Ja'Mel Brown

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Ja'Mel Brown

Democratic Party

Candidate, Governor of Alabama

Elections and appointments

Last election

August 22, 2023

Next election

May 19, 2026

Education

High school

Carver Senior High School

Personal

Birthplace

Montgomery, AL

Religion

Non-Denominational

Profession

Pastor

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Ja'Mel Brown (Democratic Party) is running for election for Governor of Alabama. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on May 19, 2026.^[source]

Brown completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Ja'Mel Brown was born in Montgomery, Alabama. He earned a high school diploma from Carver Senior High School. His career experience includes working as a pastor and in politics, activism, communicaty affairs, and social justice.

Elections

2026

See also: Alabama gubernatorial election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on May 19, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. Additional general election candidates will be added here following the primary.

General election for Governor of Alabama

Ronald Burnette Jr. is running in the general election for Governor of Alabama on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Ronald Burnette Jr. (Independent) (Write-in)

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Alabama

The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for Governor of Alabama on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		Will Boyd
		Ja'Mel Brown
		Yolanda Flowers
		Doug Jones
		Chad Chig Martin
		Nathan Mathis

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Alabama

Ken McFeeters, Will Santivasci, and Tommy Tuberville are running in the Republican primary for Governor of Alabama on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		Ken McFeeters
	Submit photo	Will Santivasci
		Tommy Tuberville

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2023

See also: City elections in Montgomery, Alabama (2023)

General election

General election for Montgomery City Council District 7

Andrew Szymanski defeated Christopher Turner, Ja'Mel Brown, Charles Dillihay, and George Childress in the general election for Montgomery City Council District 7 on August 22, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Andrew Szymanski (Nonpartisan)	55.5	2,912
	Submit photo	Christopher Turner (Nonpartisan)	18.5	968
		Ja'Mel Brown (Nonpartisan)	16.1	845
	Submit photo	Charles Dillihay (Nonpartisan)	6.7	353
		George Childress (Nonpartisan)	3.1	165

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,243
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Brown in this election.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Ja'Mel Brown completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Brown's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Montgomery, Alabama Born and Raised. Pastor, Activist, Community Leader, Talk Show Host, Social Media Influencer. Single with no kids. Age 34. Ja’Mel Brown has been a pillar of his community since the age of seven. He was the first youngest black man to be a candidate for Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama at age 18. Ja’Mel Brown was a candidate for City Council four times. Brown spent all his life in Leadership and Public Service making a difference and changing lives everyday.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Raise Minimum Wage
• Remove Tax off Groceries
• Bring a Lottery to our State

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Making life more affordable in Alabama by creating an atmosphere of opportunity through real legislation.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I like President. Trump because he’s very authentic and he keeps it real and I just love how he handle business.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

President. Trump, President. Abraham Lincoln, President. John F. Kennedy.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Authenticity and Honesty

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am very authentic. I am very honest and I am very transparent

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Authenticity and Honesty

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave a legacy that people can look at and say this man never gave up he put his all into where he believe for his state and for his people and that’s the legacy I wanna leave.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Becoming a Licensed Baptist Minister at the age of 14

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Grocery Bag boy at age 16 to age 18.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Bible I love history

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Denzel Washington

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

My my my by Johnny Gill

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

The passing of my parents

Governors have many responsibilities, which vary from state to state. Which of those do you personally consider the most important in your state?

Executing meaningful legislation!

Different states require governors to have different degrees of responsibility for the state budgeting process. If it were your choice, what do you believe is the appropriate degree of gubernatorial involvement with this process in your state?

Allow the State Legislature to present me with a budget that’s for Alabama! By working with my administration.

In most states, governors have the power to make line-item vetoes. If that is true in your state, what would be your philosophy for how and when to use this power?

Only if it doesn’t impact the citizens of Alabama everyday life in a negative way!

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

To have a very close bond like best friends.

What do you love most about your state?

I love the nature and businesses it offers

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Population decline

Tell us your favorite joke.

I don’t have one

Under what circumstances should the governor of your state be able to use emergency powers?

Natural Disasters and Civil Unrest

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Followers on Social Media and Organizations tba later

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

We need 100% transparency across the board.

Would a state ballot initiative process be good or bad for your state?

Good

A governor is the top executive authority in his or her state. What does that mean to you?

It’s a high and special honor that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2023

Ja'Mel Brown did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.

See also

2026 Elections

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Government

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External links

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Candidate

Governor of Alabama

Facebook

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Footnotes

2026 state executive official elections

Governor

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Lieutenant Governor

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Attorney General

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Secretary of State

Alabama • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Georgia • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • North Dakota • Ohio • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Vermont • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Treasurer

Alabama • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Massachusetts • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • Ohio • Oklahoma • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Vermont • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Auditor

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Comptroller

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