Former President Donald Trump has launched another run for the presidency, promising supporters he will “make America great and glorious again.” For many in the Republican-dominated political landscape that defines Cullman County, Trump’s announcement Tuesday evening came as welcome news.

“It’s going to be interesting to watch,” said Alex Chaney, chair of the Cullman County Republican Party. “I’m glad he’s running. As the the local party chair, I’m not going to come out at an early stage like this and preemptively endorse any specific candidate. But the truth of the matter is, we need someone else [besides a Democrat] in the White House, period. and I want it to be a conservative.

Trump overwhelmingly carried the 2020 election in Cullman County, and drew a throng of faithful supporters when he staged a post-presidency rally here in August of 2021. But as the 2024 primary season heats up, he may not be the only high-profile GOP presidential contender with the wind at his back.

“His electability [nationwide] could become a concern, and I think we as a party want to have a candidate with a fresh, youthful, vigorous type of mindset,” said Alabama Senator Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman). “We’ve seen Ron DeSantis’ results in Florida, where even a fair number of Democrats in Florida crossed over and voted for him for governor. He’s done what he said he was going to do and brought people together and stood strong for what he believes in.

“If Trump can still do that, that’s great. But it’s almost proven at this point that he is known, to some extent, for dividing a part of the party. DeSantis is a fresh person who could come in without that same history. But there are a lot of people who are still very big Trump supporters and will remain loyal to him.”

Local GOP member Brad Williams served as a Trump delegate in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, with the latter race serving up scant GOP opposition during the candidate-picking primary season. But, said Williams, the upcoming presidential primary race will likely present the former president with a tough political challenge from within his own party ranks.

“He didn’t have that kind of opposition in 2020, but I think in 2024, he’s going to have [Republican] opposition,” said Williams. “Ron DeSantis is the name that’s commonly mentioned at this point, and we’ll see if that happens. But if it does, I think he will be stiff competition for Donald Trump. In my opinion, the only person who can give him competition nationally in the primary is Ron DeSantis, if he chooses to run. and right now, I hear from a lot of people who say that, if he does decide to run, they will definitely vote for him.”

Whether Trump, DeSantis, or someone else ends up as the 2024 GOP presidential nominee, local Republicans feel confident that Cullman County voters will turn out in force to support them.

“We’re fortunate in Cullman County in that respect: A lot of people here are going to vote straight Republican regardless,” noted Chaney. “We just came through a midterm election where we had more than 15,000 straight ticket votes locally, so we’re already as ‘red’ as it gets. Cullman County will support the Republican nominee.”