MOBILE — With 15 days to go until Republicans in Alabama’s First Congressional District head to the polls to select their preference for the GOP nod in November’s U.S. congressional general election, former State Sen. Bill Hightower is in a neck-and-neck race with Mobile County Commissioner Jerry Carl.

Each candidate has sought to present themselves as the best candidate to ally with President Donald Trump, who remains very popular among Alabama Republicans.

During an interview that aired on Huntsville radio’s WVNN, Hightower stressed his intentions to support the current commander-in-chief if he is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Republicans in this district give [Trump] a 90% approval rating,” he said. “So it is very important for me to affirm I am going to support the president with his initiatives. But his initiatives are not so ideological because he is a businessman. That is the kind of approach I understand.”

According to Hightower, his pledge to support Trump, should he be reelected, is demonstrated by his push for measures on pro-life issues while a state lawmaker.

“I’ve been one of the most conservative state senators … but I’ve also fought for things like pro-life, passing a bill to make the sale of baby body parts illegal in Alabama,” Hightower continued. “I condemned Doug Jones for his vote against the pain-capable abortion bill. And then also with the religious liberties issues, that talks about adoption and pro-life —  we have some states that are shutting down faith-based adoption agencies. Well, I passed a bill that made it illegal to do that. Now, the thing is each of these initiatives are very conservative, but our president has carried the ball on that. I want to help him carry that ball further down the field.”

Hightower said it would be the first two years of Trump’s second term, where there was an opportunity for accomplishments.

“The first two years of this presidency are going to be absolutely critical,” Hightower added. “We need people that can hit the ground running, and that’s one thing I can do with my legislative experience.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.