DuBose ousts Drake in Alabama House District 45

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Greystone’s Susan DuBose captured a win over incumbent state Rep. Dickie Drake, R-Leeds, in Tuesday’s Republican primary for Alabama House District 45.

Complete, official results were not yet available early Wednesday morning, but numbers on the Alabama Secretary of state’s website and Jefferson County’s website were looking strongly in favor of DuBose.

In Shelby County, with 100% of precincts counted, DuBose earned 79% of the votes (3,546), compared to 21% for Drake (918 votes), according to the secretary of state’s website.

In Jefferson County, with 98% of precincts counted, DuBose had a razor-thin advantage with 1,200 votes, compared to 1,198 votes for Drake, the county’s website showed.

In St. Clair County, with 100% of precincts counted, Drake had a slight advantage with 368 votes (51%), compared to 350 votes (49%) for DuBose, according to the secretary of state’s office.

There is no Democratic candidate for House District 45, but DuBose does face Libertarian Kari Mitchell Whitaker in the Nov. 8 general election.

The district includes parts of north Shelby County, eastern Jefferson County and southwest St. Clair County, including parts of Chelsea, Greystone, Highland Lakes, Leeds, Mt Laurel and Shoal Creek.

Jake Rasmussen, a consultant working with DuBose’s campaign, said she “dominated” at the polls.

Drake was able to carry his hometown of Leeds, but DuBose said she was pleased she was able to get about 40% of the votes from Leeds polling places, according to numbers being reported to her campaign.

Efforts to reach Drake late Tuesday night were unsuccessful, but earlier Tuesday night, he said things weren’t looking in his favor and he was disappointed in the turnout.

DuBose said the election results were “better than I ever imagined.”

She also said the results sent a clear message to her that voters want a representative who will represent their entire district and not just a part of it. That was one of the primary reasons she ran for the Legislature because she didn’t feel the Shelby County portion of House District 45 was being represented.

“If you want to represent a district, you need to get to know the district; you need to be a part of the district; you need to be involved and engaged,” DuBose said. “That was my goal from the very beginning, and that will be my goal for the next four years — to continue to be involved and be engaged and invested in the district. This should be a district of the people, by the people, for the people. The seat should be owned by the people, not by the representative.”

DuBose, a former banker, said she worked long and hard to introduce herself and get to know people throughout the district.

“We knocked on 5,051 doors. We called over 8,000 homes. We attended every meeting and everything we could to be with the residents, to be with the community leaders, to be with the educators, to be with every sector of the community,” she said. “It was a full-out effort, and I enjoyed every minute of it.”

DuBose said she wants people from Leeds to Chelsea, Irondale, Dunnavant Valley and every part of House District 45 to know they are important to her.

She also said Tuesday’s victory at the polls was even more meaningful because she had to overcome a setback that occurred when legislative district lines were redrawn last year. Her community of Greystone was split, and more than 1,000 homes and potentially up to 2,000 voters who lived in Greystone were moved out of the district into House District 48, which is represented by Jim Carns.

That meant people she had known and lived beside and people who attended church with her could not vote for her. “My neighbors across the street could not vote for me,” she said.

DuBose thanked Drake and his wife, Anita, for running a good race and being gracious throughout the campaign. She also noted she would stick by her campaign promise in favor of term limits and not seek more than two terms in the Alabama House.

On the issues

In her campaign, DuBose said she will work to maintain the integrity of Alabama elections, protect people’s right to bear arms, keep government limited and protect people from government mandates like mask and vaccine mandates and government orders that close businesses.

DuBose also said she is pro-business and wants to have an environment where businesses can grow and bring more jobs.

Regarding education, she said schools in Hoover and Shelby County are good, but schools in some other parts of the state are not, and “that affects us all.” She would like to see more charter schools, more school choice options and an increased focus on technical and vocational education options.

DuBose said she also wants to be diligent about what is taught to students in Alabama public schools when it comes to things like gender issues and critical race theory. Those things need to be addressed by parents, and decisions about curriculum need to be made as close to the local level as possible, she said.

DuBose said she disagreed with the Legislature’s decision in 2019 to raise the state tax on gas and diesel fuel by 10 cents per gallon over three years and favors rescinding that increase. She also wants to look at rescinding the state’s 4% sales tax.

Bio

DuBose, 59, worked as a residential, commercial and construction loan officer and business development officer for Compass Bank for over 12 years before becoming a stay-at-home mom to raise her two children in 1997.

She is president of the Republican Women of North Shelby County, is on the Governmental Affairs Committee and Women’s Business Council for the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Shelby County Republican Party Executive Committee.

She has served as vice president of the Greater Birmingham Republican Women, was an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2020 and served on a strike team for Donald Trump’s campaign in Florida.

She has been married 33 years and moved from Mobile to north Shelby County in 1988.

Editor's note: This story was updated on Oct. 14 to note that DuBose faces Libertarian Kari Mitchell Whitaker in the Nov. 8 general election.