My observations on District 7

By Christopher Peeks March 12, 2024

A few days ago I printed a letter Chris Horn addressed to the voter's of District 7 for their overwhelmingly support for him in the GOP primary.

He did not boast. He did not pound his chest. He did not degenerate his opponent. Chris, very humble in his correspondence, expressed his sincere gratitude for the electorates confidence in him.

Mr. Horn went on to explain why he withdrew from the race in great detail. Ultimately Chris made the right decision. No one will beat Representative Sewell. Every two years some cockeyed optimist brimming with unbridled enthusiasm comes along with grandeur dreams that if they can get in front of enough people, with the right message they can win that District. No you won't. No you can't . No you're not. And they actually believe they can win unknowingly that they are a lamb being led to slaughter.

First of all a person has to be delusional to think that the Republican party is going to dump any money into this lost cause when there are so many purple districts out there that they can fight for. They are not going to throw good money after bad on a race that the Republican will lose by 30 points. Second, Terry Sewell is not unpopular. I am not sure how this notion has evolved. Even with the demographics being more even with the district gaining more white voter's Sewell is still going to win in a landslide.

An icon figure in Alabama politics weighed in on this very concept with me the other day the legendary Bill Baxley. When I asked Bill if more white voters in the district could put Sewell's re-election hopes in danger Bill responded "no that there were enough white voters that supported her that she would still win easily." If Bill says it that's good enough for me.

Chris Horns article spoke from the heart but a few of the comments on my post were troubling. Sour grapes to say the least. People are blaming him for his opponents poor performance and that could not be no where further from the truth.

One person made the comment he should have done more and endorsed his opponent. The man withdrew from the race did no campaigning and won by 14 points. There's nothing else to be said. Nobody votes for a candidate because somebody else endorses them. His endorsement would not have moved the needle at all.

Chris Horn has nothing to apologize

for. He had every right to enter that race and those voters have spoken .

So don't throw shade at this man. Let's put this behind us on move on to the fall campaign which is nothing more than a formality.

Expect Sewell to win going away 62% to 38% and in two years someone else will come along with the same delusional dream of winning this race. It happens every two years. This is nothing more than a fool's errand and as we all know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting a different result.

Christopher Peeks Reporter and Columnist

Alabama Political Contributor