A former Trump administration official announced her candidacy in Alabama for a U.S. Senate seat.
Lynda Blanchard, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Slovenia from 2019 through the end of the Trump administration, announced on Thursday that she’ll be running to fill the vacancy that will be left by Republican Richard Shelby, who is not running for reelection in 2022.
Touting herself as “a proud member of the MAGA movement” in a video announcing her candidacy, the former ambassador said she planned to push Trump’s “America first” policies if she’s elected by pushing back against Democratic leadership in the federal government.
“[President] Biden, [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, and the Squad are working fast to erase triumphs of the Trump administration from our history,” she said. “If you’re sick of career politicians, insiders, and swamp creatures that stand for socialism or cheerlead for censorship, then I’m asking for your vote to stand strong for Alabama by sending a true outsider to the Senate.”
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Blanchard, before being nominated for the ambassadorship, was a businesswoman who created a Montgomery-based real estate investment firm called B&M Management, according to the biography provided by her campaign website. She is putting $5 million into her Senate campaign committee, according to a press release from her campaign.
Jeff Roe and Ethan Zorfas of Axiom Strategies are running her campaign, and both served as the lead consultants on Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s campaign in which he defeated incumbent Democrat Doug Jones.
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Shelby, who was elected to the House in 1978 and the Senate in 1986, announced his intent to retire earlier this month. The 86-year-old switched parties from Democrat to Republican in 1994 and currently serves as the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee. The general election contest to replace Shelby in heavily Republican Alabama is not considered particularly competitive, with the Cook Political Report rating the race as a solid GOP hold, but the primary could be a close one. So far, there are no other declared candidates in the race.
More competitive races are expected to result from the retirements of Republican Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Rob Portman of Ohio, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania in 2022. On the Democratic side, incumbent Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, both of whom narrowly won special elections in 2020 and 2021, respectively, are expected to face competitive challenges from Republicans, thus broadening the map as both parties fight for control of the Senate.
Representatives for Blanchard did not immediately reply to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
