Alabama Democratic Party changes: Josh Coleman, Tabitha Isner to run for chair

The Alabama Democratic Party is preparing to pick a new leader for the second time in less than three years.

At least two candidates for party chair have emerged since the party announced last week that state Rep. Chris England of Tuscaloosa would not seek another term.

Josh Coleman of Birmingham and Tabitha Isner of Montgomery have announced they are running to replace England as the head of a party that is struggling to regain its footing after more than a decade of domination by Republicans and a deep split within its own ranks.

The State Democratic Executive Committee will meet August 13 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex to elect officers, at-large members, and diversity caucuses.

England has been chair since November 2019, when the SDEC elected him during a bitter fight over leadership. England replaced Nancy Worley, who had been chair since 2013.

Isner, 41, helped organize a grassroots push that helped bring about that change in 2019. She ran for party chair and finished second to England.

Isner was the Democratic nominee for Congress in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District in 2018, a race she lost to then-U.S. Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery. Isner is a business analyst for a software company and an ordained Christian minister.

Coleman, 32, was named the city of Birmingham’s first LGBTQ liaison by Mayor Randall Woodfin in 2018. Coleman is deputy director of the division of social justice and racial equity for the city. He is also director of the city’s Academy for Civic Engagement, which teaches residents how government works and how to be involved, a program that has had more than 1,000 participants.

Coleman is president of Central Alabama Pride, president of Alabama Young Democrats, and represents Alabama on the Democratic National Committee.

Isner, as one of the advocates for change in the party three years ago, is disappointed by what has happened since. She said promises made when England was elected chair have not been kept. For example, she said the SDEC has not held a meeting since that November 2019 except for a webinar-style online meeting that she said did not give committee members a chance to talk.

“We need leadership,” Isner said. “I love the Alabama Democratic Party like I love my country. Which is to say that I’m inspired by its best ideals and disappointed in its failure to live up to those ideals. And like all of us, I share in responsibility for making the party what we dream of it being.”

Party chair is a nonpaying position. Isner said she’s willing to serve in that spot because of the urgency for the Democratic Party to become a potent force in shaping state policies. Republicans hold every statewide office and about three-fourths of the seats in the Legislature.

“I don’t see how Alabama escapes its current situation if we don’t have a two-party system where problems are earnestly debated and solutions are carefully weighed,” Isner said. “That doesn’t happen in a single-party state.

“I look around and see my neighbors struggling. I see all the ways in which Alabama is a difficult place to live, to raise your children, to get health care. And I don’t see a way forward without having a functional Democratic Party. I’ll do whatever I can to be part of fixing that.”

At the November 2019 where England replaced Worley as chair, the SDEC added caucuses with new members representing youth, Hispanics, Asians/Pacific islanders, Native Americans, and LGBTQ. The idea was to build the party by reaching out to more people.

Isner said the diversity caucuses have not had a chance to exert the influence that was intended, partly because the SDEC has not met since they were created. She acknowledges the COVID-19 pandemic has been a factor but said more should have happened.

“For me, the biggest thing is making promises and keeping them,” Isner said. “That’s how we build trust. And the state party just hasn’t done that in so long, has made promises and not kept to them. And there’s just so much skepticism about the Democratic Party, both from Democrats and with the wider public.

“We can’t heal that reputation and reestablish a reputation as a trustworthy party until we make it a priority to be fully present, keeping our promises, doing what we say we’re going to do. And I think that’s something I can bring. I can bring the character and integrity to follow through on promises made.”

In 2017, Coleman led an initiative of the Alabama Young Democrats to visit every county in the state, listen to Democrats, and put them in touch with each other.

“We traveled to all 67 counties and we talked to Democrats literally in every county,” Coleman said. “There were places where it may have been in a Jack’s restaurant and there may have been three people show up. But we were there in their community. We talked to them and listened to the frustrations they had in the political climate about the state party. About their own elected officials.

“And we saw early on that this was an opportunity. We were obviously trying to get young people involved in this program. But we realized early on that there were mature Democrats, seasoned Democrats, that were also out there that were showing up to these events.”

That was during the time that led to Doug Jones’ win in the December 2017 special election for the U.S. Senate, the Democrats’ first statewide win since 2008. Coleman said the 67-county strategy helped build county chapters of the Young Democrats and energize county chapters for the state party.

The Democratic Party was unable to follow up on Jones’ win in 2017, losing all the statewide races in 2018. Jones lost his seat to Tommy Tuberville in 2020.

Coleman said the Democrats had a good slate of candidates in 2018. He said those candidates did not have the benefit of a strong party infrastructure for fundraising and other programs that can support campaigns. Coleman said the party has since made up ground in building those resources.

“When we elected Chairman England there was a lot of hope,” Coleman said. “But it was also pre-COVID. I’m not saying COVID is an excuse. But in terms of organizing and being in communities where people are, I think COVID dampened that a little bit.”

Coleman said he believes the party has gotten stronger with more training and made up deficiencies in online outreach that were the subject of criticism a couple of years ago.

“For the first time we actually had a social media presence, which is great,” Coleman said. “It’s moving us further into the 21st century. We got online. We got a functioning website. We got functioning social media platforms, not just Facebook. The party’s on Twitter. The party’s on Instagram. The party’s interacting with voters who are on their social media platforms.”

Coleman said the Democratic Party can gain ground with Alabama voters by welcoming their opinions and participation as broadly as possible.

“Whether that be young voices, far left progressives, or if that’s older voices that are more moderate Democrats who have historically won in Alabama, let’s make sure we’re engaging these folks and making sure that we’re the big tent party that we claim to be,” Coleman said.

The Democratic Party’s deep split on leadership heated up after the party’s organizational meeting in August 2018, when Worley was reelected chair over a candidate backed by Jones. Grassroots organizers, the DNC, and Jones were involved in the efforts that eventually led to Worley’s replacement by England.

Worley had a large faction of backers who tried unsuccessfully to block those changes, including with lawsuits that failed. Joe Reed, leader of the Alabama Democratic Conference, the party’s most influential Black organization, supported Worley.

Reed said last week the ADC would support of slate of candidates, Black and white, for chair and the other positions, at the August 13 meeting.