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Matt Shelby
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Matt Shelby (Libertarian Party) ran for election for Alabama Secretary of State. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Elections
2022
See also: Alabama Secretary of State election, 2022
General election
General election for Alabama Secretary of State
Wes Allen defeated Pamela Laffitte and Matt Shelby in the general election for Alabama Secretary of State on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Wes Allen (R) | 65.9 | 925,267 |
 | Pamela Laffitte (D) | 31.1 | 436,862 | |
 | Matt Shelby (L) | 3.0 | 41,611 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 663 | ||
| Total votes: 1,404,403 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Alabama Secretary of State
Wes Allen defeated Jim Zeigler in the Republican primary runoff for Alabama Secretary of State on June 21, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Wes Allen | 65.4 | 248,132 |
 | Jim Zeigler | 34.6 | 131,413 | |
| Total votes: 379,545 | |||
| = 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
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Pamela Laffitte advanced from the Democratic primary for Alabama Secretary of State.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Alabama Secretary of State
Jim Zeigler and Wes Allen advanced to a runoff. They defeated Christian Horn and Ed Packard in the Republican primary for Alabama Secretary of State on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Zeigler | 42.7 | 237,482 |
| ✔ | | Wes Allen | 39.7 | 220,880 |
 | Christian Horn | 9.8 | 54,572 | |
 | Ed Packard | 7.8 | 43,486 | |
| Total votes: 556,420 | |||
| = 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Laura Clark (R)
2018
General election
General election for Alabama House of Representatives District 96
Matt Simpson defeated Maurice Horsey and Matt Shelby in the general election for Alabama House of Representatives District 96 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Matt Simpson (R) | 69.1 | 13,699 |
| Maurice Horsey (D) | 25.3 | 5,019 | ||
| Matt Shelby (L) | 5.6 | 1,106 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 7 | ||
| Total votes: 19,831 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = 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 Alabama House of Representatives District 96
Maurice Horsey defeated Web Whiting in the Democratic primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 96 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Maurice Horsey | 77.1 | 1,125 | |
| Web Whiting | 22.9 | 335 | ||
| Total votes: 1,460 | |||
| = 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 Alabama House of Representatives District 96
Matt Simpson advanced from the Republican primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 96 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Matt Simpson |
| ||||
| = 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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Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Matt Shelby did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Matt Shelby participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on August 3, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Matt Shelby's responses follow below.[1]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | I'm going to limit is to two broad areas since I'll have subsections of each: 1) Government Accountability and Transparency. I would address this in three main ways: a) Term Limits: I will seek to impose term limits on State Representatives and State Senators. When one becomes too entrenched in one area of government, they become less connected with their constituents and more vulnerable to corruption. Obviously it is difficult to convince a bunch of career politicians to limit their own terms in office, as Baldwin County's own Trip Pittman discovered. It will not be simple, but nothing worth achieving ever is. b) The two-party system works to protect itself. Both Democrats and Republicans prefer it, because it makes it easier to get and hold power. George Washington warned of the dangers of the two-party system, and I will work to put an end it. But we must enact changes to our laws to help in this effort. Alabama is notoriously hostile to third parties and independents. FairVote ranks Alabama as the worst state for ballot access. The fact that over 40% of Americans identify as politically independent makes this even more offensive. The old parties are selfishly seeking to disenfranchise the plurality of voters. In Alabama, just to get on the ballot, a third party or independent candidate must obtain verified signatures from at least three percent of the qualified electors who cast ballots for the office of governor in the last General Election in the jurisdiction or political subdivision for which ballot access is sought (e.g., statewide, county, district). For example, if a third party or independent candidates wants to run for a statewide office such as US Senate or Governor, they must obtain over 35,000 valid ballot access petition signatures. And this is only the "valid" signature requirement. To be safe after challenges, a candidate/party would likely need to obtain over 50,000 "raw" signatures. This is a massive and expensive undertaking (though one that the Libertarian Party of Alabama intends to conquer for 2020). We need diversity of view points and ideas, and Alabamians of all political view points should have an opportunity to vote for someone they believe in. The only way to accomplish that is to lower the bar of ballot access to a sane level. Our ballot access requirements need to be reformed in a major way. Straight ticket voting also must end. In addition to giving the two old parties a distinct advantage, it encourages voters to remain ignorant of the specific policies and qualifications of individual candidates. They can simply walk into their polling place, fill in one circle, and walk out without looking at the names of the people for whom they voted. Alabamians are better than this. I am confident that all voters in this state would be insulted by this system once they took the time to consider it. We are one of only nine states to allow such straight party voting, and it is time to join the majority. I would also look to enact a change in our general voting system. One that will encourage more participation, save tax-payer money (through instant-runoffs), and result in elected officials that are more supported by more people. We should not have to hold our nose to vote. And I believe that something such as Ranked Choice Voting, which is being tested in New Hampshire, would serve all these goals. Much like my other suggestions for electoral reform, the only "negative" this would have is that it would weaken the heretofore-unchallenged-control of the two old parties. The old parties are far too comfortable with their stranglehold on power, and they will not relinquish this hold without a fight. Electing me will be a clear sign to Montgomery that Coastal Alabama will not sit idly by and let Democrats and Republicans enjoy unchallenged power while failing to truly help the average Alabamian. c) Initiative and Referendum: In years past, bills have been left pending in Legislative Committee which would return direct power to the people of Alabama through initiative and referendum. Initiative and referendum would allow citizens, through petition, to propose or repeal legislation, or even remove elected officials. It is a necessary check on government power and corruption. And, much like term limits, it is difficult to find sitting members of the government who will advocate for it. Visit Let Bama Vote for more information on this very important issue from one of Alabama's best resources on I&R, Frank Dillman. In the coming months, I hope to expand on many of these ideas and to talk personally with voters about what I can do to improve upon my plans. I am not set in my ways. I want what is best for Alabama and its people. I am always open to reconsidering, amending or changing based upon new or better information. Do you have an idea? Get in touch with me and let's talk. 2) Criminal Justice Reform. Again, there are a couple of focus: a) Marijuana and Drug Law Reform: I understand that many in Alabama are not "ready" for for marijuana legalization, but I would like to move toward more reasonable marijuana policy. First and foremost, medical marijuana must be made legal. Marijuana's medicinal efficacy is, at this point, an overwhelmingly foregone conclusion. Depriving sick people who could benefit from this plant is not just bad policy, it is morally wrong. I would like to move toward legal marijuana in general, but this would be the first step. I am hopeful that once people see how well a legal medicinal marijuana system operates, they will be more open to legalized recreational marijuana. If legalized for recreational purposes, Alabama would see a windfall as the first state in the Southeast to pass such legislation. And would also see tax/revenue benefits. Generally, I will move us toward a treatment-based system regarding drugs that will not only be more successful in treating addicts, but it will lighten the load on police (and make their jobs safer), aid the already-under-funded court system, and the lift much of the burden off the prison system. Alabama currently has the third highest per capita incarceration rate in the country, with 634 of every 100,000 people being imprisoned. And over $400,000,000 a year from our State's General Fund is allocated to the Department of Corrections. This is second only to Medicaid. We have to address this massive drain of money and resources, and drug law reform will do just that. If someone violates the personal or property rights of another, they must be punished. But what we are talking about here is criminalizing drug addiction, which is a physical and mental illness. It cannot be treated or cured through incarceration. As the Drug Prosecutor who worked closely with the Baldwin County Drug Court, I saw how much better a treatment-based program worked, as opposed to a punitive system of incarceration. This will help people and save our state money. b) Civil Forfeiture/Property Seizure Reform: I have seen first hand many of the abuses of the civil forfeiture system. For those unfamiliar, the civil forfeiture laws allow the government to seize property, through civil proceedings, that is the fruit of criminal activity. The problem is that property with only a weak link to criminal activity is seized, and then required to be forfeited in exchange for plea deals. We need more oversight to ensure that this is not being done in Alabama. More offensively, property can be seized without criminal charges ever being filed, and if the owner of that property cannot afford to hire an attorney, it will be forfeited. As a prosecutor, I inherited just such a case. Fortunately, the case was taken on pro bono, and then the filed was handed to me. Once I realized what had happened, I fought until I was given authority to voluntarily dismiss the case. But that's not enough. We cannot simply rely on the good will of prosecutors. I will advocate for a simple solution: One must be charged with a crime before any civil forfeiture action can be commenced. And the property cannot be forfeited unless it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt that it is the fruit of criminal activity. Currently, the State must only prove their case beyond a preponderance of the evidence (i.e more likely than not), but to deprive someone of their property, I believe that further due process should be required.[2][3] | ” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | Criminal justice reform, specifically the War on Drugs. I've worked as a Assistant District Attorney prosecuting drug crimes, and I've also worked in criminal defense. So many of the inequities we see in America are directly or indirectly caused by this failed "war". Issues as broad as poverty and the inefficiencies of the criminal justice system find their root in the War on Drugs.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[3]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Matt Shelby answered the following:
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow and why?
| “ | Congressman Justin Amash is principled, non-partisan (despite being a Republican), and has made it a goal of explaining how he voted and why. Furthermore, he doesn't miss votes.[3] | ” |
| “ | There are so many great books about Libertarianism, but Harry Browne's "Why Government Doesn't Work" is the first that comes to mind.[3] | ” |
| “ | Blowing with the wind of polling isn't acceptable. A public official needs to have positions, reasoning for those positions, and needs to stick to them. That said, they must also not be so strict as to never deviate despite good evidence otherwise. Partisanship should not guide their views. They should do what is right above all else.[3] | ” |
| “ | I will be completely open regarding my votes, my positions and myself. What you see is what you get. That said, I will be open to listening to all my constituents, regardless of their positions or their support. I want the best information from any source willing to provide it to me, and I will then apply that information to make the best decisions I can.[3] | ” |
| “ | To only pass laws that are consistent with legitimate government authority. And to help do away with laws that are not. Tied into this is ensuring that government spending is kept at a minimum, and that the liberty of every individual in Alabama is respected.[3] | ” |
| “ | Liberty.[3] | ” |
| “ | I remember the beginning of the first Iraq War. I would've been around 7 or 8. I don't remember much about it, but I remember it happening. And then quickly being over.[3] | ” |
| “ | My first real job was working as a cashier at Delchamps. I had it during the summer before my junior year of high school.[3] | ” |
| “ | Not necessarily. I do think they should have an understanding of the law and how the government operates, but previous political experience may be a negative given how endemic corruption and partisanship are in our government.[3] | ” |
| “ | I would want to be part of the Judiciary Committee as many bills involving criminal justice and civil justice come through that committee.[3] | ” |
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Matt Shelby's responses," August 3, 2018
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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