Autauga County GOP to host public candidate forum in Pine Level

The Autauga County GOP turned Pine Level’s 96-year-old community center into a campaign stop, giving voters a chance to hear Republican candidates in person before the May 19 primary. The gathering, billed as Politics in the Park, put state and local races in front of residents who will help decide the county’s next round of leaders.

The forum ran Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Pine Level Community Center, 116 County Road 40 East. The Alabama Republican Party listed Elaine Wilkes, the Autauga County chairman, as the contact for the event at 334-549-1548. Organizers paired the candidate discussions with food trucks, inflatables, face painting and other activities, making the day part civic forum and part community outing.

For Pine Level and Prattville-area voters, the value of the event was practical: it created a direct setting to question candidates about taxes, schools, roads, growth and public safety before the county’s next major election test. Autauga County’s county seat is Prattville, where county government offices are centered, and decisions made there continue to shape the fast-changing communities around it.

That matters in a county that is still growing. The U.S. Census Bureau put Autauga County’s population at 58,805 in the 2020 Census and estimated it at 61,920 on July 1, 2025. As more residents move in and more neighborhoods fill out, local races carry more weight, and a forum in Pine Level gives candidates a chance to explain where they stand to the people who will live with the results.

The Pine Level venue itself adds to the event’s significance. WAKA reported in June 2025 that the community center had long been in need of a new roof, with repairs expected to cost about $50,000. The building’s history as a former schoolhouse makes it a familiar civic landmark, and using it for a political forum linked the county party’s outreach to one of Pine Level’s most recognizable public spaces.