By Morgan Bryce
Associate Editor
Lee County businessman and cattle farmer Randy Price is looking to employ a “common-sense approach” to leadership in Montgomery if elected to the Alabama Senate District 13 seat.
Previously a candidate for the Lee County Commission and Alabama House of Representatives District 38, Price has secured his party’s nomination and will face Democratic nominee Darrell Turner in the Nov. 6 midterm elections.
Following is a brief background on Price and overview of his beliefs and platforms that will guide him if elected.
Background
A Lee County native, Price grew up on a family farm on the outskirts of Opelika. Already a cattle farmer, he later opened successful commercial trucking and custom home-building businesses.
Affiliated with Lee County’s Republican Party for more than 30 years, Price is involved with a number of other committees, groups and organizations, including: the Achievement Center of East Alabama Foundation board, BamaCarry, Lee County Farmer’s Federation board of directors, Lee County Republican Executive Committee, Third District Congressman Mike Rogers’ Agricultural Advisory Committee and the Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church board of trustees in Opelika.
Price and his wife Oline have been married for more than 40 years, and together have two sons: Cameron and Hunter. Oline is Lee County’s revenue commissioner.
In the 2014 race for the House of Representatives District 38 seat, Price ran a close but unsuccessful campaign against Isaac Whorton, falling by a 12.8 percentage-point margin.
Price emerged as the Republican nominee for Alabama Senate District 13 in the July midterms following a 60-40 percentage-point victory over challenger Mike Sparks. His opponent, Turner, ran unopposed in this year’s Democratic primary and will be making his second bid for the seat.
Platforms
While on the campaign trail, Price said he developed his list of platforms based on the feedback of possible constituents within the district, which encompasses portions of Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Lee and Randolph counties.
“If you’re going to run a successful campaign, you’ve got to understand the issues that are on people’s minds. When we started this campaign (more than) a year ago, I started in the northern part of the district and worked my way down, meeting with officials and community leaders and gaging what challenges or issues they were facing in their community,” Price said. “That gave me the opportunity to find out what people were thinking and what was really their concern. As an elected official, it will be my primary job to listen to what people’s concerns are.”
The pillars of Price’s campaign are: balanced budgets, higher quality of care and education for students, improved infrastructure, maintained pro-business atmosphere and solid economic development.
“When you start talking about economic development, you gotta take a look at infrastructure. Those things go hand-in-hand,” Price said. “If you’re out recruiting for industries and jobs to come to Alabama, the one thing those companies are going to look at is infrastructure. And if you don’t have the necessary infrastructure in place, it’ll be hard for us to compete with those other states and get jobs here.”
Through education, Price said he wants to expand opportunities for students so that they can fully evaluate their career options after high school and make informed decisions.
“From day one of this campaign, I’ve been a firm believer that children who reach junior high don’t need to be funneled down the system. We need to let them make the decision about going the college or technical route then put the right tools in front of them to succeed,” Price said. “If we don’t the necessary things through education to insure we have a workforce, then we’re still not going to be able to recruit jobs.”
Local event
As a part of his “Courthouse Tour” Sept. 13, Price and his team will make a stop at the five courthouses within the district to meet with citizens and leaders, including the Lee County Courthouse. Follow Price’s social media pages for updates on the schedules and stops during the event.
For more information about Price and his campaign, visit www.randypriceforsenate.com.