Gubernatorial candidate promises to "Free the weed" if elected. Says he will win because he is "smarter than Tuberville"

Chad "Chig" Martin is running for Governor of Alabama in the Democratic Primary. Martin recently joined the Brandon and Christopher Show podcast to speak at length about his chances in the Alabama gubernatorial race and how a Martin administration would bring change for Alabama after ten years of Governor Kay Ivey (R). Probably the biggest area where Martin would be different would be in marijuana policy,

"I am going to free the weed up in Alabama," said Martin explaining how he supported recreational marijuana, "We would make so much money the state wouldn't even know how to spend it all."

The Alabama Legislature passed and Gov. Ivey signed landmark medical marijuana legislation in 2021; but to date not one person has been able to legally purchase Alabama grown medical marijuana in Alabama. The 2021 legislation severely restricted the number of licenses that the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission can award and the various business entities that applied for licenses; but did not receive them - instead of being gracious losers - are tying up the whole thing in the Alabama courts with a myriad of legal filings designed to hamper the Commission's efforts to issue the license awards.

Martin criticized the complexity of the state cannabis law.

"We are talking about getting an agricultural product into the hands of the general public," said Martin. "We make things as bad as possible for our citizens. Our citizens can't even get the natural product."

Martin promised that as governor he would move to make marijuana more accessible in the state if elected Governor.

"Whatever I can do - that just shouldn't be happening," Martin said of the current legal morass that is preventing Alabamians from accessing cannabis.

Martin – among other businesses – is a hemp store owner.

"We were the first hemp store to open – Honeysuckle Hemp," said Martin. "We may be the first to go out of business after the hemp ban."

House Bill 445 - sponsored by state Representative Andy Whitt (R-Harvest) – did not ban psychoactive cannabinoids derived from hemp; but it did ban all smokable product.

"90 percent of what we sold in our store were smokable products and vapes," Martin said.

Beginning on July possession of the smokable, "Hemp is going to be a felony with the same amount of marijuana being a misdemeanor," Martin said.

Passage of HB445 taxing and regulating hemp has severely impacted Martin's business.

"It has been a real tough blow," said Martin who runs the Dothan area hemp store with his daughter. "We are just trying to figure out if we are going to be able to survive – if we are are going to survive."

"It is pushing people to the black market where there is fentanyl and all the dangers that come with that," said Martin.

"A lot of people that have personalities that need calming," said Martin. "I believe there is going to be an uptick in violent crime with people not being able to get this product." "We have been in business for six years. We pay our employees good. People are just really upset that they are not going to be able to buy this product."

Martin said that the Legislature did not properly consider the impact to the Alabama economy that will result from limiting access to smokable psychoactive cannabinoids.

"The average for a one room hemp store is about $600,000 to $700,000," claimed Martin.

Psychoactive cannabinoids derived from hemp are still legal in the states surrounding Alabama, but - unlike lottery tickets – legally purchasing an illegal in Alabama hemp product in a neighboring state and then driving it back into Alabama is now a Class C felony. Already one young woman has been caught violating HB445 for bringing lawfully purchased Tennessee hemp products into Alabama. She has been charged and could potentially be convicted and serve a prison sentence.

Martin is confident that he can beat Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) in the general election if they both win their party primaries and then face off in the general election.

"I think I am a sharper candidate than Tuberville," said Martin. "I think my message has registered with voters better than his. If there is a candidate that is beatable on the Republican side – Tommy Tuberville is beatable."

No Democratic nominee for Governor has won in Alabama since 1998 and Democrats have won only one statewide race since 2008 – when Doug Jones beat Chief Justice Roy Moore (R) for U.S. Senate in a special election in 2017.

"When it gets to the general election people might make different decisions on this particular race," said Martin. "Getting through the Democratic Primary - That is the biggest challenge I face right there."

Most of the remaining Democratic primary voters are Black. Martin is White.

"I have explained to them that I cannot move forward in this process without at least some of the Black vote," said Martin. "The Black voters in the state of Alabama have been under the control of organizations and really manipulating the vote because a lot of it is really about making money. I am just trying to explain to Black voters that it doesn't have to be like that."

"The toughest thing I face is fundraising," said Martin.

As Democrats have increasingly fallen out of favor with Alabama voters, both large money donors and even the small donors have completely abandoned Democratic candidates in the state. The last Democratic nominee for Governor – Yolanda Flowers – received less than $15,000 in contributions total in the entire race. Tuberville on the other hand raised over $3 million in his first month of campaigning alone.

"We are prepared to go to battle in the primary with really very limited funding," acknowledged Martin. "We probably will never have a great amount of money in this primary."

As more and more Alabamians have abandoned both Democratic Party candidates and progressive political philosophy, the Alabama Democratic Party has become increasingly torn by internal strife and bickering.

"I don't think it is a great secret that the Democrat Party in this state has been in disarray," said Martin.

Martin is also strongly in favor of a constitutional amendment to allow gambling in the state.

"I am in favor of gaming in Alabama," said Martin. "I am in favor of controlled gaming areas in the state."

Martin said that his campaign has received criticism for some of the far left social issues crowd within the Democratic Party.

"We can't be far left and so one thing I have done is find a centered moderate message and I think that will be a good thingl but that has been a shock to the far left part of the party," Martin said. "I am trying to make my message and the things that I want to do cover as many people as possible. Those things include improving health care, economic development, and building community pride back to our schools. Those are what I call the core issues for the state."

Martin ran previously in 2022, but his campaign failed to make the Democratic primary runoff between Flowers and then State Senator Malika Sanders Fornier of Selma.

Pastor Will Boyd – who won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 2022 – is also running for the Democratic nomination for Governor. Tuberville faces a primary fight with Ken McFeeters in the GOP primary.

The Democratic primary is on May 19, 2026.

The Brandon and Christopher Show Podcast is cohosted by Alabama Gazette Lead Reporter and Content Manager Brandon Moseley and Alabama Political Contributor Publisher Christopher Peeks.

If you have a comment or question contact the author at brandonmreporter@gmail.com.