Candidate for Lt. Governor visits Enterprise
Article written by Michelle Mann - eprisenow.com June 19, 2009
A state senator from Shelby County is seeking election as Alabama’s next lieutenant governor, and Wednesday he was in Enterprise to meet with the Coffee County Republican Women’s Club.
His decision to run for the state’ second-highest elected office, Senator Hank Erwin said, was formalized as he watched Alabama legislators vote to approve themselves a 62 percent pay raise.
“That was just the wrong thing to do.” Erwin said. He emphasized that he was among the few state lawmakers who turned down the pay raise and he called approval of the large raise “flagrant robbery.” State legislators approved the pay raise in 2007 in their first action in that year’s legislatiive session.
“That is when I felt compelled to run for lieutenant governor,” he said Wednesday.
Among the lieutenant governor’s most important duties is presiding over sessions of the Alabama State Senate when the Legislature is in session. The lieutenant governor also plays a key role in setting the agenda for each session of the state Senate and in determining when, or if, pieces of legislation are to be considered by the 35 state senators.
Erwin said attracting the motion picture industry to Alabama is among his economic development goals for the state. That is a clean industry which creates jobs and income, he explained. “Some people are under the misconception that you cannot produce films unless you are in Hollywood,” Irwin said. He added that meetings with movie industry leaders confirmed for him that there is a interest in their firms coming to Alabama to make movies.
Erwin was named Legislator of the Year by the Veterans of Foreign Wars for his work on veterans’ issues and veterans remain a focus of his support.
“My father earned a Congressional Medal of Honor,” he said. “I grew up keenly aware of veteran’s issues.”
Erwin is the only Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in the Nov. 2, 2010 general election.. He will face incumbent Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, Jr., a Democrat.
