HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Tonight, Republican U.S. Representative Congressman Mo Brooks (5th Dist.) announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by Sen. Richard Shelby next year.
However, the announcement comes with some opposition. There's been a chorus of calls for Brooks to resign following his role in the "Stop the Steal Rally."
This rally led to the deadly insurrection on the Capitol on January 6th as lawmakers counted electoral votes from the 2020 General Election.
"We have a few principled conservatives, a handful," Brooks told WZDX News following the announcement. "Each time we make progress in putting more principled conservatives in the United States Senate then we're in a better position to protect the foundational principles that have combined to make America the greatest nation in world history."
The Alabama NAACP, along with local protestors, and one group called the "Accountability GOP Project" who displayed billboards, have all demanded Brooks to step down.
Today the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) officially submitted a complaint calling for Brooks to be disbarred from the Alabama Bar Association.
"He actually calls upon his experience as a prosecutor and as an attorney to bolster these completely false claims about election fraud. And so he's using his role as a lawyer to make himself seem more credible," says, SPLC Action Fund Staff Attorney, Alexandra Jordan.
Before the announcement, protestors gathered outside.
"He honestly should be allowed to run for his acts on January 5 and his inciting of an insurrection," said Huntsville protestor Remus Bowden. "But for whatever reason, if they decide not to continue and push forward, then I hope he does run so he can see that hate has no place here in Alabama."
Brooks is up against businesswoman and former Slovenia ambassador Lynda Blanchard.