Independent county commission candidate upsets Republican incumbent, Limestone County
Two-term Republican Commissioner Ben Harrison loses re-election to Independent Candidate LaDon Townsend
LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. (WAFF) - In September of 2019, west Limestone native LaDon Townsend announced his candidacy for the district four county commission seat.
He registered as a Republican and planned to challenge incumbent Republican Candidate Ben Harrison in the March 2020 primary.
Weeks before that primary, Townsend got a notice from the state, and local Republican party saying he was no longer represented by the party.
“The reasons were because they said I was a Democrat, and I’ve always been a Republican. One of the questions they asked me is, if we remove you from this ballot, are you going to come back and run as an independent?," Townsend said.
That’s exactly what Townsend did.
“I felt like the people wanted me to run. They wanted their chance to have their voice heard," Townsend explained.
By only about 600 votes, Townsend is now the district four commissioner for Limestone County.
He says has big plans.
“That’s the number one project in our district is our roads. Obviously we can’t pave all the roads, but we can get started on fixing a lot of the problems that need to be fixed in our district," Townsend said.
Townsend says he’s also going to work with local lawmakers to get broadband internet to west Limestone.
“I believe a lot of the people in the community know who I am, they know I do it because I care. I do things not for the pat on the back, but because it’s the right thing to do," Townsend continued.
Townsend is sworn into his commission seat, next week.
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