WETUMPKA, Ala. (AP) – An Alabama businesswoman who served as former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Slovenia on Tuesday became the third Republican candidate to announce a run against Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey in the gubernatorial primary next year.
Formally declaring her intention to leave the U.S. Senate race and make a bid for governor, Lynda Blanchard, who goes by Lindy Blanchard, said she was running because “people made it unmistakably clear to me that they wanted a conservative outsider, not just in (Washington) D.C. but … here in Montgomery, a leader who will run our state boldly; someone who is there to put the interest of the people first.”
The Associated Press reported on Monday that it appeared very likely Blanchard would run based on an invitation to the campaign event that Blanchard posted on Twitter. The candidate refused to comment on the report.
Blanchard and her husband, John Blanchard, co-founded B&M Management, a commercial real estate company that has apartment complexes throughout the South. Both have long been significant financial supporters of Republican candidates. According to Federal Election Commission reports, she contributed more than $400,000 to the Trump Victory Fund in 2018 and 2019.
Her announcement speech was light on policy specifics but stressed her diplomatic experience and became deeply personal at times as Blanchard, a mother to eight including several adopted children, described losing her son to suicide after his struggles with opioid addiction and the loss of an adopted daughter to liver disease.