SD 7 Republican Candidates Endorse Paul Sanford
04/28/2009

The five Republican contenders for the Senate District 7 seat who fell short of victory held a news conference Tuesday to pledge their support for Republican nominee Paul Sanford.

Three of the five candidates made brief remarks prior to Mr. Sanford’s statement. On hand to endorse Mr. Sanford were Sam Givhan, Mary Scott Hunter, and Allan Rhodes. Roger Richardson was unable to attend the event, so Mary Scott Hunter read his prepared remarks. Peter Wright was unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances at the last minute.

SAM GIVHAN’S REMARKS:

"Hello, my name is Sam Givhan, and I want to thank you for being with me today, along with Mary Scott Hunter and Allan Rhodes, as we join to support our party's nominee for State Senate District 7, Paul Sanford. Roger Richardson and Peter Wright were not able to be here today, but it is important that you know that all of the former Republican candidates are unified in our support for Paul Sanford.

"This seat is critical for Madison County as it is the only senate seat that only serves our County. It is important that we unite behind our candidate to insure that we have a conservative leader for our district. While we, as candidates, may have had slightly different ideas about how to accomplish certain goals, we all had the same end results in mind. Now we are clearly faced with a candidate that will take us down the right path versus one that will take us off to the left.

"Laura Hall will be a formidable opponent. I am asking all of my supporters to work to elect Paul Sanford as our next State Senator. Voter turnout will be critical. We must all work together to get conservative voters to the polls so that we can win this race."

MARY SCOTT HUNTER’S REMARKS:

I keep a John Maxwell quote on my wall at home next to my computer:
"If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten."

I believe this is true….more of the same if we send Laura Hall to the Senate.

I want to be clear on something, this is not an ad hominem attack on Laura. I’ve met Laura, and I like her. But, she doesn’t stand for what I stand for or what Paul Sanford stands for. Her record in the legislature is a poor one. She voted to legalize marijuana in our State. She was a 2-year college double dipper. Alabama A&M, which is in her district and of which I believe she holds a degree, is in total turmoil and she has asserted no leadership role for our area’s great historically black college. Laura voted herself a 62% pay raise just a short time ago. This is not a record of achievement.

Your senator needs to stand for something, something that is right and good and moral and upstanding. I believe Paul stands for all that. Some have voiced concerns about Paul’s experience. Well, I want to point out one very important thing. Paul made it this far in an extremely tough race…He’s shown himself to be a natural with a desire to win and the intestinal fortitude to get the job done. I like that. I like that he’s a hard worker. He’s made good business decisions and has kept his business viable in a time of economic slowdown. I like that he’s married to Danielle whom I’ve come to admire and like very much. She clearly supports and loves her husband. If Paul is anything like me, he’ll need his spouse to support him or he might as well not even try.

I believe this is Paul’s time. I wish it had been mine, and I’ll forever lament those 50 votes I needed to make the runoff. But, this is not about me, Sam, Roger, Allen, or Peter. I’ve said many times that safest things you can do in politics are to keep a clean conscience, tell the truth, and take the moral high ground. So, while I find myself still very disappointed in my defeat, I am satisfied and happy that we will have a strong, clear minded, Christian representing us.

And, I go back to my own core values: Integrity first, Service before self, Excellence in all I do. The Service before Self part is the rock I stand on today. What is infinitely more important than me and my disappointment in my loss is the needs of the people. The people need conservative leadership. Going back to the John Maxwell quote, we don’t need more of the same.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Laura Hall will not be easy to beat. She is an experienced and talented politician with strong money backing. She will be a formidable candidate. It will take all our efforts put Paul in the Senate. I’m committed to doing that. I ask my voters to also support Paul, and I wish Paul and the Sanford family Godspeed in this next phase of the journey.

ROGER RICHARDSON’S REMARKS:

During this time period many Alabama families are facing tough times. Rising unemployment and years of hyper-inflation in education, healthcare, and housing cost have created a deep recession. As a result of these dynamics our government agencies are dealing with revenue shortfalls and rising demand for services. Now more than ever, we need public officials who bring a fresh perspective to the challenges that we face and seek to serve the public rather than themselves.

During the course of this campaign I have had the opportunity to talk with Paul Sanford on multiple occasions and to get to know him and his family. I truly believe that he desires to serve the interests of the people and bring new ideas to the political process. For this reason I am asking my supporters to help elect Paul Sanford the next senator to represent District 7 in the Alabama Legislature.

ALLAN RHODES’S REMARKS:

………

PETER WRIGHT’S REMARKS:

Regrettably, I will be unable to attend today's news conference due to unforeseen circumstances.

Please extend my best wishes on today’s news conference. Paul Sandford has conducted an excellent campaign and has shown all of us what "grassroots" really means. To all voters of the AL Senate District 7, I submit to you that Paul Sandford will represent this District with fairness and conservative principals. Paul’s background in small business will provide much needed diversification in the AL senate.

Paul Sanford won the Republican special election runoff last Tuesday and will face Rep. Laura Hall in the June 9th general election. Mr. Sanford and his wife Danielle own and operate "little Paul’s Barbecue" in Huntsville. They have two children, Chase and Ryan.