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Candidates › Alabama U.S. Senate race › 2025–2026
Dakarai Larriett
DemocraticU.S. SenateAlabama
Has not served in Congress
- On the ballot
- Lost the Democratic primary runoffJun 16, 2026 · 41,852 votes (45.4%) · 2 of 2 · count stopped at 98% reporting · Everett Wess is on the November ballot
- Where to vote
- Find your polling place (opens in a new tab) · More ways to vote
- Top priorities
- HEALTHCARE
- EDUCATION
- SAFE COMMUNITIES
- JOBS & OPPORTUNITY
- 2ND AMENDMENT
- Money
- $158K raised, $155K spent, $3K cash on hand (through Sep 30, 2026). Where it comes from
- Who gives
- 58% of individual money from donors at $200 or less · 55% from Alabama · largest committee giver ELIZABETH ANDERSON FOR CONGRESS, $2K
- Backed by
- Mothers United Against Gun Violence · Preserving Diversity in America · Alabama College Democrats and 35 more. As the campaign lists them
7 priorities from dakarailarriett.com, in the order they are listed there. Every heading and the text under it is copied exactly, as one passage for each page it is from, and links to that place on the page; hover a source to see which passage it opens.
WHAT I STAND FOR ↗ (opens dakarailarriett.com at this heading)
Every Alabamian deserves access to quality, affordable healthcare. Healthcare ought to be a human right, not a commodity. We can lower prescription drug costs and protect rural hospitals — while also ensuring that honest working families aren’t one medical emergency away from financial ruin. Let’s pursue common-sense solutions that put people and patients over politics and insurance companies.
I believe in and respect science. I would oppose Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-style nominees for healthcare posts. I am pro-vaccine, pro-medicare, and pro-medicaid expansion (by eliminating income restrictions). I oppose the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” (which I call the “One Big Billionaire Bill”), because the bill trades hospitals for tax cuts for the wealthy; it transfers wealth from the poor to the rich.
Inadequate reproductive and maternal health care does not equate to caring for our women. Our state’s Black Belt has already lost rural hospitals. As a result, I know a lady who will need to travel two hours each way to obtain medical care. For our seniors especially, this struggle is unacceptable.
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Strong schools are the foundation of a stronger Alabama. Every child — no matter where they are — deserves access to the kind of education that prepares them to become employable, responsible members of our communities. We must support our teachers with good wages, expand our technical and job training programs, and ensure that parents have a voice in their children’s education.
My grandfather studied in a three-room, Rosenwald school through eighth grade. For undergraduate and graduate school, my mom attended Alabama State University, where she met my dad. When my mom was a public school teacher in the 1990s, schools in Birmingham were not delivering the superior education that students deserved. She entered me in a magnet school, where I received a great education. Previous generations invest in future generations.
Reestablishing a robust Department of Education will be a priority of mine. Educating our children ought to offer a good start to every child, and pre-kindergarten to college ought to be affordable. Everyone should have access to a quality education, and I support standards-setting and enforcement.
The Choose Act will bankrupt the state. There ought to be quality, base-line public education, and I am concerned about the Choose Act. In particular, thanks to the coming income cap elimination; it subsidizes education for wealthy people who do not need the financial assistance.
We need to stop raiding the education trust fund to fuel the school-to-prison pipeline by building prisons instead of better-funding schools.
Not everyone has the ability to travel to a better school. Kids should have the opportunity to excel and live a full life in Alabama. A fully funded Department of Education supports special needs in public schools. No one who needs special education ought to go without it.
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Every family deserves to feel safe in their home and in their community. That means supporting law enforcement, giving them the resources they need to do their jobs effectively — while also fostering mutual trust and accountability. We need policies that keep criminals off the streets, while ensuring that our justice system works for everyone.
To those of you familiar with my own personal experience, rest assured: it has not shaken my faith in law enforcement or my respect for the men and women who faithfully serve and protect us all every day.
I advocate for more just community-based policing policies and mental health care, because it is cheaper and more effective to fund education than it is to fund policing and prisons. I prefer preventing problems over dealing with the consequences of neglecting them. Community-based policing starts with education.
I went to the Alabama State House to address my own false arrest in Michigan, and I don’t want a wrongful arrest to happen to anyone else. My case was dismissed because the officers had qualified immunity. I oppose bills like the federal Back the Blue Act and HB 202 in Alabama, which actually reduce protection for the public. The Back the Blue Act duplicates state law, and it will lead to more mass incarceration. If mass incarceration worked, then Alabama would be the safest state in the nation, and it is not.
My proposed Motorist Bill of Rights will:
- Standardize Probable Cause for Traffic Stops: Establish a federal standard for probable cause to eliminate arbitrary “fishing expeditions” during traffic stops.
- Implement Objective Sobriety Testing: Transition to scientific and objective methods for sobriety testing, removing subjective roadside behavioral assessments.
- Ensure Timely Release of Body Camera Footage: Mandate the free release of body camera footage from traffic stops to a neutral third-party cloud within 24 hours. This will prevent the selective editing of evidence and enhance transparency.
- Reform Qualified Immunity: Either eliminate or significantly limit qualified immunity to hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct.
Community-based policing starts before the 911 call, with quality education, economic opportunity, and access to mental health care. In Jefferson County, the sheriff partners with mental health social workers, and it works great, and I seek to roll out similar programs more broadly. I attended the Birmingham Black Male Summit, where we discussed the front end of crime; inadequate education, economic opportunity and mental health access. I believe that everyone prefers to thrive and to live peacefully, and if given the tools, the result will be a satisfying and tranquil society. I don’t give up on anyone, and I believe in second chances.
Safety also means protecting our natural environment. After all, we all live here, and we all want clean water and air that is safe to breathe.
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Hard work should be rewarded, and Alabama should always be a place where businesses can thrive and workers get a fair shot. That means cutting red tape for small businesses, investing in our infrastructure, and bringing meaningful, high-paying jobs to our state. Let’s build an economy that benefits everyone.
When I graduated from University of Alabama, I could not find a job here, so I looked outside the state for employment. I will advocate for businesses that come here to be synchronized to our skill sets so that state education matches employer needs. As we attract businesses to the state, we offer tax incentives, and these businesses sometimes bring their own out-of-state employees to the project. Business incentives (our taxes) need to be compensated by employer commitments to employ locals. Relocating businesses need to offer jobs for local talent. In return, Alabama needs to offer job training programs to get people ready for the companies. We also need to invest in the right infrastructure. In Huntsville, roads and housing are not keeping up with industry, which leads to congestion and an affordability crisis.
My grandfathers worked in the Birmingham steel industry for ACIPCO and O’Neal Steel- I believe in unions, the PRO Act, fair wages and workplace safety for all workers. Alabamians deserve a raise and I support an increase to the federal minimum wage. I also support an inflation-adjusted living wage that will keep pace with the cost of life. No one who works full-time should be unable to afford their basic expenses. The Trump administration has decimated our Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the civil rights division of the Department of Justice. I support a robust EEOC to support American workers.
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I support the rights of responsible gun owners, and I also support common-sense safety measures to protect us all. I support keeping guns out of the hands of violent or otherwise dangerous criminals, including those on terrorist watch lists, as well as keeping firearms from those who pose a threat to themselves or others. We can all agree on these safety measures. For example, Republican gun owners favor universal background checks to buy a gun (80%), raising the minimum age to buy an assault-style weapon to 21 (64%), and red flag laws (57%). Respecting the second amendment is consistent with keeping our citizens safe with training programs, background checks, and red flag laws.
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As the son of a U. S. Army veteran, I know how important a strong military is to protecting not only America, but our very way of life. We must invest in modern defense strategies to keep our country safe, while — at the same time — ensuring that our veterans get the care, support, and respect they deserve when they return home.
Dad’s military deployments were stressful for both him and the family. This work often leads to mental health and addiction challenges. We must take care of veterans, which means maintaining a robust Department of Veteran’s Affairs and helping vets understand what their benefits are and how to access them. We need to stay out of wars of choice, and we must ensure that congress asserts its Article 1 war powers authority. The Defense budget will soon top one trillion per year, which is more than half of the nation’s current discretionary spending. An important national security issue is Elon Musk’s no-bid contracts and his ketamine addiction. Eliminating no-bid contracts will save tax money and promote our security.
I want to be clear: I will never accept donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). This reflects a broader policy of declining contributions from any PAC or individual whose values or ethics do not align with my own.
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Faith is a guiding light for so many of us, myself included. I’ve drawn on my own faith for inspiration to serve others, with a deep sense of responsibility to demonstrate compassion and integrity in leadership. In the same way, God calls us to love our neighbors, working together toward a better future for us all.
We all have the First Amendment right to worship as we choose. In contrast to Tommy Tuberville, who attacks our Muslim brothers and sisters, I’ll never use my religion as a weapon, and I won’t attack any members of any community. My faith is based on love, not hate. In part, that means that I also fully support LGBTQ equal rights.
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