As we get closer to the May 24 primaries, we’re working to bring you information about candidates so you can decide if they truly represent your values and needs before you head to the polls.
In this story, we speak with Jack Schafer, Republican candidate for Alabama’s open seat in the U.S. Senate. Incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby chose not to seek re-election.
The simplest way to describe Schafer’s confidence in the government right now is low.
“I don’t really trust my government anymore,” said Schafer.
That’s just one reason he’s running in the Republican primary for a chance to fill Alabama’s open seat in the U.S. Senate.
The other reason, he says, is because of the “caliber of some of the other candidates running in the race.”
“Candidates that get millions and millions of dollars to run a campaign but don’t owe any favors,” Schafer said. “That doesn’t seem right to me. I can’t get millions of dollars and not have any strings attached to me.”
The husband and father of two is a graduate of Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. There, he studied media communication. He also earned a master’s degree in psychology from Walden.
Here are three of his top priorities.
Priority No. 1 is restoring faith in elections.
“It seems like the people continue to have less and less trust in the system, and that’s only going to build and (get) worse,” he said.
He believes requiring every state to have an audit would help.
“And they should have a third party do it.”
Priority No. 2 deals with school choice policies.
“Parents know their kids better than a school system. So parents might know, ‘Hey, my kid thrives in a home school environment. My kid might thrive in a high school Christian education environment. My kid might be better in a charter school. Oh, this school over there focuses on music. That’s where my kids might do best.’”
Fighting inflation is Priority No. 3.
“When a country prints more money than they make, that’s inflation, and that’s what happened. It followed,” he said.
Schafer is hoping Alabama voters will give him a stamp of approval on May 24.
“I’m going to try to listen to the people of Alabama as best I can to see what they want,” he said.
For more on this race and others, visit WAAYTV.com’s Election page HERE
