Horn’s Withdrawal Leaves Litaker Alone on the Congressional District 7 Republican Ballot | #republicans | #Alabama | #GOP

One of the two Republican candidates for Alabama’s 7th Congressional District recently announced his withdrawal from the race.

Huntsville native Christian Horn made the announcement recently on his radio show, The Sportz Church, on 103.9 FM The Ump.

Horn’s name will be on Tuesday’s ballot because of the timing of the announcement, but his withdrawal leaves Robin Litaker as the only candidate vying for the seat.

Horn cited three reasons for his decision. He said he believed the newly redrawn district lines were based solely on race, which would be illegal, and favored Democrats too heavily. He also said that, if a state lottery measure were to be placed on Novembers ballot, he believed that would flood the polls with Democratic and independent voters.

“It is impossible for someone to run on the Republican ticket,” Horn said of the District 7 race.

Robin Litaker Remains

Litaker, a lifelong educator from Homewood, is more optimistic about her chances now.

“It’s more in my favor now than it ever has been,” she said. “There are counties this last election cycle that are turning red.”

As the Republican nominee, Litaker will face the winner of the Democratic primary in November’s election.

Litaker, who was named Alabama Teacher of the Year in 1997, spent 10 years teaching in the Mobile City Schools starting in 1992. She also worked in the Hoover City School system for 21 years as a teacher, assistant principal and principal. And when you speak with her, it doesn’t take long to see that education is a chief policy priority for her.

“I would like to see a reverse money flow (of education funds),” she said.

Litaker said she believes the key to improving education is to reduce the money spent on administration and bureaucracy. In fact, she’d like to do away with the Department of Education.

“When a dollar comes down from Washington and through the state department of education, you’re lucky, when it gets to the classroom, if you’ve got 15 cents — and the worst part about it is you’re told what you have to do with it,” she said.

This year’s Republican primary won’t be Litaker’s first race. She ran for the Public Service Commission in 2018, 2020 and 2022.

Litaker said another reason for her run is that she feels the incumbent, Democrat Terri Sewell, has focused too much on national politics and neglected issues in the district, particularly in the Black Belt. Litaker pointed to the lack of sewers and sometimes running water in areas of the Black Belt, which prompted the comparison in a U.N. report on poverty of Alabama with a Third World country.

“The area has been so neglected for so long and people are tired of it,” she said.

Litaker said that if she wins, she hopes to have someone on staff tasked with helping write grant applications for communities in the Black Belt.

She said she also wants to set up more offices in the district and place a priority on responding to constituents.

“I think people are tired of being ignored,” she said. “It’s time someone got into office that is going to focus on their needs and be responsive to them.”

Candidate Profile

U.S. House of Representatives, Alabama District 7

Robin Litaker 

Party: Republican

Age: 65

Residence: Homewood

Political experience: Unsuccessfully ran for the Public Service Commission in the past three elections.

Professional experience: 32 years in education including as a teacher, assistant principal and principal at both the Hoover City and Mobile City school systems; former COO of Wise Technologies in Fairhope; currently works as a catastrophic claims adjuster for Pilot Insurance.

Civic experience: Named 1997 Teacher of the Year; founder and president and executive director of Alabama Conference of Educators, 2002-2008.

Education: Bachelor’s in physical education teaching from Winthrop University; master’s in education also from Winthrop University; education specialist degree in education leadership and administration from the University of Montevallo; education doctorate from Samford University; ongoing course work at the Birmingham School of Law.

Main Issues: Changing education funding so that fewer dollars are spent on administration and educators have more say in how funds are spent; getting more resources to the Black Belt, particularly sewage and water systems; a congressional office and staff that is more accessible and responsive to constituents.

Campaign: Campaign website.