HUNTSVILLE — During a Tuesday morning meeting of the Republican Women of Huntsville, Jessica Taylor announced the end of her U.S. Senate candidacy and endorsed her former opponent, “Black Hawk Down” U.S. Army aviator Mike Durant.
The announcement comes on the heels of Durant this week launching his campaign’s “Alabama First” tour, which will soon see the candidate make stops in Alabama’s Wiregrass region. Taylor was a 2020 candidate for Alabama’s second congressional district, which encompasses Durant’s upcoming campaign stops.
Durant also plans to officially qualify as a candidate for the U.S. Senate Tuesday afternoon at the Alabama Republican Party headquarters in Birmingham.
According to recent independent polling, Durant sits in third place with 16.6% of support among likely Republican primary voters, polling behind U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) and former Business Council of Alabama CEO Katie Britt.
The poll, conducted in early December, showed Taylor garnering 4% of support among the Republican base.
Durant has centered his campaign platform around combatting President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. A first-time candidate, Durant is running as a candidate that is willing to take on “career politicians.”
In announcing the endorsement, Taylor asserted that her support for Durant’s candidacy stemmed from his standing as a “political outsider.”
“I ran for office because we need more political outsiders who will stand up to the radical left and career politicians. Mike Durant is the political outsider that Alabama needs in Washington, and I am proud to endorse his campaign for United States Senate,” proclaimed Taylor. “Mike has spent his life serving our country and building a successful business. Like President Trump, Mike will use his business experience and outsider perspective to deliver for Alabama and drain the swamp. I look forward to supporting Mike’s campaign and sending him to Washington for one more mission.”
Durant expressed appreciation to Taylor over the endorsement and indicated that he would be a change agent as a member of the upper chamber of Congress.
“I’d like to thank Jessica Taylor for all that she has done for conservatives in Alabama and for her support of our growing campaign,” stated Durant. “For too long, career politicians who have never held a real job in their life have made poor decisions that have left Alabama families behind and put America last. I’m running to change that.”
The primary election is slated to occur on May 24, 2022.
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
Mike Durant, Republican candidate in Alabama’s 2022 U.S. Senate race, recently joined the “Jocko Podcast” for a wide-ranging interview.
During the interview, Durant touched on his military service and detailed how his being held a prisoner of war while on mission in Somalia during the Battle of Mogadishu served as the inspiration for the film “Black Hawk Down.”
Durant also spoke to his business record as a defense contractor and outlined some of the core tenets of his candidacy.
When asked how he came to make the decision to run for the Senate, Durant advised that he was urged to launch a bid due to what he referred to as his “real-world experience.”
“I was asked to consider it. The reason I was asked to consider it was because I do have that real world experience. And I have, it has to be dusted off a little bit, but I have name recognition,” asserted Durant. “There’s a lot of veterans in Alabama, there’s a lot of people that are going to remember the story, there’s a huge aviation presence. … And having that resume plus the business resume is a real — it’s very very appealing to the Alabama voter.”
The first-time candidate suggested that the voting base longed for political outsiders, pointing to the electoral successes of U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin (R-VA).
“The fact that I’m not a career politician — people are looking for a different answer,” he continued. “You look at Glenn Youngkin. You know, a big part of why he won is because he’s a fresh face with a new idea and real world experience. It’s the same thing. Tommy Tuberville, our current senator who I would serve with… it’s the same thing. Never been a politician before… But I’ve met with him, he’s doing an awesome job. He really works hard to understand the process and he cares about the state.”
Durant added, “You know, that’s what it should be all about. It shouldn’t be about trying to further your own political career. It should be ‘I’m here to serve the people of Alabama and the nation’… The things that you vote on matter across the board. I think that we have to have people there that have integrity and are there for the right reasons, and that’s why I’m doing it.”
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
U.S. Senate hopeful Mike Durant on Wednesday released a new television spot in which the candidate takes exception to President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
The new television ad is Durant’s third spot of the 2022 primary election cycle. His campaign’s initial ad, which was first reported by Yellowhammer News, featured Durant touting his military service while sporting his Army aviator jumpsuit aboard a Black Hawk helicopter.
The campaign’s new ad titled, “Mandates,” turns Durant’s attention to Biden over the president’s policies regarding COVID-19 vaccination.
The ad features Durant at his defense contracting company, Pinnacle Solutions, asserting that Biden’s vaccine decrees would serve to cost his employees their jobs.
“Career politicians in Washington astound me with their stupidity, and Biden’s vaccine mandate, it takes the cake,” says Durant.
“Running my defense company here in Alabama, vaccine mandates cost me engineers and people with top level security clearances. They’ll be gone,” the candidate adds. “No vaccine mandates, no more scare tactics on the China virus, and no more career politicians.”
Watch:
In a statement outlining his opposition to vaccine mandates, Durant lambasted “career politicians” while making note of his experience as a business owner.
“I’m sick of career politicians who have never had a real job telling me how to run my business,” said Durant. “I built a successful business right here in Alabama that employs over 500 people — I know what it takes. My message is clear: No more China virus scare tactics and no more vaccine mandates.”
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
The U.S. Senate campaign of Mike Durant on Wednesday showcased its newly-released television spot featuring the candidate taking aim at President Joe Biden and “career politicians.”
The ad features Durant, whose military heroics were famously brought to the national stage by way of the movie “Black Hawk Down,” sporting his aviator jumpsuit aboard a Black Hawk helicopter.
The opening scene shows Durant praising the accomplishments of former President Donald Trump before setting his sights on Biden.
“President Trump did so much right. He took on China, cut taxes and strengthened our military,” proclaims Durant. “And Joe Biden? I’m disappointed from the moment he gets up in the morning — vaccine mandates, paying people not to work, a pathetic exit from Afghanistan.”
Watch:
The first-time candidate has centered his campaign theme around positioning himself as a political outsider who stands willing to take on what he refers to as “career politicians,” which is the title of the new ad spot.
The ad concludes, “Washington is filled with career politicians who didn’t serve their country and never had a real job. I’m running for U.S. Senate to change that.”
Alongside the newly-released television advertisement, Durant also announced the hiring of Ben Richardson as his campaign manager.
Richardson, a Republican campaign consultant, recently launched Arete Consulting, LLC, a Montgomery-based business management and political consulting firm. Richardson previously worked on numerous prominent campaigns throughout Alabama, including serving as manager of former U.S. Rep. Martha Roby’s (R-Montgomery) congressional campaign.
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
Mike Durant, famously known for his heroics in the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” incident, has formally declared his candidacy to seek to Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.
In announcing his bid for the U.S. Senate, Durant lambasted President Joe Biden over what he sees as the administration’s failures.
“The career politicians have ruined this country, and their leader Joe Biden is pushing us to the brink,” said Durant. “Between ridiculous vaccine mandates, trillions in spending, and constant assaults on innocent life and the 2nd Amendment, it’s clear that we need to mobilize people from outside of politics to step forward and serve.”
The first-time candidate, who is running as a political outsider, gave a nod to the accomplishments of former President Donald Trump.
“President Trump showed us what’s possible when outsiders step forward and take on the insiders and the politicians,” he added. “I’ve spent my life either in service to my nation or focused on growing a successful business in Alabama. I’m not going to sit idly by while Joe Biden and the career politicians wreck the country I love. I’m signing up for one more tour of duty. I’m running for U.S. Senate.”
Yellowhammer News in early September first reported of Durant exploring the possibility of launching a campaign for the U.S. Senate.
While on combat mission Operation Gothic Serpent in Mogadishu, Somalia, Durant’s Black Hawk helicopter was struck by an RPG and crashed within the city’s interior. The crash resulted in Durant and his crew suffering severe injuries.
As a violent mob approached the injured crew, two members of the elite Special Operations unit Delta Force stepped in to defend them. All of Durant’s fellow servicemen were overcome by the mob.
Durant, the incident’s lone survivor, was captured and held as a Prisoner of War by Somali General Mohamed Farrah Aidid for 11 days. Durant credits the bravery of his fellow Americans in combat as the reason why he survived the horrors which took place.
As part of his announcement, the Durant campaign released an introductory video called “God Made a Soldier,” which tells the story of the candidate’s service and his inspiration to run for the U.S. Senate.
Watch:
Durant, in his announcement, noted the pledge he was given as he was detained behind enemy lines, which was that American forces would not abandon him. His campaign contrasted this uniquely American sentiment to the crisis which engulfed Afghanistan as Americans were stranded in the war-torn country following the withdrawal of U.S. military personnel.
“Irene” served as the code word go-signal for Operation Gothic Serpent, which his campaign said is a “warning for all career politicians.”
The release further states that the Biden administration is “cowering” to Chinese influence as the communist regime “evades responsibility” for what his campaign calls the “Wuhan Virus.” Durant’s campaign also levied an attack against the administration’s lax border policies and progressives’ support of “distorted revisions” of history through Critical Race Theory teachings.
The Durant campaign heaped praise on the prior administration as the candidate believes Trump was the first president to have consistently fought for “America First” policies, which he says he will fight for as senator.
In 2006, Durant authored a book detailing the events which took place while on mission in Somalia and his military career titled, “In the Company of Heroes.” Additionally, he wrote “The Night Stalkers,” outlining the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment in which he served.
Upon completing his 22-year Army career of active-duty service, Durant and his family moved to Alabama, where he founded Huntsville-based engineering services company Pinnacle Solutions.
The company employs over 500 people and has over 175 subcontractor personnel operating in 16 locations nationally and abroad. Durant’s firm holds prime and subcontracts supporting the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, NASA and the U.S. Special Operations Command.
Durant holds a bachelor’s degree in professional aeronautics and an MBA in aviation from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
The highly decorated veteran has received a number of awards in recognition of his military service.
Among the awards Durant holds are the Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star with Valor device, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, three Air Medals, one with Valor device, the POW/MIA ribbon, the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and numerous other awards.
He and his wife Lisa, who was also an Army aviator, reside in Madison and have a family of six children, three grandchildren with a fourth soon-to-be addition.
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
Prisoner of War and Purple Heart recipient Mike Durant is exploring the possibility of entering Alabama’s 2022 race for the U.S. Senate.
Sources say a poll was conducted that included Durant, which he later confirmed to Yellowhammer News.
Durant served as a special operations pilot for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) from 1988 to 2001, when he retired from the Army as chief warrant officer 4. His military service is well-documented as he was at the center of the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” incident which remains one of the most intriguing war stories in modern American history.
While on mission at the Battle of Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War, the Black Hawk helicopter he was piloting crashed after being struck by an RPG, which led to Durant being captured by Somali militia forces. Eighteen of his fellow servicemen died in battle. The incident’s lone American survivor, Durant was held captive for 11 days. Upon being freed, Durant continued his service as he went on to resume flying for his Regiment.
In 2006, Durant authored “In the Company of Heroes: The Personal Story Behind Black Hawk Down,” which provides an intimate account of the events that occurred.
Durant is president & CEO of aerospace engineering and product development firm Pinnacle Solutions, Inc. The company is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business headquartered in Huntsville and holds satellite locations in Kentucky and California. Pinnacle provides an array of services to industry partners as well as the Department of Defense (DOD) and NASA.
The highly-decorated war veteran obtained a bachelor’s degree in professional aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where he went on to earn his MBA in aviation.
Durant serves on the boards of directors for Special Operations Warrior Foundation and Still Serving Veterans.
After his military service, Durant became politically active as he held veterans leadership roles for President George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign as well as the 2008 presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
When asked about his potential candidacy for the U.S. Senate, Durant told Yellowhammer News that he will inevitably make a decision based on “what’s best for the state.”
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL