Tony Riley runs for House seat
Attorney Tony Riley has officially announced his campaign to run for the Republican nomination for the District 18 seat for the Alabama House of Representatives.
The current representative for District 18, which includes Franklin, Colbert and Lauderdale county, is Johnny Mack Morrow, who has held the position since 1990. Morrow has announced his intention to run for Senate.
“I’m from the area, and I want to help it grow,” Riley said.
Riley grew up in Muscle Shoals and then went on to attend the University of Alabama, where he earned his undergraduate degree in political science and history with a minor in English. He attended law school at the University of Alabama, where he earned his Juris Doctorate.
Riley had a private practice for 18 years until 2007, when he went to work with Tiffin Motorhomes as human resources director and general counsel. He has held that position for 10 years now.
“I enjoy what I do, but I also want to help Northwest Alabama grow economically and improve its education,” Riley said.
That is part of the three-pronged tier that Riley said his campaign will focus on. He said he wants to improve education, increase jobs and help fight the drug addiction problem in the area.
Education and jobs, he said, are two areas that overlap. He said he has seen industrial and economic progress in certain areas of Alabama, but he wants to bring that to more rural areas like in District 18.
“Businesses can’t grow without citizens that are properly educated and trained, and for that to happen there needs to be cooperation between the businesses and the education system,” Riley said.
He said that instead of being reactive to progress and change, people need to be proactive and prepare ahead of time for technological and other advances that are sure to come in the workforce.
The third part of his focus is something that he is particularly passionate about combating: the drug addiction problem in the area, largely opioid dependence.
“I’ve noticed it in the workforce. There is a large amount of people out there who can’t get or hold a job because they can’t pass a drug screen,” Riley said.
He said it is a far-reaching problem that crosses all classes of people, and there isn’t a simple, magical solution.
“It’s going to require a cooperative effort between law enforcement and treatment facilities and also support from the community through the education system and the churches as well,” he said.
Riley has had first-hand experience with this issue, working as a volunteer attorney with the drug court in Colbert County several years ago and working with different recovery programs over the years.
He has also been a member of the civil service board in Muscle Shoals, a board member at his church in Florence and on a county committee. In the ’90s Riley was a charter member of a Shoals Republican Club and has been active in the Republican party since the ’80s.
