Voters return to their car after voting at Optimist Park on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Huntsville, Ala. One Republican, Rep. Matt Woods, R-Jasper, and two Democrats, Ryan Cagle and Sarah Watkins, qualified for the Senate District 5 seat on Tuesday. (Eric Schultz for Alabama Reflector)
One Republican and two Democratic candidates qualified for the Senate District 5 seat on Tuesday.
Rep. Matt Woods, R-Jasper, was the only Republican candidate to qualify. Ryan Cagle, co-director of Jubilee House Community, a progressive nonprofit ministry in Parrish, and Sarah Watkins qualified with the Alabama Democratic Party.
Democratic candidates Cagle and Watkins will face each other in the primaries taking place March 11. A general election between the Democratic candidate and Woods will take place on June 24.
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Senate District 5 extends west from the Mississippi border through north central Alabama and into Jefferson County. It includes all of Fayette, Lamar and Walker counties as well as a portion of Tuscaloosa County.
Woods, first elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 2022, said in an interview Tuesday that he wants to take the experience and knowledge he developed in the Alabama House to the Senate. He said that working in the public sphere as a business owner “allowed [him] to be a part of some great things, such as reducing the grocery tax and helping grow our economy and protect their families.”
“So, I just wanted to take that same experience and run for office, for the State Senate, and carry those same conservative, pro-family, pro-business values to Senate District 5,” Woods said.
Woods has served on the House Education Policy, Rules and the Rural and Urban Development committees. All seven bills Woods sponsored in the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions became law, either as a House bill or through a companion Senate bill. Most bills sponsored by Woods were related to education policy, such as one requiring school districts to publish the curriculum for each class on either the school’s website or the website of the school board, which became law through companion bill SB 48, sponsored by Reed.
Messages seeking comment were left with Cagle and Watkins.
The seat is likely solidly Republican. Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed took 73% of the vote in the district when he was first elected in 2010. He faced no opposition in any subsequent general election for the seat.
Republicans in the region seem to be united behind Woods. Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, said in a text he would not be running for the position and is “working with Rep. Woods on his campaign.” Brad Cox, Fayette County commissioner for District 1 and former candidate for Alabama House District 16, said he was not entering the race and that Woods “will do a great job.”
John Wahl, chair of the Alabama Republican Party, said in a statement Tuesday evening that he is “confident [Woods’] strong conservative record and dedication to his constituents will resonate with voters in Senate District 5.”
“He is a solid conservative who has consistently worked to protect Alabama families and uphold the values we cherish,” Wahl said in the statement.
The seat opened after Reed announced in November that he would step down to become Ivey’s senior advisor to workforce transformation, where he will focus on economic development and raising Alabama’s workforce participation rate, which has trailed the nation’s for nearly 50 years.
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