Editor note: this story was updated to reflect the correct date of the forum.

Monday night, March 7, Republican gubernatorial candidates gathered for a forum with the Athens-Limestone Republican Women.

Gubernatorial candidates Lindy Blanchard, Tim James and Dean Odle attended, with a surprise appearance from U.S. Senate candidate, Representative Mo Brooks.

Each candidate had a few minutes to tell the room why they chose to participate in the gubernatorial race, what qualifies them as a gubernatorial candidate and what they plan to accomplish with their candidacy.

Each candidate spoke on the COVID-19 pandemic, education, the Russia-Ukraine war, inflation and other pertinent issues to voters in Alabama.

Brooks opened the night addressing campaign ads against his candidacy.

“Contrary to what they may say, I do not hate our military. I’m not the best buddies of the Islamic State or outside. But this is the funny season, we’ve got about another two or three months of it.”

“So be ready for it,” said Brooks.

“There are no kinds of constraints on what somebody can say in these kinds of ads. And I’m up against a lot of powerful special interest groups. They’re funding this, to a large degree, and they want anybody but Mo Brooks because I put America first and that’s not what they want.”

He went on to encourage voters to recognize the importance of the Senate race to the democratic process, asserting the Senate race as the second most important vote a citizen can cast.

“Now, this particular race, this is the United States Senate seat. This is not a board of education or a city council, state legislator or mayor. Ok, this is the United States Senate. It is probably the second most important vote that you’re going to cast, affecting the outcome of your country, the United States of America,” said Brooks. “So, I urge you to do your homework, so that you will know what the true facts may be before you go vote.”

Following Brooks’ remarks, Odle addressed the audience regarding the impact of mask mandates on religious and educational institutions.

He expressed constitutional concerns regarding the way Gov. Kay Ivey handled the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in her decision making. He attributes his decision to run for governor as a direct response to Ivey’s early COVID-19 policies.

“The prison system is a disaster, education is a dead disaster, but mainly the Coronavirus pandemic is what really pushed me into this because, as a pastor, when she (Ivey) made the decrees, the mandates to shut down our schools and our churches and our businesses, I just said, you know, this is unconstitutional,” said Republican gubernatorial candidate Dean Odle. “I knew immediately that my First Amendment rights are being violated, not just as an American, but as a pastor.”

Odle was faced with a decision regarding how he would use his disposition to impact the state of Alabama.

“Well, I said, apart from taking up arms and praying, I said, we run for office and change things. And she said, Well, you could run for governor. And of course, I laughed at her. And I walked into my office, my prayer room, to get ready for church the next morning, and I felt from the Lord, and he said, ‘that’s exactly what I want you to do,’” said Odle.

Odle ended with conveying how his vocation as a pastor fundamentally shapes his gubernatorial candidacy and his social and political disposition.

“That’s why I’m out here running because, you know, as a shepherd, as a pastor, you want to protect people from lies and deception, and you want to protect people from harm,” said Odle. “And even then that should be the heart of true leadership. Even governmental leadership should be there to protect people from the evil doers.”

Following Odle, James addressed the audience regarding the impact modern-day Marxism has on the nation and the citizens of Alabama.

“The Scripture says the Lord says, ‘My yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ What they have done to the nation is put us in the yoke, and we’ve been watching this thing. It’s not new, Marxist. This stuff, common core, critical race theory, all of this junk. It’s nothing new, nothing new under the sun. It has been going on in different categories for years and years,” said James. “The one thing that is consistent is that the attack always is our job, our children, and our culture, our boys and God.”

He went on to add to what Odle had said in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. He addressed COVID-19’s relation to the Spanish flu and the bubonic plague and Ivey’s actions with mandates and restrictions.

“By the time we got into the fall of the year (2020), I knew that something was up. Yes, it is a pandemic. Yes, it was serious. But it wasn’t the Spanish flu or the bubonic plague, except they continued acting like it was. They started, as pastor said, shutting things down, letting some things stay open,” said James.

James expressed concerns regarding elementary age kids in Alabama falling behind in curriculum during the pandemic, attributing the loss of learning to the wearing of masks.

“We know now that they have fallen three years behind in their learning stuff. Why? Because they learn from sound, put a muzzle, put your hand over your mouth and try to make the sound of a D as in dog or C as in cat. You learn from the sound, children learn to speak and they learn to read. That’s what phonics is. It’s the sound,” said James. “We know now that these little ones are reaching up trying to always grab the mask of the mom and the dad. They’re not playing. They are trying to pull the mask down so they can see their mom’s face because it gives them assurance. That is what this is about.”

Blanchard continued James’ discussion regarding the state of the education system in Alabama, adding the controversy around critical race theory and common core math. Blanchard’s education is in the field of mathematics, and, as such, she spent several minutes addressing the numeracy bill, common core math, and Alabama’s standing in mathematics.

“I’m also pro school choice. I’ve educated seven children in this state; we have run the gamut of all different types of education. I’ve also partnered with other schools, charter schools and private schools. So I’m very familiar with our school system,” said Blanchard. “I had two come and ask me to help do their math. Explain that. I showed them the math. And they said, ‘mom, you didn’t do it right. That’s not right.’ And I said, this is the math that got us to the moon. This is right math.”

In closing, Blanchard expressed her desire to be a protector of the state of Alabama and its citizens. She promised to give a voice to those who share her values.

“I can work for you as governor and protect the state from the Chinese, from the Russians, from the Democrats. They’re trying to take over. From the crazies that are trying to teach our children common core math, which by the way, I’ll rip the rug out from under that. From the crazies that are trying to teach our children CRT under 20 different names, however they can pull it in,” said Blanchard. “I want to be that protector for you, because I want to give your voice that because you deserve a voice.”

At the close of the night, candidates answered any remaining questions from audience members and participated in a meet-and-greet.