Longtime educator Sue Mitchell has announced her campaign for the District 4 seat in the Alabama House of Representatives.  

Mitchell, who was approved last week by the Democratic Executive Committee to replace Steve White, will face freshman incumbent Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, in the Nov. 7 general election.

White was dismissed from his teaching job at West Limestone High School after the school board determined he had shown inappropriate Internet materials to his eighth grade students.       

Mitchell has lived in District 4, which covers portions of Morgan and Limestone counties, for 41 years.

She graduated from Huntsville High School, and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. She later earned a master’s degree in administration, then a Ph.D. in administration of higher education from the University of Alabama, while working full-time.

She has taught for 24 years at Calhoun Community College, where her youngest son recently attended. Mitchell said her proudest accomplishment while at the junior college was the development of the 21st Century Virtual Journeys Technology Camps.  

For the past eight years, this camp has given 6th-12th grade students a forum to showcase their engineering and robotics abilities, and help further the development of these industries in North Alabama.

Mitchell’s roots in District 4 run deep. Her father’s work for NASA and her mother’s work as an X-ray technician brought her to Limestone County in 1965. She and L. Wayne Mitchell, her husband of 35 years, have raised four children and four grandchildren in this area. 

Mitchell said her first-hand experience as an educator, volunteer, and working mother give her the experience with which to represent and serve District 4 in the Alabama House of Representatives.

“In the State House, I’ll focus on getting the most out of every tax dollar,” she said. “I’ll work every day on the issues that matter to our district, including fully funding education, making sure our police officers have the tools they need to keep our families safe, and making sure real jobs come to our district and we keep the good jobs we already have. I’ve spent a lifetime helping to educate our children and I’d be honored to take these same priorities of faith and family to Montgomery.”