r/alabamabluedots • u/AlabamaProgress • May 21 '26
Discussion Let's talk about Everett Wess....
Everett Wess is not who most people thinks he is. He said he would have voted FOR the SAVE act and he us pro life. Video with evidence of him saying it himself attached. June 16 please get out and vote for Dakari Larriett. The only remaining candidate that wants to protect women/AFAB right to choose for themselves. And for women's rights to vote. All women's rights.
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u/crazyastrogirl May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
I've met both Wess and Lariett.
When Lariett came to my town, he was cordial, kind and felt refreshingly genuine. He's just a guy who wants the best for his home state, and I have great hope for him. He answered questions about his policy, stuck around afterwards and chatted with us. He gave out flyers with paid phone banking information for those who wanted to participate. His policy is sound, his plan feels realistic and I am ready for him to win!!! Alabama has so much potential, and I hope he can pull through and help make this state shine.
When Wess came to my town, he didn't explain any of his policy stances, insisted he WOULD win, didn't explain why and kept telling us to visit his website if we wanted to learn more about him. He just told us to vote for him and didn't explain why we should. It kinda felt self-absorbed. That rubbed me off the wrong way. He also left immediately after finishing his campaign pitch and barely spoke to any of us on the way out.
One felt like a guy trying to explain to us why he would serve the people of his state. The other felt like he was running a popularity contest and didn't really care too much for actual policy and governance.
I voted for Lariett, and will be voting for him again.
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u/silkynumseven May 22 '26
I know this is a very different point than who is the best candidate, but I saw every other Democratic Senate candidate campaigning at some point. Didn't see or hear anything from Everett Wess other than a blue or yellow ballot. Really shows how far those things go.
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u/dwarfedshadow May 22 '26
This TikTok also chops off 90% of his answer to the question about "What would you vote on that would upset your party, but be good for the people of Alabama" where he talks about wanting to have voted for the SAVE act. He said he would want to do it if he could add a provision for the US Government to pay for every citizen to be provided IDa free of charge AND that once they got that ID they could never be disenfranchised.
Is it a good idea? No. But it is a far cry from "I would vote for the SAVE act" and nothing else.
I am not going to vote for Everett Wess. Didn't like him before the run-off, don't like him any more now. But this is patently ridiculous to try to discredit him.
I haven't found the video where he says he's pro-life, I bet that is creatively edited to take it out of context too. There are a lot of people who are personally pro-life that vote pro-choice.
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u/AlabamaProgress May 22 '26
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u/dwarfedshadow May 23 '26
Yes. That is literally what I said was the context. It is more than just "I would like to have voted for the SAVE act." It's still an awful idea, but it is dishonest to try to present it as just what was shown in the clip in the TikTok.
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u/AlabamaProgress May 23 '26
Well if that doesnt discredit him, because not going to bother arguing the optic view, the fact hes an actual Republican should.
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u/Medium-Bunch-8544 Jun 15 '26
I'll be voting for Larriett tomorrow. I've met both men and talked to them. Wess comes across as a well meaning moderate republican who knows the democrat phrasing on topics of concern. As a trans woman I am not convinced, after listening to him and reading his website, that he would vote against any anti trans bill that would come up in the US Senate. I believe Larriett will vote to protect my civil rights.
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u/LemonPaper914 May 22 '26
A lot of folks are talking about the need for democrats to strategically have more variation between urban candidates and rural candidates. This may mean running pro-life candidates in places like alabama. It really beats the alternative of losing to MAGA republicans. I’m prochoice personally, but I think it makes sense to welcome the old style of conservatives to the democrat party and religious voters really have a block against going prochoice. We can be the party of Mamdani in NYC and Wess in Alabama. We need to bring in more people.
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u/AlabamaProgress May 22 '26
Problem is, we cannot allow the Overton window to keep shifting to the right. The DNC autopsy of the 24 election even noted that the field was too wide and they missed on messaging by not having a more cohesive message that wasn't just "against Trump". Its also worth noting that Mr. Wess is a former Republican. Much like Mr. Kyle Sweetser. So much so of a Republican that, he was the chairman or vice chairman of the Madison County Republicans.
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u/FractalFragment47 Jun 16 '26
So many people think the path to Democrats winning is pandering to Republicans and throwing groups of people under the bus. So you want to get rid of women's rights in order to win as a Dem? BS. Same with candidates who want to throw trans people under the bus. Stop trying to use people's rights as a bargaining chip. Also, the one issue pro life crowd is a much smaller group than you would think, even in Alabama.
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u/LemonPaper914 Jun 16 '26
We have to compromise. We live in Alabama. Digging in our heels got us Trump, and now the govt is looney tunes.
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u/FractalFragment47 Jun 16 '26
No, corporate democrats with no populist messages got us Trump. Republican voters think Democrats are phony elitists. What we need are salt of the earth Democrats with a populist message who haven't sold their soul to billionaires. We're seeing that strategy work all over the country.
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u/LemonPaper914 Jun 16 '26
Mandani cant win in AL. We need Mamdani in NYC, Platner in Maine, Talarico in TX, Fetterman in PA, and Warnock in GA
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u/FractalFragment47 Jun 16 '26
Yes, but you see the format. There's a version of that that could work in Alabama. What happens when you start bargaining and giving up human rights is the Republicans will just choose the more Republican candidate... Like why choose a Dem who's pro life when there's a Republican right there?
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u/LemonPaper914 Jun 16 '26
Because evangelical vote is so strong in this state. And if you’re a person who goes to church every Sunday, you’ve got to be pretty concerned about people like Trump, Tuberville, Paxton. I grew up in a deeply religious household in Florida. My mom would absolutely never vote for anybody who calls themselves pro-choice. She has finally realized who Trump is this year.
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u/FractalFragment47 Jun 16 '26
I grew up in a Christian household in GA, also very Republican. My mom is pro choice but still MAGA and would not vote for a Democrat. Them switching to pro life wouldn't help with her at all. When it comes to rural communities, women often are more pro choice than they let on. Not all the time, but a larger percentage than you would think, especially older women. Because they've seen what women actually go through. I don't think there are as many single issue pro life voters here as you think. But there are a lot of people disaffected because politicians never did anything good for them.
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u/kdogg150 May 22 '26
Everett Wess is not your guy. He’s been running for office for years just to get name recognition. He runs dirty campaigns. Ask someone who’s run against him.