Karla DuPriest

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Karla DuPriest

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Arkansas, 1986

Personal

Birthplace

Mobile, Ala.

Religion

Church of Christ

Profession

Small Business Owner of Chris & Karla Heavenly Ribs and a U-Haul Dealership

Contact

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Karla DuPriest (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Alabama's 2nd Congressional District. She lost in the Republican primary on March 5, 2024.

Biography

Karla DuPriest was born in Mobile, Alabama. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Arkansas in 1986. Her career experience includes working as a small business owner of Chris & Karla's Heavenly Ribs and a U-Haul dealership. She is a graduate of Goldman Sach’s 10,000 Small Business Program and Delgado Community College. She received a healthcare reimbursement certificate from Virginia College. She is a Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Month recipient and a Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce Eagle Award Minority Business of the Year recipient. She has been affiliated with the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, Azalea City Republican Women, Mobile County Republican Executive Committee, Church of Christ Children Group, and Port City Church of Christ Sunday School.

Elections

2024

See also: Alabama's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024

Alabama's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Democratic primary)

Alabama's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Alabama District 2

Shomari Figures defeated Caroleene Dobson in the general election for U.S. House Alabama District 2 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Shomari Figures (D)	54.6	158,041
		Caroleene Dobson (R)	45.4	131,414
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	219

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 289,674
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Alabama District 2

Shomari Figures defeated Anthony Daniels in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Alabama District 2 on April 16, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Shomari Figures	61.1	21,962
		Anthony Daniels	38.9	14,006

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 35,968
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Alabama District 2

Caroleene Dobson defeated Dick Brewbaker in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Alabama District 2 on April 16, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Caroleene Dobson	58.4	14,705
		Dick Brewbaker	41.6	10,471

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 25,176
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Alabama District 2

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Alabama District 2 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Shomari Figures	43.4	24,980
✔		Anthony Daniels	22.4	12,879
		Napoleon Bracy Jr.	15.7	9,010
		Merika Coleman	6.0	3,445
		Phyllis Harvey-Hall	3.5	2,007
		James Averhart	2.8	1,623
		Jeremy Gray	2.7	1,580
		Juandalynn Givan	2.2	1,261
		Vimal Patel	0.5	289
	Submit photo	Larry Darnell Simpson	0.4	247
		Willie Lenard	0.3	199

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 57,520
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Brian Gary (D)
• Darryl Sinkfield (D)
• Terell Anderson (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Alabama District 2

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Alabama District 2 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dick Brewbaker	39.6	22,589
✔		Caroleene Dobson	26.5	15,102
		Greg Albritton	25.3	14,434
		Hampton Harris	2.5	1,414
	Submit photo	Belinda Thomas	1.9	1,082
		Wallace Gilberry (Unofficially withdrew)	1.5	838
		Karla DuPriest	1.4	823
	Submit photo	Stacey Shepperson	1.4	773

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 57,055
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Barry Moore (R)
• Simon Mark Alvarez (R)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for DuPriest in this election.

2022

See also: United States Senate election in Alabama, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Alabama

Katie Britt defeated Will Boyd and John Sophocleus in the general election for U.S. Senate Alabama on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Katie Britt (R)	66.6	942,154
		Will Boyd (D)	30.9	436,746
		John Sophocleus (L)	2.3	32,879
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	2,459

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,414,238
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jarmal Jabbar Sanders (Independent)
• Richard Bowers (Independent)

Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate Alabama

Katie Britt defeated Mo Brooks in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate Alabama on June 21, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Katie Britt	63.0	253,251
		Mo Brooks	37.0	148,636

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 401,887
= 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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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Alabama

Will Boyd defeated Brandaun Dean and Lanny Jackson in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Alabama on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Will Boyd	63.7	107,588
		Brandaun Dean	19.5	32,863
		Lanny Jackson	16.8	28,402

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 168,853
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Victor Williams (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Alabama

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Alabama on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Katie Britt	44.8	289,425
✔		Mo Brooks	29.2	188,539
		Michael Durant	23.3	150,817
		Jake Schafer	1.1	7,371
		Karla DuPriest	0.9	5,739
	Submit photo	Lillie Boddie	0.7	4,849

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 646,740
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jessica Taylor (R)
• Mike Dunn (R)
• Lynda Blanchard (R)

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Karla DuPriest did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Karla DuPriest completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by DuPriest's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Karla Dupriest is a veteran Republican Party campaigner and volunteer. She was appointed as Mobile County Land Commissioner and Absentee Ballot Manager, Mobile County Probate Court. In addition, she has served as Treasurer, Azalea City Republican Women and Member, Mobile County Executive Committee. Early in her career she served as the District Manager for Republican Congressman Richard ‘Dick’ Nichols, 5th Congressional District of Kansas. Also, she has served many roles in several Republican local and statewide campaigns.

Mrs. Dupriest is a modern-day Woman: Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Businesswoman, Chamber of Commerce member and Volunteer. She is a member of the Church of Christ, Mobile, AL, a Sunday School Teacher for Port City Church of Christ and the Childrens Church Choir. One of her Sons is a Disabled Veteran. His experiences birthed her advocacy for Military Veterans. Another passion of hers is Small Business Ownership. She is the former Owner of a Sears Franchise and Co-Owner for the past 24 years of Chris & Karla Heavenly Ribs, who was named as Small Business of the Month by Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce. For fun she is an avid walker and dance instructor for senior citizens.

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?

• Karla Dupriest primary message is: The decisions of today are the consequences of tomorrow. What lifestyle will you and your kids be living? She entered the election after prayer and a revelation that the Citizens of Alabama deserve more. Candidate Dupriest realizes that we are at a critical point in Alabama and U.S. History and the decisions we make will not only impact us now, but the quality of life and future careers of our children and grandchildren. She wants to take the emphasis off of power struggles and return the focus quality of life of our Citizens. One of the key issues we have to address are parental rights in their children education. support options for learning, including: public education, parochial and private schools, c
• Karla Dupriest has experienced the joys and pains of small business ownership. She understands the complexity of startups and the challenges of growth. We know that small businesses as a collective are the drivers of new job growth. Her goal is to bring more resources and collaboration to enhance the sustainability of small business.
• Our Military must remain strong. We need strategic funding, innovation and continuous improvement in modernizing military capabilities. In addition, we must keep our commitments to our Military Veterans – enhance health, mental and rehabilitative care, increase employment, entrepreneurship and reduce homelessness.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

From a funding priority and courses of action, I feel that an emphasis on economic development will directly impact the citizens of Alabama greatly.

I believe that strong economic policies equal a stronger nation. With that in mind I have Ten Points that will create a stronger Alabama and a stronger America.
1. Work with Republican Subject Matter Experts to develop a strategic plan to reduce inflation.
2. Reduce taxes on Small Businesses. They are the drivers of new jobs. Provide more incentives and training to enhance survival rates.
3. China is America’s biggest economic competitor, and in order to compete effectively, we need policies that invest in our own businesses and protect American workers from unfair trade practices
4. Focus more programs on Upskilling and Reskilling to ensure America’s workforce can exceed market demand. We need to be the global leaders of innovation.
5. Collaborate with Think Tanks on how to transform cities with sustainable industries for their constituents’ quality of life.
6. Focus more spending on rural, urban and small cities to enhance access to technology for education, families and small businesses. (Job Growth)
7. Conduct a deep dive study into supply chain to determine which disruptions can efficiently be nurtured in America. We must identify ways to reduce dependence on China. Identify ways to substitute the strategic metals (rare earths) used in technology to reduce dependence.

8. Cyber Security needs to move from the shadows to the

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

A United States Senator is an executive leadership position. As such the characteristics of an effective senior leadership are in order: collaborator, communicator, adept in critical analysis, empathy, emotional intelligence, integrity, flexible leadership skills, listener, motivator, resilient, trustworthy.
Mrs. Dupriest believes in whatever profession you lead you must understand first, that you are in the people business. You must be able to communicate, listen, present and be emotionally intelligent. In this era, the quality of your relationships enhances achievements and wins. For the position there are a myriad of challenges and needs for the citizens, one must be able to prioritize, evaluate and become efficient in time management.

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

Mrs. Dupriest saw a quote years ago: Autograph your work with excellence daily. To that effect, after prayer and meditation, she evaluates herself to identify ways to become better. She is an avid reader, listener and observer to stay current and create an understanding of issues, needs and possible solutions. She sincerely cares about the quality of life of people.

She is ardent about project and time management. As a Mother, and Small Business Owner she has develop proficiencies that allow her to make vital decisions and wear many hats successfully. Yet she revels in her people skills. The ability to communicate, listen and present solutions. She feels that her knowledge of the Republican party initiatives and platforms, her advocacy with military veterans, small businesses and as a Mother will loom large in solutions.

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

My first job was a Clerk to the Accountant at the Brookley Center in Mobile, AL. It was a summer program exposing young students to professional experiences. The position and the Accountant made quite an impression – I developed a passion for accounting which later led to my B.S. Degree in Accounting.

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

A gospel song, "Because He Lives".

What qualities does the U.S. Senate possess that makes it unique as an institution?

Mrs. Dupriest marvels at the composition of the United States Senate. Specifically that size, nor population factors impact the Senate. Alabama has the same respect as California, New York or Florida. In addition, the term of six-years allow one to build relationships and develop proficiencies. The U.S. Senate also has specific powers and responsibilities that can not be accessed by Members of the House of Representatives. I am looking forward to bringing more opportunities and funding back to the State of Alabama.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for senators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Familiarity with any system will reduce the learning curve. But previous experience should not be a primary factor in any election. There is some complexity involved in Parliamentary procedure, processes, committee factors and bill research and introduction but a learning curve and a coach or mentor will enhance the process.

I quote a source that says, “Success is not about brilliance. Yet relationships, resilience and resources”. To that effect I will enlist (through the Party) a coach and/or mentor, and continue to build proper relationships, to ensure I become adept in my position. I am a very resilient and resourceful person, with a keen eye for opportunities and the needs of Alabama.

By the way, there are several individuals who have been elected and successfully mastered government and politics. But I do believe what the government needs more of are people with life experience, one who understands the challenges and has a plan and/or solutions.

What criteria would you apply when deciding whether to confirm presidential appointees?

Presidential appointees have great impact on the implementation of policy. Therefore, it is vital that they have documented proficiencies within their position realm, highly emotional intelligent, the ability to provide situational leadership, familiarity with networking, social etiquette and implementation excellence.
Yet another important consideration will be their commitment to the Republican Party platform, initiatives and/or strategies.

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.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Karla DuPriest campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	U.S. House Alabama District 2	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
2022	U.S. Senate Alabama	Lost primary	$4,900	$4,900
Grand total			$4,900	$4,900
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

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Footnotes

[show]

Alabama's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Katie Britt (R)

Tommy Tuberville (R)

Representatives

District 1

Barry Moore (R)

District 2

Shomari Figures (D)

District 3

Mike Rogers (R)

District 4

Robert Aderholt (R)

District 5

Dale Strong (R)

District 6

Gary Palmer (R)

District 7

Terri Sewell (D)

Republican Party (7)

Democratic Party (2)