By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
State Representative Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, on Friday qualified to run in the Republican primary for District 10 of the Alabama State Senate. Incumbent Senator Phil Williams is not seeking another term.
“Our community has been blessed for the past seven years to have conservative leadership in the Alabama Senate,” Rep. Butler said. “Because I’ve been encouraged by so many people and there’s so much work to do in Montgomery, I have decided to enter this race to give the people of Etowah, Cherokee and DeKalb counties the small government, pro-liberty representation in Montgomery that they want.”
Rep. Butler’s campaign announced key endorsements from Sen. Phil Williams, Senate Pro-Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, Alabama Citizens for Life, Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, Commissioner of Agriculture and Industry John McMillan (R), Alabama Forestry Association, Home Builders Association of Alabama and Subcontractors Association of Alabama.
Rep. Butler owns an electrical contracting business and is a resident of Rainbow City in Etowah County.
Butler actively campaigned for President Donald Trump in 2016, and was an elected delegate for Trump to the Republican National Convention in 2016. Butler served on the Etowah County Board of Education.
Butler says that he is widely recognized as one of the House of Representatives’ most conservative members. He sponsored the Memorial Preservation Act, which became law this past session and protects our historical structures from removal. He also sponsored the recently enacted assisted suicide ban and carried pro-Second Amendment legislation to reaffirm citizens’ rights to bear arms.
“I believe in the Constitution,” Rep. Butler said, “and I believe in the rights that we’ve been given by our Creator. I will continue to fight every day for the people to preserve those rights. We all want to hand over a better state and a better nation to our children than the one our parents’ handed over to us. For too long, government has been the problem. We need to return liberty to the people.”
Butler is a reserve deputy with the Etowah County Sheriff’s Department and is APOSTC Certified; he also says that he has a strong history of supporting law enforcement.
“One of the main duties of government is to keep our streets safe,” Butler said. “I am committed to working hand in hand with those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect us.”
Rep. Butler’s history as a school board member also fits into his goals as a state senator.
“We need to do what we can to make the most impact in our classrooms,” he said. “I’m interested in hearing from those on the front lines – in the classroom. There are amazing things happening in classrooms all over this district. But I can say this. We spend too much time and money on buildings and people far away from the classroom. We need to get back to what works best: equipping our teachers, not bureaucrats.”
Mack Butler has been a small business owner for over 33 years. He says that he understands the difficulties of owning a small business and how unnecessary government regulation and high taxes hurt Alabama’s economy and small businesses, and during his time in the Alabama House, Mack has consistently been on the front-lines for lower taxes and less regulation on our small businesses and will continue to do so as state senator.
Rep. Butler is seeking to succeed state Sen. Phil Williams of Rainbow City. “Phil Williams is my friend, my ally, and a conservative beacon in this state,” Rep. Butler said. “I am honored that he was one of the first to encourage me to take this next step.”
“Mack Butler is a man of high character and a leader who puts people first. He will be a listener and one who gets things done in Montgomery,” said Sen. Williams.
Rep. Butler is married to the former Connie Panell, also a native of Gadsden. They have four children and attend Whorton Bend Baptist Church.
Businessman and farmer Andrew Jones has also qualified to run for the Republican nomination in District 10. No Democrat has yet formally qualified in SD10; but state Representative Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, is reportedly considering running for the seat.
District 10 includes portions of Etowah, Cherokee and Dekalb Counties.
The major party primaries are on June 5, 2018.
