Democratic congressional hopefuls gathered in Montgomery on Wednesday to file election paperwork and call for changes in Alabama’s federal leadership.
During a public appearance held at 1 p.m. at the Montgomery headquarters of the Alabama Democratic Party, candidates filed qualifying paperwork and fees, as well as Alabama Ethics Commission documents needed to run for office. Qualifying for Alabama’s 2026 election season began Monday and runs until January 23.
Candidates present were: Clyde Jones running for Alabama’s 1st Congressional District, Lee McInnis running for District 3, Amanda Puszcek running for District 4, Andrew Sneed running for District 5, Keith Pilkington running for District 6 alongside Dakarai Larriett and Mark Wheeler, both running for the U.S. Senate.
In a series of statements released ahead of the joint-filing, candidates said the event highlighted their intention to embody feasible alternatives to incumbent congressmen in their districts.
During the appearance, candidates fielded questions regarding their respective campaign priorities and why they feel Alabamians deserve a change in congressional leadership.
McInnis, whose campaign has called for the reversal of federal health spending cutbacks, criticized Governor Kay Ivey for championing rural healthcare funding provided by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
A report from healthcare nonprofit, the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that the total rural health fund amounts to 37 percent of the estimated loss of federal Medicaid mandated by the OBBBA in rural areas over the next 10 years.
“If you do the math, we hardly get out of a year with the money they’ve given, and there’s no promise that there’s gonna be any additional funding after that, when they’ve cut $1 trillion out of the federal healthcare budget,” McInnis said. “That [$203 million] is not even a bandaid, it’s a short-term bailout, not a long-term solution to what our, especially our rural counties, our healthcare problem is like.”
Jones added that the healthcare issues discussed by McInnis impact “the entire state,” arguing new voices in federal positions would help correct Alabama’s rural healthcare crisis.
“That’s why we need people at the federal level who want to make change, alright, who want to make sure that people have healthcare, who want to make sure that people have workers’ rights,” he said.
Puszcek, pointing to the 28 years District 4 incumbent, U.S. Representative Robert Aderholt, R-Alabama, has served in office, similarly argued a change in congressional representation for the district is needed to better protect citizens’ interests.
“That’s generational change that you should have been able to make in that amount of time,” she added. “I think this is an amazing year of change, and I can’t wait for all of us to get to work.”
Sneed told APR that the appearance, originally conceived by McInnis, was intended to act as a display of unity among Alabama’s Democratic congressional candidates.
“Even if we don’t agree on all policies, we’re all fighting for better for the state of Alabama,” Sneed said.