Although the governor’s race remained undecided at the conclusion of election day on Nov. 5, two decisive victories were celebrated by Alabama Baptists in the city of Hartselle and in Randolph County.
Voters in both areas defeated local referendums that would have allowed for the sale of alcohol.
Alabama Baptists experienced defeat, however, when citizens in the city of Elba in Coffee County voted to allow the sale of alcohol in their municipality.
Dan Ireland, executive director of Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP) was an active participant in all three of the regions, assisting in tactics for defeat. “I assisted the citizens in Hartselle with setting up their PACT and gave them direction in anyway that I could,” he said.
According to Walter Blackman, pastor of East Highland Baptist Church, Hartselle, the referendum was defeated by a vote of 3,419 to 2,025.
Blackman, who is the spokesperson for the interdenominational Hartselle Ministerial Association, said the defeat was due in large part to the efforts of the ministerial association and a localized Political Action Committee (PACT) — Families for a Safe Hartselle.
“A lot of citizens went out and made a grassroots effort to publicize the fact that this referendum was being voted on at this election. Everyone did a great job and banded together to get it defeated,” he said.
Ireland said the Randolph County referendum was defeated by almost a 60 percent margin. “It was a terrific defeat,” he said, noting the outstanding job that Randolph Association’s Director of Missions Otis Bentley did in helping to motivate action and awareness.
The strategy used by opponents to defeat
The referendum in Randolph County was one of logic instead of emotion, according to Bentley.
He said a concerned group of citizens and pastors joined forces to educate the public about the financial aspect of the county allowing the sale of alcohol.
“Everyone knows that we are against this referendum from a biblical standpoint, but we wanted people to see the economic side of it too,” he said.
Bentley said they took out ads in the weekly paper explaining the economic loss to the county if the referendum passed.
“Randolph County receives $290,000 a year in state funds because of being a dry county. That money would have been lost to the county, but the proponents were trying to show that amount and more could be made from the taxes on alcohol,” he explained. “We stuck to the facts and showed how the dollars the proponents were stating would be generated were merely estimates and guesses. That got people’s attention.”
Ireland also praised the efforts of local House of Representative Richard Laird who he said played a vital role in the defeat.
Ireland noted that Cullman County also resisted the allowance of alcohol sales when voters defeated a similar referendum in the June primary elections.
Ireland, who is a veteran champion at defeating anti-gambling and alcohol bills, praised the numerous churches who pulled together in these communities to rally their members to vote against the referendum. “The churches in the areas were a major influence in helping to keep their counties dry,” he said.
“I’m proud that ALCAP can be a leader in the interfaith community dealing with all the moral issues in the state,” he added.
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