alabama, 2000.

Party: Republican

Previous political experience: First time candidate

Fundraising: Ross has raised $82,204 and spent $64,808. She had $17,397 on hand as of March 22.

Ross said her experience in Gov. Kay Ivey’s cabinet was one of the reasons she decided to run. As the former secretary of Early Childhood Education, Ross said she was an “advocate” for children and families, particularly for the state’s pre-K program.

“Having done that for almost eight years, I understand what it’s like for the people here in our district to have an issue or concern, or an interest that they would like to have expressed, and I thought, ‘Well, I can do that — I’ve been on that side,’” she said.

Education is a priority for Ross, but particularly early childhood education, which she said helps close the achievement gap.

“We found that (First Class Pre-K graduates) were more likely to not be retained in school,” she said. “They were more likely not to need special education services. They did not have an attendance problem … We also found that these children that attended this program are more likely to be proficient on our state assessments, not only in third grade, but there was no fade out.”

Ross said that having a good educational system is important to having “successful and contributing citizens,” and because she helped build a “good, strong system” for young children, she feels she can do the same for education in general.

“I’d like to see all of our education system have the same resources, the same support and be able to call themselves high quality,” she said.

Ross supports “high quality education for all children,” whether that’s public schools, private or parochial schools or homeschooling, but she said she will not support anything that takes funding away from public education.

“But we can be creative. I know how to do that. I’ve done that,” she said.

Ross said that she is pro-life, and that she supports legislation passed by the Alabama Legislature earlier this month that gave immunity to clinics providing in vitro fertilization. The law aimed to allow them to start offering services again.

“If additional action is needed, I’ll support efforts that help families that are struggling and want to start a family,” she said.

Bill Strickland

Age: 66

Residence: Arab

Occupation: Owner of a farming business; Retired law enforcement

Education: Associate degree, Criminal Justice, Wallace State Community College, 1984

Party: Republican

Previous political experience: Marshall County Commission, District 1, 2007-2018

Fundraising: Strickland has raised $24,262, including $10,750 loaned from his farming business, and spent $9,622. He had $12,022 on hand as of March 22.

Strickland said he is concerned about the bills the Legislature is passing, particularly gambling. While Strickland said he would support a lottery-only bill, he fears that legalized gambling could create corruption.

“This bill obviously creates another government entity, with another law enforcement entity. So, I have major concerns. If I were in the Legislature, I’d be voting no against both proposals, the House and the Senate,” he said.

Strickland said that if the goal is to stop illegal gambling, he would propose revisiting state law and upgrading illegal gambling operations to felonies.

“If you’re technically wanting to combat illegal gambling in the state, it’d be an oxymoron to me to make it legal,” he said, adding that as law enforcement, “it’s somewhat disturbing to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to combat illegal gambling by making it legal.’”

He said that if elected, he’d serve up to three terms, saying that creativity runs out after a certain amount of time.  

“Let’s be civilian legislators for a period of time, step aside and let somebody else do it. Fresh ideas — you know, times change,” he said.

He said that on immigration, there isn’t much that Alabama can do.

“We’re not a border state, so a representative in the State House can’t shut down the southern border,” he said.

But that he feels the Legislature can do is to address immigrants coming to Alabama without authorization. He said the immigrant population in the district is increasing, and he’s concerned about the numbers going up further and its impact on the district’s services, such as education.

“That should be addressed by Alabama by the Legislature,” he said.

Bill Hancock

Hancock is the owner of Bill Hancock Motors in Albertville.

Party: Republican

Fundraising: Hancock has raised $37,788, which includes $23,193 he loaned his campaign, and spent $26,026. He had $11,763 on hand as of March 22. 

Billy Ray Todd

Todd served in the U.S. Army in the 82nd Airborne Division for 24 years, according to his campaign website.

Party: Republican

Fundraising: Todd has raised $5,370, and spent $150. He had $3,294 on hand as of March 22.

Attempts to set up interviews with Bill Hancock and Billy Ray Todd were unsuccessful.