Alabama
Daughter of Alabama, Caroleene Dobson's journey from farmland to the fight for U.S. Congress – Yellowhammer News
When the United States Supreme Court handed down its 5-4 opinion on Allen v. Milligan last summer, ruling that Alabama’s congressional map was likely in violation of the Voting Rights Act, the Alabama State Legislature was called back to Montgomery for a special session by Governor Kay Ivey to come up with a new map that would better represent Alabama’s racial makeup.
By late July 2023, the Governor had approved the Legislature’s new map, saying in a statement, “The Legislature knows our state, our people and our districts better than the federal courts or activist groups, and I am pleased that they answered the call, remained focused and produced new districts ahead of the court deadline.”
However, a three-judge panel rejected the map in September of last year, saying, in essence, that the Legislature defied a court order to make two of Alabama’s seven congressional districts majority or near-majority African American. The panel then appointed a special master to draw new options.
The map eventually issued by the three-judge panel created a new second district made up of nearly 49% voting-age African Americans and gave the seventh district, currently represented by Democrat Congresswoman Terri Sewell of Selma, a voting-age African American majority of almost 52%.
Incidentally, the new map also drew Republican Congressman Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) and Congressman Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) both into the new 1st congressional district. Alabama Republicans held their breath as Moore quietly deliberated on whether he would challenge his colleague for the first district or make an uphill run to keep his seat in the second.
Barry Moore victorious in Alabama’s 1st Congressional District after GOP showdown with Jerry Carl
When Moore announced his intention to run against Carl in the new first district, two hotly-contested Republican primary races were immediately set off. Republicans in the second district lined up to take their chances at winning the seat Moore will vacate in January. One of those candidates was a young Montgomery attorney named Caroleene Dobson.
Dobson was raised on a fifth-generation cattle farm in Beatrice, a tiny, predominately African American town of just over 200 in northern Monroe County. She excelled in education and graduated from Harvard College before attending Baylor Law School in Waco, Texas. In 2019, she and her husband, Bobby, left their lives in San Antonio behind to return to her native Alabama.
Settling down in Montgomery, Dobson took a job at Birmingham-based law firm Maynard Nexsen. Instead of climbing up the ladder of Alabama politics in her five years back in the Yellowhammer State, Dobson has focused on raising her two daughters, Philippa and Lydia.
However, when faced with the reality that the district that now encompasses her family’s farm, as well as her home in Montgomery, could soon be represented by someone who would stand against her conservative values, Dobson began praying and talking to her family and friends about a potential run for the seat.
Caroleene Dobson, real estate lawyer with rodeo past, wants to turn CD2 red
Dobson recalled making the decision to run, telling Yellowhammer News, “I was frustrated that, frankly, a lot of fellow Republicans were immediately resigned to the fact that a Democrat was going to represent our home.”
“Somebody needs to fight for this seat,” Dobson remembers thinking to herself. So, with just over a week left before the filing deadline, she threw her hat into the ring — the first Republican candidate to do so.
Bobby Dobson told Yellowhammer News he was immediately supportive when his wife decided to run for Congress and knew that her intellect would serve her well on the campaign trail.
“Knowing her intelligence and steel-trap of a memory, I knew that she’d be great at meeting a ton of people very quickly and remembering the bits and pieces she would learn from people on the road,” Mr. Dobson says.
Other candidates soon followed, including two Alabama political veterans: former State Senator Dick Brewbaker of Montgomery and State Senator Greg Albritton of Atmore. By December, a public poll had Dobson at 5% compared to Albritton’s 12% and Brewbaker’s 24%. While about 54% of respondents were undecided on which primary candidate they would vote for, roughly 68% said they had never heard of Dobson.
While that poll could have given Dobson reason to rethink her campaign, she pushed on, attending Christmas parties, visiting county Republican Party and Farmer’s Federation meetings, and stopping by local shops and restaurants.
Dobson says campaign life has become a family affair, as she often travels the district with her husband and their two young daughters in tow. Her parents, Philip and Lynne Hardee, serve as a sort of advance team, arriving at some events ahead of their daughter to set up campaign information tables and meet voters.
When 2024 rolled around, Dobson picked up one of the most coveted endorsements in Alabama politics when the Alabama Farmers Federation (ALFA) publicly backed her. With approximately 300,000 ALFA members throughout the state, that endorsement was a game-changer.
Cattlemen endorse Caroleene Dobson, one of their own, for Congress
As the March 5 primary drew closer, Dobson did not slow down. Bolstering her public profile with television ads, radio hits, and op-eds in Alabama-based news outlets, momentum surged for the Dobson campaign.
When the Republican primary results were announced, Dobson shocked the state by overtaking Senator Albritton and advancing to an April 16 runoff against Brewbaker.
The runoff campaign grew heated, with Dobson and Brewbaker sparring in an early April debate sponsored by the Mobile Chamber of Commerce. In a poll released on the morning of the runoff election, Dobson held an approximately 5-point lead over Brewbaker. In the end, Dobson crushed the former State Senator, winning by nearly 20%.
On the Democratic side, Shomari Figures, a veteran of both the Obama and Biden Administrations, trounced Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels by a slightly larger margin.
Shomari Figures wins Democratic runoff in Alabama’s newly-drawn 2nd Congressional District
With the Republican nomination in her hands, Dobson began picking up more endorsements from Governor Ivey, Senator Katie Britt, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
Dobson also found a close ally in Elise Stefanik, the New York Congresswoman who currently serves as Chairwoman of the House Republican Caucus. Stefanik’s political action committee, Elevate PAC, which is focused on electing Republican women to the House, announced Dobson as one of eight candidates it would back in 2024.
As the GOP nominee, Dobson is under immense pressure to deliver the 2nd District for Republicans, and, given the razor-thin majority the party currently holds in the House, victory will be vital in the event of a Trump win on Tuesday. Without the House, much of the Republican legislative agenda would be dead on arrival, even if the Senate and White House flip red.
Despite the high stakes, Dobson continues to find joy on the campaign trail.
When asked what she has learned about the people of the second district in the last year, she says their goodness has been a key takeaway. She recalls two retired gentlemen she met in Lyeffion, a small community in Conecuh County, who run a Sunday afternoon daycare for children whose parents work on Sundays.
Dobson was touched by their dedication to taking on that role in their community, saying, “These are two retired men who saw a need and thought, ‘Hey, otherwise, we’d be watching football on Sunday afternoon or doing something in our yards, but we can help the kids in our community.’”
“There are stories like that, time and time again, of people who have seen a need and have prayerfully answered a calling to be a servant in their towns and communities throughout this district,” Dobson continues.
Dobson says those stories have been incredibly inspiring for her, and she hopes to model that goodness in Congress. When asked what the most rewarding part of life on the campaign trail has been, Dobson says the people she has met and new things she has learned about the district have been a huge blessing.
Reuters names Alabama 2nd Congressional District among top ‘races to watch’ in 2024
“This district has so much to offer. We have so many incredible stories and so many businesses that, out of hard work, dreams, and sacrifice, have made such an impact, not just on the state and nation but, really, on the world,” Dobson says.
She recalls KW Plastics, the Troy-based company that currently holds the title of the world’s largest recycler of plastics, and Pitts Trailers of Pittsview, Alabama, which supplies about eighty percent of logging trailers in the United States.
The most challenging part of campaign life, she says, is knowing how many people in and outside of her district are hoping to see her win Tuesday’s election.
“There are so many people who have gone above and beyond to help me, to pray for me, to encourage me, to feed me, who’ve let me sleep in their guest bedroom if I’ve been in town for a night or who’ve helped me out when I’ve had car trouble,” she says, fondly.
“There are just so many people who I need to thank, and I could probably spend my entire post-November 5th life thanking people throughout this district and, really, throughout the country who have been so generous with their time and resources,” she continues.
“Really, the challenging thing is to find a way to adequately show gratitude to all of the people who have been so kind to me and who’ve helped me in this race.”
The fact that Dobson has had no trouble finding people to help her along throughout the last twelve months should not surprise anyone. Friends of the candidate who gave background interviews for this article consistently spoke of how highly they think of her, often noting her constant thoughtfulness and kindness. It is not uncommon for friends and acquaintances to receive handwritten “thank you” notes and homemade baked goods from Dobson, a true testament to her upbringing in rural Alabama.
‘All my best’: Ivey endorses Caroleene Dobson in touching television campaign ad
For her husband and daughters, the most difficult part of Dobson’s run for Congress has been her unrelenting travel schedule.
“The toll of the road has been pretty tough. She’s been pretty much up at six in the morning and out the door by seven and then back in bed by ten-thirty or eleven seven days a week for twelve straight months,” Mr. Dobson says, “On anybody, that’s grueling, but she’s got a heck of an engine on her.”
“She will not be outworked,” he says.
Given the importance of her race to the Republican Party, one of the people who Dobson has gotten to know well is Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl.
“For me, as Republican Party Chairman, it’s rare that I find a candidate who is so genuine, so real, and so articulate when talking about the issues that affect people,” Wahl told Yellowhammer News. “It’s been a pleasure to get to know her and her family. You can tell that she has a deep love for Alabama and the people of our state,” he continued.
Wahl says that, as the 2024 election cycle began, he never imagined that Alabama would play such an important role in the balance of power in Washington, D.C.
With Wahl at the helm, the party has invested heavily in keeping the second district, sending hundreds of volunteers to the campaign, paying for hundreds of thousands of mailpieces, and holding voter registration drives.
With Dobson as their nominee, the party is confident that that investment will pay off.
“Caroleene Dobson has been an incredible candidate to work with. She is an extremely hard worker, authentic, and caring. She takes the time to listen to people from all walks of life across the district and genuinely understands the problems they are facing,” Philip Foster, ALGOP Political Director, told Yellowhammer News.
Foster continued, “Washington has enough insiders who care more about the special interests than their constituents. It’s time to send someone to DC who will actually work for the people of Alabama’s 2nd congressional district and get the job done.”
As the sun sets on the 2024 election cycle and Dobson’s first foray into Alabama politics, Republicans in the state are holding their breath once again and praying for victory as one of the state’s seven seats in the U.S. House of Representatives hangs in the balance.
Riley McArdle is a contributor for Yellowhammer News. He currently serves as Chairman of The University of Alabama College Republicans and Vice Chairman of the College Republican Federation of Alabama. You can contact him at [email protected].
Alabama
Kalen DeBoer says kicker Graham Nicholson has found his rhythm at Alabama
Kalen DeBoer calls them “gimmie kicks.” The head coach’s philosophy has always been to give his kickers as many opportunities from short-distance attempts early in the season in order to get them in a rhythm and build up their confidence.
That’s the plan anyway. Alabama’s big-play offense prevented that transition for Miami-Ohio transfer Graham Nicholson in his first season with the Crimson Tide this year.
Nicholson, who earned the Lou Groza Award last season, didn’t even attempt a field goal in Alabama’s first two games. He pushed his first attempt wide right from 46 yards out at Wisconsin in Week 3. After hitting a 28-yarder against Georgia two weeks later, he didn’t get another attempt until the Week 8 loss against Tennessee, where he went 1 of 2, coming up short on a 54-yard try before hitting the target from 35 yards out.
Since then Nicholson has been perfect, connecting on two field goals against Missouri as well as one last week against Mercer. Now it seems like the graduate kicker is finally finding his rhythm.
“Getting that first one is hard, and it took him a long time to get that first opportunity,” DeBoer said of Nicholson during his weekly radio show on Wednesday night. “It isn’t his fault. We were just scoring touchdowns and the opportunities didn’t present themselves the same way.
“He has been just steady since Day 1. We see him every day in practice. I think he’s getting more and more comfortable in our stadium in particular.”
DeBoer called the two kicks Nicholson made a Missouri “critical to Alabama’s 34-0 win over the Tigers. The first of which came from a season-long 47 yards out as the kicker helped the Tide put points on the board to cap off the game’s opening possession. From there, Nicholson helped a struggling Alabama offense get some momentum by hitting a 39-yarder to put the Tide up 6-0 late in the second quarter.
“Thought [the 47-yarder] was a big kick for us right there to get three points on the board,” DeBoer said. “And then he came back and did it again.”
While kicking isn’t DeBoer’s expertise, he said he still makes an effort to monitor his kicker’s reps during practice in order to get a good feel of what affects them and what went wrong during misses.
“A kicker might miss a kick in practice, and if you really weren’t paying attention, you might just think it was him,” DeBoer explained. “Well, it might have been the snap or the hold or something else. There’s other moving parts to that part. It might not solely fall on the kicker missing in practice, and you can quickly some thoughts about, ‘Well, he’s not in his groove right now,’ when really there were other factors that played a role in it.”
As for Nicholson, DeBoer believes he’s finally found his rhythm and should be able to return to his award-winning form to close out the season.
“He’s mentally strong,” DeBoer said. “He’s got a lot that he’s done in the past that he goes back to that gives him the confidence he has. You still got a new place and you gotta kind of reprove yourself. He’s done a good job of doing that.”
Last season, Nicholson made 27 of 28 field-goal attempts and 35 of 37 extra-point tries. That included an NCAA-record streak of 25 straight made field goals. Through 10 games at Alabama, he is 5 of 7 on field goals and has made all 48 of his extra-point tries.
Alabama
Everything Nate Oats said after Alabama's win over Illinois
Everything Nate Oats said after Alabama’s win over Illinois
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama coach Nate Oats spoke to reporters after the Crimson Tide’s 100-87 win over No. 25 Illinois on Wednesday. No. 8 Alabama bounced back from a loss to Purdue in strong fashion, taking down its first Power Five opponent of the season and gaining some momentum ahead of a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada for the Players Era Festival tournament.
Here’s everything Oats said after the game.
Opening statement
“That’s a big win. Illinois is good. They’re talented. Got multiple guys that are gonna end up playing in the NBA. They’ve got length everywhere. They beat us on the boards, so we’ve got to get significantly better on the glass. But I thought our guys did a much better job defensively. We had a few things we had to get cleaned up, and I thought we played pretty hard. I thought we had a group in there to close the game out that played pretty well on defense and got to the rim on offense.
“There’s lots of positives. We shot the ball well from some guys. I think Grant got his confidence going, obviously, early. Labaron has been playing really hard, almost had a triple-double with 16, nine and seven. I think the ball moved a lot better. Twenty-three assists to only seven turnovers was big. So there’s a lot of positives, but a lot of stuff to improve on still.”
On Mark Sears being held scoreless, sitting the final 11:27
“He was great on the bench. He was struggling. There’s a lot of pressure on him, obviously, being a home-state kid that came back. He’s the preseason player of the year, and he’s trying to do well. Teams are gearing their defense toward him. He had some good looks tonight; they just didn’t go. I took him out to kind of let him get his head together a little bit, and I tried to put him back in and he just said, ‘Look, they’re playing well.’ “I’ll be honest with you, it’s similar to what Herb Jones has done before. We’ve had some really good players here that have just kind of been unselfish enough and want to win bad enough to just say, ‘Hey, let the guys go. They’re playing really well. Leave them in.’ So that’s what I did. I tried to put him back in the middle of that 11 minutes, but he said leave these guys. They were playing pretty well. He was right, so we left them in, and they went on a run and won it. I’m sure he’ll bounce back against Houston.”
On Alabama’s bench
“Obviously, Holloway shooting it like he did helps a lot with the bench. Derrion, Aiden Sherrell kind of showed what they’re capable of. They’re starting to both get a little more comfortable. Dioubate threw in another three for us, and I think Jarin’s got a huge jump he can still make this year. We’re deep. Everybody knew we were deep. We needed the bench tonight with how Mark maybe struggled shooting it a little bit. Holloway came in and helped us out a little bit. So I thought it was big. I think our bench will probably give us pretty good production most of the year because there’s going to be quite a few guys that would be starting at most places coming off the bench, so we’ll get pretty good bench production most of the year.”
On Clifford Omoruyi avoiding foul trouble doing forward
“He picks up some silly ones where he gets out of position and kind of comes in late. So we gotta keep working with him on some of that. Him being in a drop like we’ve got him in, he didn’t really play it like that at Rutgers. So he’s just got to continue to get better. I thought we’ve seen him get better and better in the drop. I think when Grant went to the five and kind of got in the drop, he had a blocked shot. I think he’s done a little more, so you can see he’s a little more experienced with it. So we just got to keep working with him on that and then keep working. But like you said, I mean, he was plus-14 when he was in the game, played 15 minutes. We were plus-14 with them in there. So we gotta try to keep him out of foul trouble so we can keep him in the game a little bit longer.”
On responding from the Purdue loss
“It was big. We needed to play against a high-major team, a good one, a top-25 team and be able to get a win. And I didn’t even think we played great in a lot of areas. I mean, you look at the offensive rebounds we gave up. We didn’t shoot it particularly well from some of our better shooters, and we were still able to score 100 points. We did take care of the ball a lot better, and I thought our defense improved.
“So I think we need to continue to see little things improve and do well and just keep building on it because Houston’s obviously really tough, really good. Giving up 14 O boards – and Illinois’ very good. They’ve got length everywhere. They go to the O boards. They’re one of the better rebounding teams in the country. But they’re not at the same level as Houston’s going to be on the offensive glass. So we’re going to really pick up on our defensive rebounding. Purdue kind of got to us there, Illinois got to us. So we’re going to have to make a huge point of emphasis on that going forward.”
On if he’s surprised at Labaron Philos’s progress
“From what I thought when you go back to last spring when he opened his recruitment up and we took him, yes, I’m surprised from then. But if you ask me after the summer, after watching what he did in June, July, August, he came in and established himself as one of the best guards in the program right out of the gate in the month of June. So I think he came in competing. I mean, he had the right mindset coming in, though.
“Like when he opened his recruitment up, he kind of made the point, I think one of the statements might have been, if I’m not going to play much – because Kansas took a lot of transfer guards when he signed – if I’m not going to play much, I’d rather be home in Alabama at Alabama if I’m not going to play much. I said, ‘Look, just come in and work hard. We’ll see what you can earn.’ So he kind of just came in expecting nothing, had to earn everything, and when you feel like you gotta earn everything, that’s when I think you start playing your best.
“It’s why we don’t ever promise anybody minutes, starting spots, anything around here. I think you make everybody come in and earn it. And also, you get guys like Labaron that blossom. And he’s kind of earned from summer, fall practice. He’s one of our hardest competitors in practice every day. He’s winning the blue-collar in practice. He won the Hard Hat tonight. He just makes a bunch of tough plays and just loses himself in the game. I don’t think he’s worried about how many points he scores, about how many times he touches it, how many minutes he’s played. Just if he’s in, he’s playing hard, playing the right way, and it shows.”
On Aden Holloway’s contributions
“We didn’t play fast enough against Purdue. One of the clips that we did play fast enough was him. He got downhill, scored a layup. We just said we want to keep the pace going. I think it’s easier to play fast when you got three of those four guards in. I thought he pushed the pace tonight. He’s super skilled. I mean, he’s as good a shooter as I’ve ever coached. So the fact that he went 3-of-4 from three is not really that shocking. I’d venture to say he’s gonna have plenty other games where he goes 3-of-4, 4-of-5, 5-of-6. Who knows. He can shoot it, and his pace is good. His skill level is high. He’s got a good finishing package in the lane. He’s good. I don’t know that I would say I envisioned this because – we knew he was really good coming out of high school. I think maybe sometimes it takes a little bit to adjust in college or whatever. He definitely had some good games at Auburn, but we thought he could be more like what he was coming out of high school, and I think that’s what you saw tonight.”
On responding to Illinois’ runs
“I think they cut it to eight at one point, if I remember right. I think maybe we had a 14-point lead. I couldn’t remember. Did they cut it lower than that? I think maybe eight was where we got. We were up 18 at one point in the first half. I think we were up maybe 17 in the second half, if I remember right, at some point. They cut it to eight, and I think that’s when I called the timeout. I thought we came out of that timeout, played pretty well. I think we went on a 7-0 run after the timeout, and it started with some defense. We got some transition buckets off our defense, and then they made some tough shots. I thought we did a better job keeping them off – they ended up with 14 O boards. They had 13 with about 12 minutes to go in the game. We kept talking about making sure they didn’t get any O boards. They got the one there late, I think when Riley got it, if I remember right. But other than that, I thought we did a better job keeping them off the glass. And they’re gonna make some tough shots.
“Sometimes basketball is a little bit of a game of runs, but you gotta make them keep taking tough shots, don’t give up O boards, nothing easy. And then we just had to make sure we had some better shots on our end. We got to do a better job getting to the offensive boards and getting some easy looks, too.”
On Aiden Sherrell’s performance
“I thought he was good. I mean, we want him to shoot the ball with confidence. We finally got him to drop a three. We’ve seen him shoot well in practice, I thought he had a nice lob he caught. He played pretty physical and got some rebounds. A lot more like what we thought we’d have got, and I got him more minutes. So I thought he deserved more minutes. I thought I should have played him more at Purdue, to be honest with you. But he played a lot better for us tonight. For him to get plus-eight in his nine minutes was pretty good.”
Alabama
13-year-old killed, 3 other teens injured in north Alabama after car hits tree stump, sign, fence
A 13-year-old passenger was killed and three other teenagers were injured in a single-vehicle wreck Wednesday morning in north Alabama, authorities said.
The teen, who was not wearing a seat belt, was a passenger in a 2015 Nissan Altima that left the road and struck a tree stump, a sign post and then a fence around 7:45 a.m. Wednesday on Blessing Road near Arley Lacey Road, approximately two miles north of Boaz, in Marshall County, said Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Senior Trooper Brandon Bailey.
The driver of the Altima, only identified as an 18-year-old, was injured and taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Two other teenage passengers — a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old — were also injured and taken to a hospital. They were not wearing seat belts, Bailey said.
Further information on the wreck was unavailable as state troopers continued to investigate the incident.
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