Official release from the Blount County GOP
This is a developing story. Updates will be added as candidate statements and additional details become available.
Blount County Republican Party
One of the foundational principles of the Republican Party is fair, and honest elections. The process of conducting both Primary Election where both political parties select their respective candidates and the General Election where public offices are filled by the vote of the people are huge undertakings. The process of elections requires planning months in advance with a multitude of strict deadlines that are necessary to ensure that the process is both fair and orderly.
In the current election cycle all Alabama Constitutional Offices are on the ballot which includes the office of County Sheriff for each of Alabama’s 67 counties. In the Primary Election May 19th, the Republican Party had one Candidate Qualify for the Office of Sheriff, current Sheriff Mark Moon. The Democratic Party did not field a Candidate for the Office. Being the only candidate to qualify Sheriff Moon became the Republican Nominee by default and was to be listed as the Republican Candidate for Sheriff of Blount County on the November 3, 2026, General Election Ballot.
On August 10th, 2026, 85 days before the election Sheriff Moon notified the Blount County Republican Party he was going to withdraw from the election and requested his name be removed from the November 3rd ballot. This was not expected by the Republican Party and is not a normal event where candidates are unopposed in the General Election. Because the Republican Party had put forth a legally qualified candidate, the rules of the election allow it to replace a candidate who withdraws from the election regardless of the reason for the withdrawal. Due to the strict deadlines involved in the election process the last day to substitute a candidate for the November Ballot is 71 days prior to the election or August 24th. With this short amount of time before Election Day a public vote with a normal primary qualifying period is not possible. Election rules declare that in such cases the Executive Committee of the County Party shall determine the Candidate to be substituted on the November Ballot. So, it becomes the task of the Executive Committee of the Blount County Republican Party to select a replacement candidate for the Party. Currently the Blount County Republican Party Executive Committee is comprised of 16 people. To be a member of the Executive Committee individuals volunteer without compensation, attend regular quarterly meetings of the Party, and commit to being actively involved in the regular business of the Party. The Committee is not limited to 16 members but for the same reason only 20 percent of the population voted in the last election only 16 people are currently actively participating in party activities. Members of the Executive Committee sacrifice time and effort to serve in this capacity. They attend meetings many times instead of their child and grandchildren’s activities, family functions and other free time activities. Those activities and duties rarely make the news and would be considered by most to be dull, mundane and uninteresting. Although the group is small, that group represents the Republican Party for Blount County at the time this decision is to be made.
The Executive Committee acted quickly to set in place the process for selecting a replacement candidate for the Party. The Committee has committed to an impartial process to allow all qualified individuals interested in becoming the Republican Candidate for Sheriff of Blount County to submit their name for consideration. The statutory qualifications of everyone were checked and verified. Each potential candidate was given an opportunity to address the committee, answer questions from the committee and discuss their plan and vision for the Office of Blount County Sheriff. The Committee was committed to selecting a candidate that represents the principles of the Republican Party and is the best qualified to serve Blount County as Sheriff.
The Principles of the Republican Party include conservative values, a commitment to law and order and to the rule of law, individual freedom with personal responsibility, limited government, just to name a few. The Office of Sheriff is one of great responsibility and duty. The Sheriff is to serve the public, and work to ensure public safety for all citizens of the County with integrity, honesty and accountability.
After duly considering all qualified individuals who have submitted their names for consideration the Blount County Republican Party Executive Committee has selected DAVID THOMPSON, to be the Republican Party Candidate for Sheriff of Blount County on the General Election Ballot November 3, 2026