Responding to Ivey’s SOS Address
A political opponent counter her points.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox is running for Governor as a Democrat, and he’s issued a counter statement to the Governor’s State of The State address last night:
“Last night Governor Kay Ivey gave her State of the State address. The picture she painted of our state was fiction. The ship of state is not steady. Here’s the REAL State of the State.
Across Alabama rural hospitals are closing. Alabama’s health ranking is 47th in the nation, and 50th in prenatal births.
Roads and bridges are crumbling. In Alabama, more than 20% of our bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.
Our education system continues to fail our children. Too many of our children are still learning to read after third grade rather than reading to learn.
For years, our state’s leaders have turned a blind-eye towards corruption and incompetence which has now placed every core function of state government in crisis. All the one-time windfalls cannot disguise the fact that we need a New Covenant; a Covenant that places people and progress ahead of politics. Because the REAL state of the state is a crisis, and we cannot just pretend our way through in order to survive the next election cycle.
I am running for Governor because I believe in Alabama, and I believe we can chart a course to a new future that creates a highly skilled workforce, establishes strong public schools, implements modern infrastructure, and provides access to quality healthcare across our state.”
Maddox will have to conquer the Democratic Primary in June against a field of candidates for Governor before he goes up against Kay Ivey in November—IF she wins the Republican Primary.
