By MARY SELL, Alabama Daily News
Former state representative April Weaver this week became the first announced candidate for a yet-to-be-called race for State Senate District 14 in Central Alabama.
Weaver, a Republican from Brierfield, resigned from the House in the spring to serve in President Donald Trump’s administration as the Region IV Regional Director for the Department of Health and Human Services. That role would preclude her from running for public office, but Weaver noted in her announcement that this “chapter of her life” was closing.
“I am so excited to announce my run for State Senate,” Weaver said in a written statement. “As a lifelong resident of Senate District 14, I know the people and the communities. I am prepared to work hard and earn the votes of the hard-working citizens of Shelby, Bibb and Chilton Counties.”
That seat is vacant because, effective today, Cam Ward, a Republican from Alabaster who’s held the seat since 2010, is the new appointed leader of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Gov. Kay Ivey hasn’t set special election dates for the Senate race.
Weaver was first elected to the House in 2010. She’s a registered nurse and has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration. According to the press release, Weaver has worked for more than 23 years as a hospital leader in various management roles in urban, suburban and rural hospitals.
Weaver’s State House experience includes five years as the House Health Committee chair and chair of the Shelby County House delegation. According to state campaign finance records, Weaver’s account for her State House campaigns maintains more than $142,000, an amount she can transfer to use in a State Senate campaign.
Her House district covered portions of Shelby, Bibb and Chilton counties, similar to the Senate district she’s seeking.
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“I have always been a fiscal conservative and I have been proud to stand up for the pocketbooks of the families I have represented,” Weaver said. “Senate District 14 needs a proven conservative with courage to stand up for them. My entire career in public service has demonstrated that I am that type of conservative.”