Russell Emrick, 41, of Heflin and Greg Varner, 36, of Ashland are the two Democratic candidates who will face off in the June 1 primary for the seat being vacated by Sen. Kim Benefield. Benefield announced in January that she wanted to spend more time with her grandchildren and so would not seek re-election.
Whoever wins the primary will be face Republican candidate Gerald Dial of Lineville in the November general election. Dial is a former Democratic senator who held the District 13 seat for six terms before Benefield defeated him in 2006. He had been working as the executive director of the Alabama Rural Action Committee but resigned soon after he announced his candidacy.
A phone message left for Dial this week was not returned.
Emrick, who has never run for office before, is an attorney who owns several businesses in Heflin, including the Emrick and Associates law firm and Emrick-Nolen Feed and Seed.
Emrick said he decided to run for election because of the recession’s impact on small businesses and the lack of money for education.
“I was reading about schools always being out of money and I guess I just got mad and frustrated one night and decided I was going to run for office,” Emrick said.
Emrick said he is the perfect man for the District 13 seat due to his experience with local government. Prior to his current work with his law firm, Emrick worked in public service for 12 years, including two years with the Alabama Department of Transportation as an engineer, two years as a county engineer in Dale County and eight years as a county engineer in Cleburne County.
“I know the ins and outs of government,” Emrick said.
He added that his background as a small business owner puts him in the position to best serve those who have suffered most during the recession.
If elected, Emrick said his primary focus would be on improving the state’s education system.
“We’ve got to find a way to prioritize our spending and we need more vocational training,” Emrick said.
Emrick said he would also work to help small businesses, including offering them incentives to stimulate growth and protecting small business owners from unfair or burdensome taxes and fees.
“District 13 is a small, rural district and small business is the backbone of the community,” Emrick said.
Like Emrick, Varner is an attorney -- he owns the Law Office of Greg Varner in Ashland -- and has never before run for office. However unlike Emrick, Varner said he decided to campaign after Benefield asked him to consider entering the race. Varner said he has known Benefield for years and first met her when she was the circuit clerk of Randolph County.
“People are saying they want new faces in Montgomery,” Varner said. “I believe I have new ideas and a fresh voice for Montgomery.”
Varner said he would represent District 13 well due to his humble background.
“We were pretty poor … I wasn’t born into wealth,” Varner said. “My humble origins are like many residents of District 13 … it has provided me with perspective.”
If elected, Varner said he would focus on job creation.
“I hope to bring a new perspective on economic development,” he said. “You have to have local economies resilient to global impact. You do that through reliant, locally-owned businesses.”
Instead of just supporting large industries as the state has during the last two decades, more support should be given to small businesses, Varner said.
“We should offer similar tax breaks to local businesses like we give to the large industries,” he said.
Varner also said that since District 13 has a large agricultural base, he wants to strengthen support for locally-owned farms.
Contact staff writer Patrick McCreless at 256-235-3561.
