Senate candidate Katie Boyd Britt makes the rounds at the Cullman County Republican Party dinner Thursday. Britt’s husband, Wesley, in background, is a native of Cullman.

Less than a week after former President Donald Trump visited Cullman County – bringing with him an estimated 50,000 people, according to the Alabama GOP – candidates for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Richard Shelby were back in Cullman, making their case to voters at the annual Cullman County Republican Party dinner.

Mo Brooks, who is leading the field according to a poll conducted by Cygnal for Alabama Daily News, took aim at President Joe Biden and his handling of the exit from Afghanistan and border security.

Noting the bombings that took place in Afghanistan on Thursday, Brooks said, “All of this to a very large degree is because Joe Biden set a timeline for removal that was arbitrary and politically based.”

The six-term Congressman who represents North Alabama said he and other House Republicans were asking Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call the House back into emergency session so they could “examine what’s transpiring.”

“Yes, Joe Biden is commander in chief but we’re the United States Congress. We’re one of three branches of government and we’re involved in this too,” he said. “We want some accountability.”

Brooks said Biden is also responsible for what he called an “invasion” at the southern border. “Ask those border states – California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas – and they are being invaded,” he said.

He said he and a “smattering” of other Republicans are considering filing articles of impeachment, but said they were going to do it “the right way.” 

“What we just saw with the Democrats, that was the wrong way to do it,” he added. “They did it for purely partisan reasons.”

Brooks told the assembled Cullman County Republicans that if they voted for him, he said, “I promise you I will always put America first.”

Katie Britt, former chief of staff for Shelby and most recently director of the Alabama Business Council, referenced her local connection to Cullman: her husband, Wesley, is a Cullman native.

“He says of the things he’s gotten to do in life, being from Cullman is one of the things he’s most proud of,” she said.

The Enterprise, Ala., native said when she worked for Shelby, “I really saw the challenges and opportunities of our state.”

As the daughter of small business owners, she said, “The best thing we can do is get government out of the way.”

Like Brooks, she also condemned the current administration’s immigration policies, calling border security, “a disaster.”

“When Joe Biden put Kamala Harris in charge, she didn’t really need to go to the border to find the problem, she just needed to look in the mirror. It is them. Joe Biden has single-handedly destroyed this nation with his handling of the border,” she said. “President Trump had this under control.”

Britt also took aim at Big Tech, “cancel culture” and the infrastructure plan. 

“We have to stand up to each of these things and so much more,” she said. 

Businesswoman Jessica Taylor positioned herself as the outside the Beltway candidate. “I think we’ve got to have a conservative outsider who can go up there and fix this mess they’ve made,” she said.

The Shelby County native previously worked in the Governor’s Office of Faith Based Community Initiatives and said, “That’s where I learned the power of the private sector,” she said.

In her comments, she also mentioned the border, Afghanistan and government spending. “We keep sending representatives up there who spend like the rest of them,” she said.

Candidate Lynda Blanchard, who was Trump’s ambassador to Slovenia, had to cancel her attendance at the dinner due to covid, said Chairman Kelly Duke.

The annual dinner also served as a fundraiser for the Cullman County party and an opportunity to recognize members. Chatty Freeman was named Republican Woman of the Year, Steve Cummings was named Republican of the Year; Cullman County Commissioner Kerry Watson was named Elected Official of the Year; and Tom Beason was named Volunteer of the Year.