The Libertarian nominee for Governor, Dr. James “Jimmy” Blake, and write-in gubernatorial candidate Pastor Dean Odle both attended a gubernatorial event at Studio 53 in Huntsville on Sunday. Both are challenging incumbent Gov. Kay Ivey, the Republican nominee, in the November 8 general election.
Dr. Blake is a medical doctor, former Birmingham City Councilman, and U.S. Air Force veteran. Blake is a former Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Alabama.
“I started the first free-standing emergency room in Alabama – American Family Care. I sold my interest in that, and I have been in family practice in Hoover and doing emergency care in Centreville and Fayette,” Blake said.
“I am a Libertarian, and I believe you have a right to your own life,” Blake explained. “I served eight years on the Birmingham City Council, where we changed the politics of Birmingham and Jefferson County. Mayor Arrington and the Alabama Citizens’ Council ruled the city with an iron fist. When I left, not one of their candidates was in office.”
Odle is a pastor of a Church in Lee County. He is a Christian evangelist, former international missionary, and private school master. Odle was one of nine Republican primary candidates on May 24 but was defeated by incumbent Ivey.
“I never thought I would do this, but when we see the mess that Alabama is in, I felt that we needed somebody who was not already in politics to clean this up,” Odle said. “Somebody had to run against the fake Republicans what I call the RINOs – Republicans In Name Only. The Republican Party in Alabama is corrupt to the core.”
Blake disagreed with Odle.
“The establishment Republicans are the real Republican Party,” Blake argued. “I wish Republicans were who they say they are, but they aren’t.”
Both opposed the implementation of red flag laws in Alabama.
“No, I would not,” Blake said when asked if he favored the state accepting federal dollars to implement a state red flag law. “I think the right to keep and bear arms is critically important to keep you safe from criminals. The founders of our country thought it was critically important that we have the ability to keep and bear arms to protect against the government. We in the Libertarian Party do not want to infringe on your Second Amendment rights.”
Odle said that taking away an American’s gun rights on suspicion that they might do something is a violation of our constitutional rights. “I don’t care what laws that Congress make; if it is not constitutional, it should not be enforced in Alabama,” Odle stated.
Both expressed their opposition to government-ordered shutdowns during pandemics.
“We (Odle’s Church) never shut down,” Odle claimed. “We as American citizens do not lose our constitutional rights during an emergency, whether that is a war or a pandemic.”
“My view is that Kay Ivey is a big government globalist,” Blake said. “Look what happened during the COVID hysteria with the shutdowns and the mask orders.”
There was disagreement over the expansion of gambling in the state.
“If the people of Alabama want to have a lottery, if they want to have casinos, I am alright with that,” Blake said. ‘What I don’t want to see happen is what normally happens in Alabama is that we pick two or three of our friends and give them exclusive right to have casinos.”
Blake said that if electronic gambling machines are legalized in Alabama, then they should be allowed in every gas station and store in the state.
“If 100% of that money should go toward eliminating the income, I am all for it,” Blake said.
“We have to amend the constitution to allow a lottery,” Odle said. “I really personally am not for it, but I will not stand in the way if the people want it and the legislature passes it. The governor is not a dictator. I am not for casino gambling. That just opens the door to organized crime.”
There was also disagreement about the legalization of marijuana in the state.
“I don’t believe in black markets; I believe in personal responsibility,” Blake said. “Black markets create a dangerous society. We learned that in Prohibition. If we had a free market, there would be no fentanyl on the streets; because nobody would be willing to put their corporation’s name to it and be sued – the exception is Pfizer, who asked their buddies in the government to eliminate their liability to put a dangerous product (the COVID-19 vaccine) out there.”
“We have laws that limit certain activities,” Odle said. “I don’t believe that we need to fully legalize marijuana. I have talked to people that have come here from states that have legalized marijuana, and they say that that is when their states went downhill. I don’t favor fully legalizing it, but I do favor decriminalizing it. We don’t need anybody in prison for nonviolent crime.”
Both candidates agreed that the state should have some mechanism for a paper hand count of the ballots.
“The voting machines across the country, both ESS and Dominion, are easily hackable,” Odle said. “The people that they don’t want, both Democrats and Republicans, get cut out,” Odle said. “France counts 70 million paper ballots in one evening.”
“We have paper ballots, but what we don’t do is go back to the paper ballots to check the count,” Blake argued. “Each candidate should be able to designate three or four percent of the ballot to go in and do a hand count to check the accuracy of the count.”
Both candidates said they were pro-life, but there was disagreement over what that means.
“We do not have a right to an abortion,” Blake said. “If somebody trespasses on your house, you do not have a right to kill a squatter.”
“I think we can all agree that at some point in the process, there becomes two people,” Blake said. “We have to have a little common sense. Rape and incest were exceptions. They are not under the Alabama law.”
“There is no but; you are either pro-life, or you are not,” Odle said. “At the point of fertilization, you have a new human being. Rape and incest are only one or two percent of abortions.”
“It is either the killing of another human being, or it is not,” Odle said. “It is morally wrong.”
Since Odle is a write-in candidate, his name will not actually appear on the ballot. For voters to vote for Dean Odle, they have to bubble in write-in in the governor’s race and then write in his name next to that.
“We as Libertarians have run several write-in campaigns over the years,” Blake said. “That’s not going anywhere. We have a Democratic candidate on the ballot that is there to just draw off twenty percent of the vote to ensure that the establishment Republicans win in November. If you want real change in Alabama, I am your best hope.”
Odle asked voters to write in his name and then take a picture of them with their filled-out ballot and send that to his campaign as a check on the machine count.
Democratic nominee for Governor Yolanda Rochelle Flowers had committed to attending the event but backed out just before the forum. Ivey, the Republican nominee, has not yet publicly committed to any debates or candidate forums.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
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