BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Republican voters in north Alabama will choose Tuesday between Emily Jones and William Matthews in a runoff for the open District 8 seat on the Alabama State Board of Education, a race featuring overlapping conservative priorities but sharply different campaign styles.
The winner will face Democrat Shatika Armstrong in November for the seat representing DeKalb, Jackson, Madison and Limestone counties. The state board sets policy for Alabama’s K-12 public schools, adopts academic standards, votes on state textbook recommendations and appoints the state superintendent, among other responsibilities.
Jones, chair of the Madison County chapter of Moms for Liberty, has campaigned through a mix of door-knocking, local events, social media and digital advertising. Matthews, who has little visible campaign presence online, said he is reaching voters through Huntsville broadcast television, streaming services and text message blasts.
Of the 48,000 votes cast in the May 19 Republican primary, Jones received 20,324 votes, or 42%, while Matthews received 15,562 votes, or 32%. A third candidate, Connie Spears, received 12,165 votes, or 25%.
Jones has been endorsed by the Alabama Farmers Federation, while Matthews has been endorsed by the Christian Coalition of Alabama.
Alabama Daily News asked both candidates the same questions about their background, why they are running, their priorities for Alabama schools, the experience they would bring to the board and where voters can find more information about their campaigns.
Jones spoke with ADN by phone Tuesday. Matthews answered by text Thursday.
Their answers reflected similar conservative concerns about education, but different approaches to reaching voters.
Jones described her campaign as a combination of grassroots outreach and digital advertising, saying she is door-knocking, attending local events and talking with voters face to face. Because District 8 is large, she said, social media is helping her campaign reach voters she cannot meet in person.
Matthews said he is presenting his platform “on all Huntsville broadcast TV station networks, through digital delivery on streaming services, and with text message blasts.”
Campaign finance reports reflect the difference in campaign styles: Matthews has raised more than twice as much as Jones and has spent nearly 10 times as much as Jones on advertising.
Background and occupation
Matthews described himself as a North Alabama native who earned a finance degree and settled in Madison County with his wife in 2019. He said he became involved in local Republican politics and worked as the board operator for “The Dale Jackson Show,” a Huntsville-area news and politics radio program, where listeners knew him by the on-air name “Prince William.”
Matthews said he has since left radio but remains active in conservative politics and currently serves on the Alabama Republican State Executive Committee. Professionally, Matthews said he works at his family’s business in Decatur, “where we employ more than one hundred hardworking North Alabamians.”
Jones said she has a background in Department of Defense finance and budgets, with an undergraduate degree in accounting, a master’s degree in business administration, two professional certifications and nearly 20 years of experience in DoD finance work.
Jones said that experience would be useful if more federal education decisions or funding are returned to states.
“It becomes very handy if Trump is successful in returning education to the states, because you’re going to have to start managing block grants, and you’re going to have to know how federal programs work,” Jones said.
Why they are running
Jones said her involvement in education issues began during the pandemic and grew as she became concerned that local schools were not being allowed to make decisions she believed they should make.
“For me, it was COVID that got me aware and involved,” Jones said. “The more questions I asked, the more things kind of layers that I peeled back the more I started realizing that our local schools really are not making the decisions that they should be allowed to make.”
Jones cited parental rights and mental health counseling in schools as issues that pushed her from local advocacy toward a state board campaign. She said she wants parents to be able to make decisions for their children as they relate to education and health care.
Matthews said he and his wife, as parents of two, are concerned about the direction of education and believe schools should educate children rather than “politically indoctrinate them.”
“Woke leftists have infiltrated our schools and they’re after our children,” Matthews wrote. “I don’t want children taught about gender transitions in the 4th grade. I don’t want boys in girls’ bathrooms, and I sure don’t want them playing on girls’ sports teams.”
Matthews also said “trashy books” continue to be found in Alabama school libraries. His television advertising uses similar themes, including criticism of “educrats,” “woke leftists” and school officials he says have failed to set common-sense boundaries.
Top priorities
Matthews said his first priority would be “the complete elimination” of Alabama’s College and Career Ready Standards, which he described as Common Core-aligned.
“I believe these standards dumb down our education system,” Matthews wrote. “A ‘one size fits all’ curriculum in America was always a bad idea.”
Matthews said he would fight to return control to local school systems and would vote to remove books from school libraries that are not age-appropriate. He said he would study Alabama’s curriculum and “never vote for textbooks that don’t align with Alabama values.”
Jones said her top priority is for the state board to more directly use its authority to pass policy for public schools, rather than waiting for lawmakers to act.
“The big thing, the big overall priority, is when you look at Alabama State Code, it’s very clear the school board exists to pass policy for our public schools,” Jones said.
Jones said she wants the state board to more directly set policy on issues including gender ideology in K-12 schools and classroom technology use. As examples, she said the board could consider a policy prohibiting gender ideology in K-12 schools and could look at reducing reliance on laptops and Chromebooks, with more classroom time spent on pencil-and-paper work.
“We have so much curriculum and teaching this time on these Chromebooks, and it’s just not helping kids,” Jones said.
Jones said any effort to limit classroom devices would have to be done carefully.
Experience they would bring
Jones said being the parent of a child in public school is central to her campaign and gives her urgency.
“What we’re missing is a parent on the school board that’s got a kid in school,” Jones said.
Jones also said her work with Moms for Liberty has helped her build relationships with legislators, parents, local school board members and people across the country who work on education policy.
Matthews also emphasized his role as a parent.
“I’m a parent, not a politician,” Matthews wrote. “Alabama has been ranked in the bottom 10 in education for the last 50 years. Clearly, what we are doing isn’t working.”
Matthews said he is a businessman who helps run a family company and said he supports technical training programs that give students the tools they need to succeed.
Where voters can find more information
Matthews said he is laying out his platform through television, streaming services and text message blasts. He does not have an online or social media campaign page or account.
Jones has a campaign website and active social media presence. She said her campaign is using both in-person campaigning and social media to reach voters across the district.
Campaign contributions and spending
Matthews raised $93,359 through June 11 and spent $114,600 on advertising. He loaned his campaign $25,000 and reported a $51 balance in his June 9 filing.
Jones raised $35,314 and spent $13,115 on advertising. She contributed $12,505 to her own campaign and reported a $5,624 balance in her June 12 filing.
Matthews’ largest contributors included seven donors who gave $10,000 each. All but one used Decatur addresses; the other was a $10,000 contribution from Bruce Wagner of Mobile.
Jones’ largest contributors included $6,000 from Steve Thorton of Decatur and $3,500 from Michael Shelton. Two donors contributed $1,000.
Reynolds criticizes Matthews’ public presence
Matthews has drawn criticism from Wayne Reynolds, the current District 8 board member who is not seeking reelection, for his lack of public presence and communication.
In a Facebook post Friday, Reynolds called Matthews a “ghost candidate” and said Matthews “has not been seen in public.” Reynolds also criticized Matthews’ reliance on paid media and questioned whether voters have had enough opportunity to hear from him directly.
Matthews disagreed, saying he chose to invest heavily in television, digital advertising and direct voter outreach because of the size of the district and the limited time he had after entering the race. He said he has spoken at events in multiple counties and met directly with voters.
“Ultimately, voters – not Dr. Wayne Reynolds – will decide which candidate and vision they believe will best serve the families of District 8,” Matthews wrote.
Asked about questions surrounding Matthews’ campaign presence, Jones said she is focused on her own campaign.