House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels saw shocking poverty on campaign trail, spending summer mulling future

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — After an intensely busy start to 2024 Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels is trying to slow down this summer, spending extended time with his family in Huntsville and thinking about his future.

Daniels lost his bid for the newly-drawn U.S. House District 2 seat in a runoff with Democrat Shomari Figures. At the same time, Daniels maintained his role as the leader of the Democrats in the Alabama House.

The new congressional District 2 covers a territory that runs from Mobile to Montgomery and stretches across the state. Daniels said he campaigned throughout the district visiting even the sparsely-populated cities six or seven times. He went through multiple drivers along the way and was shocked by how desperate the needs are in that portion of the state.

“We’re very fortunate and blessed in North Alabama, more than we can ever imagine,” he said. “When there are communities with no after-school or summer programs and we’re expecting children to be able to operate academically at the level that they need to.

“When there are no hospitals or maternal care and hospitals in various counties with there are more than 15-16,000 people, and a mother, an expecting mother has to drive 90 miles one way or 114 miles the other way to have a baby.”

In a recent podcast interview, Daniels hinted he might be looking at other ways to engage in public service, outside the legislature.

But he told News 19 Tuesday that he is not someone who leaves a job unfinished.

“I’m committed to taking the next couple of years, the remainder of my term, to help those communities that I observed during the campaign trail,” he said. “There’s obviously blind spots in your life, things that you don’t see and things that you are unaware of. However, the things that I saw tell me there is a tremendous amount of need throughout the state of Alabama, that has to be addressed.”

Daniels has maintained a hectic schedule during his 10 years in the legislature, traveling across the state repeatedly. He said this summer is about focusing on his family and spending as much time with his children, ages 8 and 6, as possible. Daniels said this is the first time in nine years he’s spent two straight weeks at home.

So it’s a time of slowing down, taking the kids to camps and summer programs, and working on projects around the house. But he’s also reflecting on what he’s seen. He said it was “unimaginable,” the scale of need. He wants to figure out how to help. And, he wants to figure out how to help the state’s leaders understand the depths of poverty and need.

Daniels said he’s proud of the work he’s done in the legislature, cutting taxes on overtime pay, establishing a child care tax credit, and stopping bills that needed to be stopped. But he was stunned to see counties with no after-school or summer programs for kids, limited pre-K, no quality grocery stores in the community, and no nearby medical care.

He said he realizes holding public office isn’t necessary to be effective in bringing about change and something has to be done.

“We don’t see those things in our community,” he said. “I’m telling you, if people really saw what I saw they would be embarrassed that we didn’t do more.”

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