Re-election campaign signs for U.S. Sen. Doug Jones line the courthouse square in Macon County, where a vandalized, red-graffiti-sprayed Confederate monument still stands, covered from view by a blue tarp wrapped and tied with a rope.
Macon County, home of Tuskegee University and the VictoryLand Casino, voted more than 88 percent for Jones in the 2017 special election for U.S. senate, a higher percentage than any other county in Alabama.
He’s likely to get that level of support again from Macon County, where there’s little love for Republican senate nominee and former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville. Tuberville nonetheless leads in statewide polls after staunchly aligning himself with President Donald Trump, who is likely to carry the vote in Alabama in the upcoming presidential election against former Vice President Joe Biden.
You could say that Macon County, which has had a majority Black population since before the Civil War, is likely to once again be the “Jonesiest” county in the state on Nov. 3. The county has more than 21,000 residents, and more than 82 percent are Black.
“It’s demographics, and the Democratic proclivity of the county,” said Joe Turnham, former chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party from 1995-98 and 2005-2011. “Macon County gave Bill and Hillary Clinton the highest per capita vote of any county in America.”
Turnham, now director of the Macon County Economic Development Authority, introduced Jones in Tuskegee this month at a socially distanced drive-in political rally. “Horns were blowing instead of applause,” he said.
Jones has worked to steer federal funding to historically Black colleges such as Tuskegee University, Macon County’s largest employer.
“That’s the life and breath of the county,” Turnham said. “In many respects, Macon is a cradle of the civil rights movement, and Doug has been a civil rights advocate. He’s developed a lot of ties in Macon County over the years. He’s shown a lot of love. He knows people. He gets a lot of love. That’s not blind love. He’s earned that love. He knows the issues.”
VictoryLand voter for Jones
On her way out of playing the video arcade games at the VictoryLand Casino in Shorter, which was once the county’s largest employer with 2,000 employees back in the 1990s but is now down to fewer than 300, Christine Wright of Tuskegee stops to talk about the upcoming senate race.
Wright, who is retired from the VA Medical Center in Tuskegee, says she will vote for Jones.
“He would be leaning toward doing the right things,” she said. “I definitely would not vote for Tuberville. If he’s going along with Trump, he’s just one of Trump’s goonies.”
While Jones has a reputation as a policy wonk who can give detailed analysis of every policy proposal before the senate, Tuberville has been reluctant to discuss policy and when he has, is prone to fumble. When asked about the Voting Rights Act, he appeared to have no knowledge of what it was. That bothers people in Macon County, Turnham said.
“Doug’s paid a lot of attention to issues that people care about,” Turnham said.
At C&K Wings in Tuskegee, Robert Belcher stopped in last Thursday for the $4.99 lunch special, a T-bone steak with French fries. He’s the maintenance manager at Tuskegee University, and he has a crew at a hotel that houses students who have tested positive for COVID-19. Anywhere from two to 15 students are there at a time.
Healthcare is foremost on his mind when it comes to the senate election.
“It’s about helping the people of this state, especially with this pandemic,” Belcher said. “It’s about getting people back to normal, as safely as possible, as soon as possible.”
Steeped in history
Tuskegee University has 2,747 students enrolled this fall, most of them taking virtual classes. About 70 percent of students are from outside Alabama, said Joseph Montgomery, vice president of enrollment management.
Many of them are drawn by the rich history of Tuskegee, where Booker T. Washington began the process of educating former slaves after the Civil War. A statue of him on campus depicts him “Lifting the Veil of Ignorance” from the face of a former slave. The Oaks, the home where Washington lived, still sits across the street from the entrance to the university. George Washington Carver, who promoted planting peanuts and helped the South transition from an economy based on cotton, taught here as a professor. There’s a museum named for him on campus. The Tuskegee Airmen, Black fighter pilots who flew in World War II, are remembered in a museum and national historic site.
After Tuskegee University and the VA Medical Center, the third-largest employer in Macon County is Hanon Systems, a Korean automotive manufacturer in Shorter, with about 600 to 700 employees. “A diversified economy is what our leadership wants,” Turnham said.
The people of Macon County believe Jones can help them continue that progress, he said.
Tuberville is relying on his connection to Trump, and his name recognition from his career as a college football coach, including at Auburn from 1999-2008.
“That don’t impress me,” said Belcher.
“People love football in this state, but there’s a reason why he’s no longer the coach at Auburn,” said Montgomery, sitting in his office on the Tuskegee University campus, about midway between Montgomery and Auburn. “What would he bring to public office?”
Turnham thinks there’s a chance Jones could match his 2017 showing of more than 88 percent in Macon County. “He’ll probably do close to that again,” Turnham said. “I tend to think he will run much better than that.”
Jones “is proud to have strong support in Macon County, and from folks across the Black Belt,” said his campaign press secretary, Lizzie Grams.
“Doug is working to address the issues that matter in Macon County, like expanding health care access, protecting voting rights, and helping farmers,” Grams said. “From securing an increase in funding for HBCUs, like Tuskegee University, to advocating for relief for schools and hospitals during the COVID-19 crisis, Macon County residents and all Alabamians know that Doug is working for them -- and will always put their interests first.”
DeKalb County heavily supports Tommy Tuberville. Macon County heavily supports Doug Jones.