May 21, 2008

David Grimes said he could not write the number 1 on a piece of paper when he first decided to run for the Alabama Legislature in 2000.

Eight years later, with much better health and an open seat in Congress, the state lawmaker is running to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Terry Everett, R-Rehobeth.

Grimes said that, unlike some of his five opponents in the Republican primary, he did not grow up privileged. He said his rural upbringing in the 2nd Congressional District has prepared him for the seat.

"I grew up worrying about what it's like to worry about next month," Grimes said.

He said he was born into an impoverished family in Phenix City and later moved to Troy, where he became the first person in his family to attend and graduate from college.

The oldest of eight children, Grimes said a second bathroom -- this one inside the house -- was added when he was a senior in high school. His mother was a homemaker and his father a mechanic.

Grimes moved to Montgomery in 1978. In February 1982, he was working on a commercial layout for a client of his boss when he saw an advertisement asking people to call if they did not make $50,000.

He called that day and started real estate school that night. He was in real estate for five years before becoming an insurance salesman in 1985.

The lawmaker now operates an insurance business and his wife, Barbara, has two shops on Mulberry Street in Montgomery.

In 2000, Grimes became ill, "totally incapacitated" with complications from multiple sclerosis.

While he was sick, he decided he had a "major incompletion in life," his ambition to be a public servant and run for political office. So, he decided, while lying there, to run for the Legislature. He went on to defeat longtime incumbent Perry Hooper Jr.

Grimes, a deacon in his church, admits he does not have the personal wealth of some other candidates and will not be able to afford as much advertising. He said he is compensating for his limited financial resources by spending all the time he can on the road.

"What we're doing is seeing the people," Grimes said.

He bashed what he said is the "plasticity" of some other campaigns and their flashy television advertising.

When asked about his accomplishments as a state lawmaker, Grimes said he has made himself available "to anybody and everybody who needed to get with me."

He said he is proudest of a bill he sponsored that passed after five years of effort.

He said the bill protects the rights of people who have been sexually assaulted, allowing them to request a test of the perpetrator that would identify if the suspect has a sexually transmitted disease, including HIV.

Grimes has continually pushed, albeit unsuccessfully, for the Legislature to allow cities to use cameras to enforce and fine drivers for running red lights. The bill has never made it out of committee.

During a visit last week in Tallassee to meet with the publisher of the paper, Grimes also stopped at the Auburn agricultural research station in Shorter. Grimes talked to employees at the station who grow switchgrass, which is being explored as a possible source of alternative energy.

Grimes opposes the use of corn for ethanol, which he said drives up food prices.