Former University of Alabama quarter A.J. McCarron said Thursday he will seek the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Alabama.
McCarron, a first-time political candidate, used culture war language and invoked the September killing of far-right activist Charlie Kirk in a video posted to YouTube announcing his candidacy.
“The Montgomery insiders and career politicians have had their chance,” McCarron said in the video. “It’s time for political newcomers and outsider candidates like me to lead the battle.”
McCarron joins a Republican field that includes Secretary of State Wes Allen; Patrick Bishop, a deputy with the Cullman County Sheriff’s Department; Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate; former gubernatorial candidate Dean Odle and businesswoman Nicole Wadsworth. Current Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth is term-limited.
As of Thursday, Allen had over $612,000 on hand for the campaign; Pate had nearly $491,000 and Wadsworth had almost $175,000.