Local educator and independent U.S. Senate candidate Craig Jelks on Sunday released a statement criticizing U.S. Senators Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville over their votes to confirm Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general.
Blanche previously served as President Donald Trump’s personal defense attorney before becoming deputy attorney general at the beginning of Trump’s second term. He has served as acting attorney general since April, when Pam Bondi was fired over her handling of the Epstein files.
In his statement, Jelks said Britt and Tuberville had “abandoned their constitutional duty” by voting to confirm Blanche.
“Both of our U.S. senators have abandoned their constitutional duty—and every Alabamian should be alarmed,” Jelks said.
“Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville voted yesterday to confirm Donald Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney as the Attorney General of the United States. Not a distinguished jurist. Not a celebrated prosecutor. The president’s own lawyer,” he continued. “The man paid to keep Donald Trump out of prison—on charges of hush money payments, mishandling classified documents, and attempting to overturn the 2020 election—will now run the United States Department of Justice. And Alabama’s senators—without hesitation, without reservation, without a single hard question—said yes.”
Jelks, who has previously said he “leans conservative” on several issues, argued that the senators’ votes represented an abandonment of conservative values in favor of loyalty to the president.
“This isn’t conservatism. This isn’t even Republicanism,” Jelks said. “This is blind loyalty to one man dressed up as governance—and it’s dangerous.”
“Even two Republican senators—[Susan] Collins and [Lisa] Murkowski—found the courage to vote no,” he added. “Alabama’s senators could not.”
Jelks said Blanche’s confirmation showed that the Senate is failing to serve as an effective check on the executive branch.
“I teach the three branches of government. I know why they exist. The Founders didn’t create a Senate so that its members could serve as a president’s rubber stamp,” Jelks said. “They created it to be a firewall against exactly what we witnessed yesterday—the systematic erosion of independent oversight in favor of personal loyalty to one man. At what point does loyalty become complicity?”
“Alabama deserves a senator who will ask that question out loud—in the chamber, on the record, for all to hear,” he continued. “Someone who understands that the Constitution isn’t a suggestion—it’s the job.”
As he campaigns to succeed Tuberville in the U.S. Senate, Jelks has argued that electing an independent would bring greater accountability and transparency to the office.
“Integrity and courage aren’t just words in my campaign—they’re the standard I hold myself to every single day,” Jelks said. “Britt and Tuberville have chosen comfort over conviction, loyalty over leadership, and the president over the people of Alabama. And it’s exactly why Alabama needs an Independent in the United States Senate.”
When asked about Jelks’ criticisms, a spokesperson for Tuberville reaffirmed the senator’s support for Blanche’s confirmation.
“Sen. Tuberville has been consistent in supporting all of President Trump’s nominees,” the spokesperson wrote in an emailed response. “He knows Todd Blanche will be an outstanding Attorney General.”
Britt’s office did not immediately respond to APR’s request for comment.
Jelks is set to face U.S. Representative Barry Moore, R-Alabama, and Democrat Everett Wess in November’s general election to determine who will serve as Alabama’s next U.S. senator.
