State Rep. Arnold Mooney, R-Indian Springs, announced Monday his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate.
Mooney is running for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Doug Jones.
“Alabamians want a Constitutional Conservative who can beat Doug Jones and who will take on the Establishment in Washington. That’s why I’m running,” Mooney said in a statement.
Mooney is a State Representative from north Shelby County.
“I am not a career politician,” Mooney writes on his website. “I’m a conservative and an outsider. But I look around and see a rising tide of socialism on the Left and feel like if we don’t do something to turn this ship around, we are going to leave our children and grandchildren a country we don’t recognize. Freedom isn’t transmitted through the bloodstream. It has to be taught and it has to be protected for each new generation. That’s why I am doing this.”
Mooney boasts one of the most conservative voting records in the Alabama House of Representatives. He is a co-sponsor of the Human Life Protection Act, HB314, that passed the House just last week. HB314, which is now in the Alabama Senate is one of the strictest pro-life bills in America, it effectively bans abortion except to save the life of the mother.
Mooney has also sponsored the Right to Work and Ten Commandments Amendments.
Recently, Mooney was one of just 18 Republicans to take on his own party and vote against the recent ten cents a gallon gas tax, the largest tax increase in Alabama history.
“Too many people go to Washington and forget their principles,” Mooney said. “I want to be the same guy when I walk out that I was when I walked in. I’m not a politician–I’m just a conservative with a backbone. I think that’s what Alabamians want.”
Mooney announced that he has built an experienced team that includes: General Consultant: Jordan Gehrke, Leverage Public Strategies; Media: Fred Davis, Strategic Perception; Polling: Gene Ulm, Public Opinion Strategies; Digital Strategist: Ethan Eilon, IMGE; National Fundraiser: Laura Van Hove, LVH Consulting; and Finance Director and Senior Advisor, Heather Wilson with Leverage Public Strategies.
Mooney is serving in his second term in the Alabama House representing District 43.
Mooney has sponsored a number of pieces of legislation in the current session. Conservative bills sponsored by Mooney include: HB56 which would allow Alabama taxpayers to donate their tax refunds to Build the Wall Incorporated; HB561 which would establish term limits for Alabama legislators; and HB535 which would extend stand your ground principles to Shelby County Churches.
In 2017 Congressman Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, appointed Mooney as chairman of his campaign for U.S. Senate.
In his endorsement of Brooks two years ago, Mooney said, “With Mo Brooks, I know Alabama will get a full spectrum conservative in the United States Senate. No other candidate can boast the proven record of conservative leadership exhibited by Congressman Mo Brooks.”
In 2016, Mooney was a Ted Cruz delegate to the Republican National Convention.
In 2013 when Arnold Mooney announced that he was running for the District 43 seat. He said that he was raised by World War II veterans and learned a lot about having passion for life. “My parents taught me a lot about life.”
Mooney told the Rainy Day Patriots then, “You are here because you care about something. I care about a grandchild,” that is about to be born in January. “You are here because you want to be involved.”
Mooney worked for U.S. Senator Jim Allen and was the longtime campaign chair for state Representative Mary Sue McClurkin (R), who held the House district 43 seat prior to Mooney’s election.
Mooney has over 40 years of experience working in commercial real estate outside of his state legislature experience. He has lived in Alabama for over 28 years. He and his wife Kelly have been married for 31 years. They have three children, and two grandchildren.
Mooney is 68 years old
Other candidates in the field include: state Auditor Jim Zeigler, who is exploring the position; Congressman Bradley Byrne, former Auburn football Coach Tommy Tuberville, and businessman and former television evangelist Stanley Adair.
The Republican primary is March 3rd, 2020.
Jones is an attorney and former Clinton era U.S. Attorney, who narrowly defeated former Chief Justice Roy Moore in the 2017 special election. Jones is the only Democratic candidate to win a statewide race in Alabama in the last eleven years.
