Welcome to the Showdown. This is Poli Sci Pulse’s biannual series which previews all of the races in Congressional Districts, or at least the ones that have two candidates squaring off against one another. This entry is about Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District, between incumbent Mike Rogers (R) and Democratic challenger Jesse Smith (D).

The demographics of the 3rd Congressional District are that the population is 64.9% white and 32.2% black, with other minorities finishing out the demographics. 51.7% of workers there are white collar, 33.1% are blue collar, and 15.2% are grey collar. In modern times, the district has been solidly Republican, but that trend has only existed since 1997, when former governor Bob Riley was elected to office. Henry B. Steagall is also from this district. Those concerned with the state of today’s economy will recognize him as one of the two politicians behind the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which regulated banks.

The district is comprised of Calhoun, Chambers, Clay, Cleburne, Lee, Macon, Randolph, Russell, St. Clair, Talladega, and Tallapoosa counties, as well as parts of Cherokee and Montgomery counties. Ballotpedia rates the election as “Safely Republican.” The candidate filing deadline was on November 6th, 2015, and the Alabama Congressional primaries were held on November 8th, 2016.

In the 2014 election, Mike Rogers ran against Democrat Jesse Smith (the same one running this time). At issue were three key votes that Rogers cast. One was a vote in 2014 that was in favor of suing President Obama for exceeding his constitutional authority. The second was a vote against a stopgap spending bill in 2013, which would have required a one-year delay on implementation of the Obamacare individual mandate, and stripped federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. Finally, he voted against reopening the government in 2013.

The incumbent, Mike Rogers (R) is not to confused with the other Mike Rogers (R) that is retiring this year. He won the Republican primary over Larry DiCharra, 76%-24%. In a state that utilizes an open primary system for Congressional candidates, this was no small feat.

The committees in Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood are the Armed Services Committee, where he is Chairman of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces; the House Committee on Agriculture; and the Committee on Homeland Security. He has strong views on Defense, Agriculture, cutting Government Waste, and Small Government.

On Defense, he believes the United States should be protected by a missile defense system, believes Israel is one of the States’ “key allies,” and believes there is a “nuclear ballistic missile” threat against the US and coming from Iran and North Korea. He has commented that swift action needs to be taken against ISIL. He’s noted that the threats that organization represents “are going to hit us.” He’s also opined that the only way Russia will stop its aggression in Ukraine is if Russian casualties increase. He voted for the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015, which was eventually vetoed by President Obama. He is also concerned that Syrian refugees, allowed to enter the country via executive order, might be members of ISIS. He wants to halt that immigration process until a “better vetting system is in place.” On December 11th, 2015, he stated that he was concerned that Russia was not going to be held accountable for their violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which prohibits the production of ground-launched cruise missiles with a range anywhere from 300-3,400 miles and also prohibits the manufacture and possession of launchers for those missiles. According to OANow.com, he believes the focus on illegal immigration should be centered on stopping drug traffickers.  He also wants to secure America’s borders. Finally, he also believes the 2015 House budget proposals for cutting defense are “intolerable.”

On Agriculture, he wants to pass a Farm Bill that is in Alabama’s best interests.  He also wants the next Farm Bill to help young people recognize “the economic benefit of going into agriculture, and we’re going to have to do some things to incentivize it, frankly.” He’s visited farmers in the 3rd District, where he remarked, “Whether its [sic] farm bill implementation or the burdensome regulations the EPA continues to impose on these folks, I will continue to fight for our farmers.” In fact, when he discovered that the EPA was funding the site “whatsupstream.com,” he and three other, Republican, Alabamian congressman signed a letter condemning the use of the site for “publicity or propaganda purposes not authorized by congress.”

On Waste, he believes that the TSA wastes money with its screening procedures as they currently stand, wanting a more “risk-based approach” to screenings. He also wants to improve FEMA’s disaster response program.  He’s also criticized the Air Force over its Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), in particular a $518 million satellite that had drawn Rogers’ ire. He questioned the Air Force’s top acquisition official and, after unsatisfactory answers, stated that it would have “saved the Air Force a lot of aggravation if we put half of a billion dollars in a parking lot and just burned it.” A provision was later proposed in 2016 for the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017, which would transition most of the space weather programs to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which would develop the satellite in question; underfund the satellite unless proof was given that the satellite could meet certain requirements; and require the Air Force to transfer the DMSP to the NRO.

Finally, he is for Small Government, as long as it is effective. He strongly believes that “he who governs best, governs least.” He is also pro-life, wants to protect Americans’ gun rights, balance the budget, and reform the tax code. He has also pushed back against the Obama administration directly. He’s propose the “Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act.”  This Act would prohibit the collection of names and addresses from “many non-profit organizations.” This is largely in response to the IRS scandal a few years ago, when the organization allegedly illegally targeted nonprofit conservative political groups for audits. The law would require the IRS to collect taxes without applying special targeting to any individual or group, regardless of political leanings.

On the other side of the aisle, the challenger, Jesse Smith (D), is the only Democrat to file to run against Mike Rogers.  He has his own campaign website and on it, he has a section called “My Platform,” which describes what he wants to do, how he will do it, and how he will pay for it. His platform can be summed up as Education, Economy, Healthcare, Veterans, Human Rights, Justice Reform, Gun Control, Climate Change, and anti-corruption.

The Democrat wants to fix education. He notes that college readiness is only at 18% in Alabama. To remedy this, the would-be Congressman wants to provide tuition-free college for al student, increase funding for teachers and students while at the same time decreasing spending on athletics and overall expanding the education budget, reorganize schools so that class sizes are smaller, and require that all school board members have educational experience.

Jesse wants to reform Healthcare. He laments that nine out of every ten deaths in Alabama are health-related and that 139,000 citizens of Alabama are currently in a “gap in healthcare coverage.” To fix this, the challenger wants to institute universal, single-payer healthcare lower prescription drug prices, and make paid sick leave and paid family leave mandatory for any company with employees.

The challenger wants to Rebuild the Middle Class. He laments that Alabama is the 3rd-poorest state. To remedy this, he plans to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, stop companies from outsourcing, ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work, raise the cap on taxable earnings on (and increase the payout of) Social Security, and create jobs for rebuilding infrastructure.

Mr. Smith wants Veterans to be given an opportunity to be successful after they have finished their service and return back home. To do this, he wants to create a “path to employment” for veterans and give them better healthcare. To prevent the creation of more veterans, the Democratic challenger was to move money away from the military industrial complex and towards the troops themselves. Finally, to also cut back on the creation of more veterans, he wants to go to war and use military force “only when diplomacy fails.” It is his hope that these policy will reduce the number of uninsured veterans and decrease the amount of homeless veterans in the process.

The Democrat from Alabama wants to preserve and protect human rights of all sorts. He wants to protect black rights by ending police discrimination, fight segregation in schools and communities, make sure that black youth are a part of federal jobs bills, and require an automatic Department of Justice investigations whenever anyone dies in police custody. He is also for the preservation of voting rights. He wants to make election day a federal holiday, trigger automatic voter registration when a citizen becomes 18 years old, and end voter ID laws that are too restrictive. On women’s rights, he wants to provide universal access to birth control, protect a woman’s right to make their own medical decisions, provide early childhood education for all children, and end the wage gap between men and women, by demanding that both sexes get paid equally. On immigrant rights, he wants to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, end problematic immigration policies, and support the DREAM Act. He also believes that LGBTQ persons should have the same rights as any heterosexual person.He plans to end workplace discrimination, put in place anti-bullying policies at schools, allow anyone to adopt regardless of gender or sexual orientation, and enforce the Supreme Court’s decision that legalized marriage for LGBTQ individuals.

The would-be Representative also wants to reform the criminal justice system. He laments Alabama’s overdose deaths have increased by 20%, and also feels that too many people are arrested for nonviolent drug offenses. To combat this, he wants to reform the justice system. First, he wants the police to be demilitarized, become a part of the communities they serve, and wants police whistleblowers to report misconduct “without fear of retaliation.” He also believes that cannabis users should not be subject to mandatory minimum sentencing (and wants to end that practice in general) and believes that addiction should be primarily treated as a “health concern” instead of prosecuting the addicted like criminals. Finally, he wants to end all for-profit prisons.

Mr. Smith, should he head to Washington, is tough on gun control. He laments that more people have been killed by guns in Alabama in the past 10 years than in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. To combat this problem, Mr. Smith will end gun show loopholes, enact a universal background check program for every purchase of any sort of firearm, and require that assault weapons owners purchase insurance on their firearms.

Challenger Smith also believes that climate change is a serious issue. To combat climate change, he wants to tax all carbon, phase out fossil fuel, and develop clean energy. This strategy would lead to a better, cleaner environment, as well as foster the creation of jobs.

The Democrat’s last plank of his platform is “End Political Corruption.” He loathes that small businesses are in debt while lobbyists are spending tons of money to buy Congress, and that Super PACS are receiving a lot of money from those very same lobbyists. To end political corruption, he will overturn Citizens United, end gerrymandering, and reinstitute campaign finance laws similar to that of McCain-Feingold.

Finally, Mr. Smith knows that this plan will be expensive. He has a plan to to pay for it. He will do so by moving money away from what he calls “wasteful endeavors,” raise the limit on taxable income from Social Security, end corporate tax loopholes, tax Wall Street speculation, and legalize cannabis for recreational use and tax it accordingly.

The difference between security-oriented Mike Rogers and socially-oriented Jesse T. Smith is stark. Cast a vote in comment section below for who you would vote for, whether you are able to in reality or not.