Democrat Will Boyd announces 2026 campaign for Alabama governor
Will Boyd, a pastor and three-time Democratic nominee, announced last week that he would run for Alabama governor. (Courtesy Will Boyd)
Three-time Democratic candidate Will Boyd announced his candidacy for Alabama's governor last week.
Boyd said in an interview Monday that his 2016 campaign for Congress; 2018 campaign for lieutenant governor and 2022 race for U.S. Senate were not failures but opportunities to be recognized in the state.
'I believe those were all opportunities for me to be seen more by communities all across Alabama, and more importantly, to hear what issues residents of Alabama are facing,' Boyd said.
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The challenges for any Democratic candidate going in the 2026 race are formidable. The party has only won one statewide race in Alabama since 2008, and has not won the governor's mansion since 1998. In the last 12 years, only one Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Walt Maddox in 2018, managed to get more than 40% of the vote.
Boyd said he is running for governor because he wants to give Alabamians an option to vote for a candidate that does not have ulterior motives.
'I would love to see a people type of campaign where there's someone who's really focused on the people of Alabama and not enriching themselves, or not just getting into an office and trying to entrench themselves to stay there. We need people who don't care whether or not they're voted out in the next cycle,' Boyd said. 'They just want to do what's right, and that's what I'm all about.'
Boyd said his top three priorities as governor would be health care, economic development and community stability. Each priority expands and connects to issues he said he has seen in each county over the last decade.
'One of the things that I traditionally have done is, as soon as I reach a county, I talk about the top issues facing that county,' he said. 'I immediately try to, in my speech, or in my time with people who are in the area, share what I believe could be a resolution to their problems.'
Boyd moved to Alabama around 2010 after growing up in South Carolina and living in Illinois. He got a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of South Carolina, an MBA at Regis University, a PhD in Religion from Christian Bible College, a PhD in Organization and Management from Capella University, and a Doctor of Psychology with a Christian worldview (PsyD) from St. James The Elder Theological Seminary. He is also the pastor at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in Florence, Alabama.
According to campaign finance records, Boyd has not filed any fundraising dollars since establishing his campaign committee on May 27.
Currently, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) is the only other candidate in the race. According to campaign finance records, Tuberville has raised over $3 million.
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