TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa resident Johnny C. Cochran has officially qualified to appear on the ballot as the Libertarian Party candidate in a three-candidate race for U.S. Congressional District Four.
Cochran, 38, is a husband and father of two who said his primary reason for running is rapid inflation and its impact on everyday Alabamians. He claims the inflation over the last few years is due in part to federal government overspending and overreach.
A graduate of Vestavia Hills High School in 2002, he went on to earn a degree from the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business, becoming a member of the inaugural Business Honors program.
“How are middle class families and the most vulnerable among us supposed to survive while our income stagnates and the cost of everything, including basic necessities, rises?” Cochran said in his official campaign announcement. “The two old parties blame each other, when in fact they are both to blame alongside the harmful economic interference and poisonous policies of the Federal Reserve. The American people are over-taxed, the government spends more than they take in and then all this new money shows up out of thin air causing disastrous inflation.”
Cochran then pointed to the federal debt, which he said has skyrocketed since 1997 when Aderholt was elected, climbing from $5 trillion to over $30 trillion.
“For people who claim to be fiscally responsible, by any measure this can be called nothing other than a failure,” Cochran said. “You better believe I would be the digital age Paul Revere, ringing the alarm bells that the debt amounts to more than $90,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. Once elected, I will work tirelessly to stop the irresponsible madness of reckless spending that both the Democratic and the Republican parties in Washington, D.C. have created and perpetuated in our nation.”
Cochran mentioned his longtime involvement in Republican politics since 2002, pointing to his volunteer work for Congressman Ron Paul during the 2008 and 2012 Republican primary campaigns.
He then said he officially switched party registration after the 2020 election and is working with the Libertarian Party of Alabama to form an affiliate for Tuscaloosa County.
“While I was proud to support Paul’s campaign, I became disillusioned by how the Republican party operates,” he said. “The powerful elites at the top call all the shots, and the voices of the people on the ground, the voters, only get paid lip service …. The future battles in this country will not be between progressives and conservatives, but between centralization of power versus decentralization. We need to restrain D.C. as much as we can and kick as much decision-making power down to Montgomery, then restrain Montgomery to have as much autonomy in our local communities.”
The first interest meeting of the Tuscaloosa County affiliate of the Alabama Libertarian Party will be hosted at Harry’s Bar, which is located at 1330 Hargrove Road, Tuscaloosa. The meeting will be on June 28 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
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