Huntsville, Alabama is a fine town with lots of people with different political opinions. This level of diversity is a nice change from the usual Alabama politics, which tends to be very conservative. However, is Huntsville, Alabama liberal?
Huntsville, Alabama is not a liberal city, but it leans conservative. During the 2020 election, 44.8% of the populace voted Democrat, 52.8% voted Republican, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent. Huntsville, Alabama, due to its political diversity, has had some large political debates.
Huntsville, Alabama has an interesting political climate with its diverse group of people. I have gathered together the standpoints that the citizens of Huntsville, Alabama have on politics and written about them below. Read on to gain a better understanding of the political nature of Huntsville, Alabama.
Voting Patterns
In the 2020 presidential election
, 44.8% of Huntsville, Alabama citizens voted Democrat, 52.8% voted Republican, and the remaining 2.4% voted Independent. As you can see, this shows that there is a very small gap between Democrat and Republican voters. Now, this is a special year for Huntsville, Alabama. In the past five presidential elections, not only have the Republicans won, but they usually have a more than 10%.
But why was there a shift during the 2020 presidential election? It is possibly due to the fact that in 2020 the world was in a global pandemic. It also could be due to the fact that President Donald Trump, who was the Republican candidate, was a very disliked candidate who was in the process of being impeached during the election. Overall, these numbers do not reflect the city’s political standpoint alone.
Huntsville, Alabama is in the 5th congressional district of Alabama and is currently being represented by a Republican politician. This reflects the conservative nature of the city well. A Republican representative has been in office since 2009. Before 2009, there were 112 years when Huntsville, Alabama was represented by a Democrat leader.
This political change happened in 2009 when the current representative of Huntsville, Alabama, Parker Griffith decided to change his political party to Republican. While he did not win his next election due to his political change, he did pave the way for Mo Brooks to enter into office as the second Republican to represent Huntsville, Alabama.
Mo Brooks is the current representative of Huntsville, Alabama, and he has a lot of political influence on the Republican Party. He was one of the founding creators of the Freedom Caucus. The Freedom Caucus is a group of Republicans that support each other in hopes of getting more leaders of the Republican Party. This group is known to support Donald Trump and his more extremist positions.
City Council
Huntsville, Alabama has a very active city council. Each of the members on the council cares deeply for their job and being able to represent the people in their district well.
In the first district is Devyn Keith. Devyn Keith had the scholarship to play football for Birmingham Alabama University. He was studious and is now an assistant professor for the Department of Political Science for A&A. His academic career helped him to gain an appreciation for education and he has worked hands-on to help provide scholarships and opportunities for minority children who wish to go to university. He also created a program that supports children who have aged out of government assistance programs. This way they are not left alone when they are too old.
In the second district is Frances Akridge. She has done a lot for women in politics in the Huntsville, Alabama region. She is actively involved in encouraging young women to gain an interest in politics. She also is a large fan of music and art in general. She helps every year with the Monte Sano Arts Festival that takes place in Huntsville, Alabama. She is aware of the impact the arts can have on the upcoming generation.
In the third district is Jennie Robinson. She is a mother and includes her interest in her children in her work. She works with the schools in her district in bringing forth the best education to the Huntsville Youth. She has also served five terms as PTA president, so she is well acquainted with how the operation of the education system works.
In the fourth district is Bill Kling. He has a degree in Mass Media Communications and understands the importance and power of the media because of his education. He has worked in public relations and that has prepared him to be able to bring the recognition that the city council in Huntsville, Alabama needs.
In the fifth district is John Meredith. He is the son of James H. Meredith. James H. Meredith was a civil rights activist and was the first African American to go to the University of Mississippi. John Meredith initially went into the medical field, but after seeing a bill that would affect the delivery process he got interested in politics and how he could change unfair legislation. He has since devoted himself to providing a safe community for everyone.
LGBTQ+
If you are a part of the LGBTQ+ community, then Huntsville, Alabama may not be a great place for you to live. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some large developments for the city. It has a Drag Queen Brunch that happens every week and the community does have a decent-sized LGBTQ+ population. However, at its heart, Huntsville, Alabama is a Bible city and LGBTQ+ individuals are not treated with the respect that they deserve.
A resident of Huntsville, Alabama stated that most of the people there are homophobic, but just have the common sense to not speak out loud about their beliefs. She recalls a bar that usually seemed friendly to the LGBTQ+ community, but one evening when everything was quiet, she heard the manager making some rude comments. She heard him talking about throwing transgender people off the roof of his establishment. These private comments are not uncommon and show that at its root, Huntsville, Alabama is not a safe place for members of the LGGBTQ+ community to live.
In 2019, a young girl who discovered that she was a lesbian went through a great deal of bullying at school. Children restated the words they had heard their parents use about the LGBTQ+ community to her and crushed her spirit. This young girl ended up committing suicide. This is another tragic example of how the views of Huntsville, Alabama hurt its residents.
The main issue is that there are no anti-discrimination laws in Huntsville, Alabama. A person can be denied a job, housing, or other necessities of life merely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Therefore, Huntsville, Alabama needs to go through some major changes before it can be called an LGBTQ+ friendly city.
Black Lives Matter
Another sad truth about Huntsville, Alabama is that it is home to some incredibly terrible racism. Recently there was an art display promoting the Black Lives Matter movement. The artwork was done by locals from the African American Community and expressed the struggles and pain they had to go through within the city. Proving their point, just a few days after these paintings were posted they were knocked over and damaged by some members of the community who didn’t like the message.
Violent responses to movements of love and acceptance are not uncommon in the city of Huntsville, Alabama. Back in 2020, George Floyd was murdered by police. This sparked outrage across the country and people started protesting against police brutality. The citizens of Huntsville, Alabama tried to join in this large movement to support African American residents and demand their own rights.
The citizens of Huntsville, Alabama protested in front of the state capital and were greeted by a massacre. The local police released tear gas into the protests and opened fire on anyone who they thought could be carrying a weapon. Unfortunately, due to the tear gas, their vision was compromised, resulting in a lot of unnecessary casualties. The police’s response was recorded as barbaric.
After the event, the city stated that people would be prosecuted for this event and that there would be an intensive investigation into police brutality. They spent $650,000 of taxpayer money on a law company to go into the investigation, but after two years, there have been no results. No one from the police department was even so much as suspended for this act of uncalled-for hostility. The African American community in Huntsville, Alabama is only reminded that not only are they unsafe, but there is nothing anyone can do to protect them from the violence in their community.
Even political officials understand the deep roots of racism in the country. David Person and John Meredith, who are politicians in Huntsville, Alabama, have spoken against racism. They argue that it is a part of the city’s history and despite their efforts in the city council to eradicate it, there is still going to be racism due to the fact that those who have been there the longest benefit from systemic racism.
