Parker Moore

Parker Moore says he looks forward to prolonging his campaign after winning the special Republican primary runoff for the Alabama House District 4 seat.

Tuesday’s election pitted Moore, a marketing representative for Encore Rehabilitation, against businessman Tom Fredricks, owner of Fredricks Outdoor. Moore won 58 percent of the vote in Morgan County, compared to 41 percent for Fredricks. Fredricks performed much better in Limestone, winning 65 percent of the vote compared to 35 percent for Moore.

Moore will now face Democrat Juanita Allen Healy and independent candidate Polan “Pete” Willis Jr. in a special election May 15. Moore will face Fredricks again in the June 5 Republican primary. The winner of that race will then face Healy and Willis in the Nov. 6 general election.

The News Courier was unable to speak with Moore Tuesday but interviewed him by phone Wednesday. When asked what the difference was between his campaign and that of his opponent, Moore said honesty and integrity.

“I will be a representative of all the people,” he said. “Everybody will get a fair shake with me.”

Leading up to Tuesday’s primary runoff, Moore said he had visited more than 6,000 homes. He plans to keep the momentum going as May 15 approaches.

“Going door to door, I’ve heard the issues and concerns of the people in our area,” he said.

When asked about what issues he would focus on in Montgomery, Moore put job creation and prison reform at the top of the list. He believes in the value of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning and said the area needs to train more workers in the fields of robotics, cybersecurity and drone technology.

“I want to work with current businesses and industries to create internships for these kids so they can have the opportunity to find out if that’s what they want to do with their lives,” Moore said. “More often than not, they’re not looking to come back here. They’re looking to go to Nashville, Birmingham or Atlanta.”

In speaking on the prison system, Moore said he’s concerned about not only overcrowding but also mental health. He said the state has put mentally ill people in prison, which he said was wrong.

“We’ve done a way with a lot of funding for mental health,” he said. “I propose we restore that and get our prisoners with mental health issues out of our prison systems. The prisons are not equipped to take care of them.”