MONTGOMERY — Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh is running for re-election as president of the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC), she confirmed in an interview with Yellowhammer News on Monday, stressing that the “Green New Deal is the most dangerous policy proposal of our lifetime.”
Cavanaugh, the former chair of the Alabama Republican Party and one of the most prominent conservative Trump-allies in Alabama, had raised some eyebrows on Friday with a tweet that implied she would be a candidate in 2020 but did not list an office.
Enjoying some of the highest name identification and favorability of any potential conservative candidate in an Alabama Republican primary field, Cavanaugh would have entered the U.S. Senate race as a favorite to make a run-off.
However, as she told Yellowhammer News on Monday, her place supporting President Donald Trump on the 2020 ticket will come defending her important role as head of the PSC, where she has been a staunch advocate for Alabama jobs, lowering utility rates, fighting for the coal industry against out-of-state special interest groups, cutting government waste and overhauling burdensome regulations.
“The 2020 election will be historic for so many reasons,” Cavanaugh said. “I look forward to being a part of it as I run for re-election to the Alabama Public Service Commission. I’m running because it is critical that we support President Trump’s agenda at all levels of government.”
She continued, “His energy and economic policies, which have brought about unprecedented prosperity in our country, are under attack from the liberal elite who see it as a threat to their control over our lives.”
Cavanaugh’s fight on behalf of the tens of thousands of Alabamians who rely on the coal industry for their livelihood became nationally recognized during the Obama administration, and the next radical environmentalist attack on Yellowhammer State jobs has already begun — this time in the form of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) so-called “Green New Deal.”
“We can fight AOC and Bernie Sanders right here in Alabama, at the PSC, by holding the line on an agenda that values life, freedom and our right to earn a living to take care of our families,” Cavanaugh told Yellowhammer News.
“AOC’s Green New Deal is the most dangerous policy proposal of our lifetime,” the PSC president emphasized. “She is attempting to take our country back to the dark ages for no other reason than to allow government to rule our lives. At the same time, our state is under attack from those who want to deny babies their basic right to life. There is so much at stake in 2020. I’ll fight AOC and her radical following every step of the way.”
Most recently, Cavanaugh has been leading the charge against robocalls at the PSC. After calling on the federal government to mandate the adoption of advanced call blocking technology and other anti-robocall measures earlier this year, the U.S. Senate last month passed a bill that would do just that. Additionally, AT&T and Comcast recently announced a major milestone in the fight against fraudulent robocalls and spoofing after Cavanaugh’s call-to-action.
Last year, Cavanaugh served as co-chair of Alliance for a Pro-Life Alabama when the organization spearheaded the passage of the pro-life Amendment Two on the state’s general election ballot in November. She has long been known for her work fighting on the frontline for conservative causes, even before her tenure as the first female chair of the ALGOP; from pro-jobs policy issues to defending religious liberty, Cavanaugh’s conservative bonafides have been well established.
“President Trump needs our help to hold the line here in Alabama, and I plan to support him every way that I can,” Cavanaugh concluded.
She defeated Democrat Lucy Baxley in 2012 to take over the presidency of the PSC. At the time, Baxley was the last-remaining Democrat to hold statewide office.
Cavanaugh and her husband, Jeff, are longtime small business owners. They have three children and two grandchildren.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
