Florence pastor running for governor as Democrat
The Rev. Will Boyd, who is pastor of St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in Florence, has announced his candidacy for governor on the Democratic ticket in 2026.
Boyd, who serves as presiding bishop of Zion Ministries and chancellor of St. James The Elder University in St. Petersburg, Florida, was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in 2022. He was defeated by Katie Britt in the general election, which he received 31% of the vote.
Boyd also was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2018. He lost to Will Ainsworth and received 39% of the vote.
Two years before his run for lieutenant governor, he ran for Congress as the Democratic nominee. He lost to Mo Brooks after garnering 33% of the vote in the general election.
“I’ve had three other runs and was selected to be the Democratic nominee each time, and each time I’ve really wanted to revive Alabama and move the state forward,” he said. “That’s my continued objective in my run for earn the Democratic nomination for governor.”
The last time a Democrat was elected governor of the state was Don Siegelman in 1998.
“Yes, there have been fractures in the state party and on the national level, but my goal is to help move the party forward,” Boyd said. “I twice served as a county [Democratic] chair, and by relaying the message and raising money, it made me a good messenger and set me up to be a servant leader.
“I plan to work well with both sides of the aisle, because in the end I’m going to work very hard for every Alabamian.”
Boyd said his top priorities as governor would be health care, economic development and community stability.
Boyd says he will support the expansion of Medicaid in the state and work with the Offices of the Secretary of Health and Human Services “to use the bargaining power of 40 million Medicare beneficiaries to negotiate better drug prices,” according to his platform on his website.
Regarding economic development, Boyd plans to work with members of Congress to increase the federal minimum to $20 by 2028 “and ultimately a realistic living wage as there should be no reason why Alabama working families should have to live in poverty,” according to his platform.
Regarding community stability, his platform calls for unifying the state by “championing discussions on ‘race relations,’ diversity and equality as well as “close the gender wage gap for women.”
“I would love to see 95% of every household in the state have access to broadband,” he added. “When I think about what’s going on in some communities in the state, I think about areas like Pickens County that doesn’t have a rural hospital. I think about the environmental issue where more than 25,000 people are exposed to raw sewage in Lowndes County.”
Boyd was born in Florence, South Carolina, and has a PhD in religion from Christian Bible College among several other degrees, according to his website.
His website states that he and his family reside in Hoover and in Florence.
