2nd Congressional District: Caroleene Dobson emphasizes agriculture, energy independence

Caroleene Dobson is a Republican candidate for the 2nd Congressional District. (Courtesy Caroleene Dobson for Congress)

This is the last in a series of profiles of the candidates in the April 16 2nd Congressional District runoff. Tuesday: House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels. Wednesday: Attorney Shomari Figures.  Thursday: Former Sen. Dick Brewbaker.

Caroleene Dobson said Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District needs a conservative candidate who will “fight for a better Alabama and America for our families.”

Dobson, a candidate in next Tuesday’s run-off for the GOP nomination, said that she is running to represent families like hers who are concerned about the path the country is taking.

“We need a strong conservative who’s not afraid to go to Washington and fight for a safer country for our kids, to fight for the lives of the unborn, to fight for more opportunities here and to fight to ensure that our kids can freely worship God,” Dobson said in a phone interview.

Caroleene Dobson

Age: 37

Residence: Montgomery

Occupation: Real estate attorney

Education: A.B., History and Literature, Harvard College, 2009; J.D., Baylor University School of Law, 2012.

Party: Republican

Previous political experience/campaign: First-time political candidate.

Fundraising: Dobson raised $1.2 million and spent $1.1 million through March 27.

Dobson expressed concerns over the farm bill, a law passed every few years, stalling in Congress amid the impasse over the recent spending bills. 

“We really do need our congressional leaders to be focused on getting a farm bill passed, but also again, making the farm bill a lot more about our food producers,” she said.

With 80% of the farm bill spending going to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to an U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry analysis by Senate Republicans, she said more money needs to go into supporting the farming industry. About 19% of the farm bill goes to farming services, according to the analysis.

“Over 80% of the farm bill actually is just dedicated to addressing entitlements and food stamps, as opposed to supporting needs and enabling policy that makes it easier for our food producers,” she said.

Aside from the farm bill, she said that Congress needs to focus on achieving energy independence. Dobson said the lack of energy independence is keeping production costs high, which is impacting the price people pay for food.

“It makes it harder for America to be food secure, which is a very critical part of national security that we often overlook,” she said.

While the U.S. exports more energy than it imports, it still relies on foreign oil to meet its energy needs.

Farmers, particularly small family farmers, are paying the price of high energy costs, she said.

“My family’s farm, for instance — we just have a small farm, but probably representative of a lot of small farms to family farm — our fuel and fertilizer costs are up 143% of where they were when Biden took office,” Dobson claimed. 

Dobson also said she wants to abolish a 12% excise tax for heavy duty commercial vehicles. She said that is a challenge for trucking companies that are in the district.

“It’s also a huge barrier to entry for people that would want to start a small business that involves heavy duty commercial vehicles,” she said.

She said that the district also used to have more family-owned logging businesses that no longer operate, which Dobson blamed on overregulation.

She said there is interest in the logging industry in Alabama, but with the loggers getting older, she asked, “how are we going to harvest those trees and get them to mills?”

On the border, Dobson said she supported building a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico Border and deporting immigrants who are living in the U.S. without authorization.

“Immigration is very important to this country, but we’ve got people that are following the methods legally. It’s a disservice to them to just fling open our southern borders and allow our country to, frankly, be invaded,” she said. 

Dobson said that currently, there’s no way to vet the number of immigrants coming into the U.S., which she said is leading to a rise in crime. Research shows that immigration is associated with lower crime rates and crime in across the U.S. is decreasing.

The candidate also said she would defend “the rights of the unborn,” but she declined to say whether she’d support a nationwide abortion ban. 

“The Supreme Court returned that matter to individual states and it’s a state’s rights issue. I commend the Alabama Legislature for its leadership in passing one of the most pro-life laws in the country that you know, actively protects life,” she said.

Alabama’s abortion ban effectively bans the practice in the state with no exceptions.

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