Alabama — 5th District

A three-time Emmy Award-winning actress is throwing her support behind an Alabama congressional candidate who wants to bring more moderate representation to North Alabama.

Uzo Aduba, who is mostly known for her performances in the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black” and “The Residence,” was a host for a Los Angeles fundraiser for Andrew Sneed on Nov 15. From a political standpoint, Sneed is a Huntsville native and small business owner who is one of three Democrats running for Alabama’s 5th congressional district seat, which is currently being occupied by Republican Rep. Dale Strong.

To Aduba, Sneed is a longtime friend who became a reliable colleague during their college years at Boston University, where Sneed attended following his graduation from Lee High School in Huntsville in 1998. Aduba told Al.com that Sneed’s integrity and respect for others makes him a good politician.

“Andrew has always been guided by a steadfast moral line that he has been unwilling to trade on – not in his youth and not in his present,” Aduba said. “His genuine care and interest in others is what makes Andrew unique in this race. He respects people and their ideas, he has always been interested in leading with thoughtful consideration, and he is principled and willing to meet folks where they are.”

Boston University, recognized as “Hollywood’s secret training ground,” has a star-studded roster of graduates. Along with campaigning on the ground in Alabama, connecting with college friends who are in the entertainment business and beyond is part of Sneed’s strategy to bring nationwide visibility to the state during next year’s elections. Sneed said his friendship with Aduba stretched across 20 years. When he asked Aduba to help advocate for his campaign, he said she agreed.

“She, like I, believes that this seat can flip,” Sneed said. “Why would a candidate from North Alabama go to Los Angeles? The reason is because I am hoping to awaken people to the reality that we can win, and Uzo is a serious person with an incredible heart. She only says what she means, and I’ve known that about her since we were about 19 years old.”

Aduba decided to host the fundraiser due to the longevity of her friendship with Sneed.

Although he attended college out-of-state, Aduba said she could sense his enthusiasm for Alabama.

“The core values of the man I met remain well intact today,” Aduba said. “He has always been proud and invested in his Alabama community, and I believe by voting Andrew into Congress as the formal authority for the people of Huntsville, he will execute from a position of strong moral leadership.”

About 30 people attended the Los Angeles fundraiser, but Sneed said he isn’t stopping there. His campaign is thinking about planning another event in New York. On Nov. 18, he was featured on the Stephanie Miller Show, a national political radio show.

Sneed is pulling a page out of the playbook of Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who’s known for breaking fundraising records in the political arena. Latest filings from the Federal Election Commission show more than $54 million in the hands of Ossoff’s reelection campaign. More than 80 percent of those contributions are from out-of-state donors.

“We just need a little bit of that over here to help fight, because north Alabama is in play also. It’s not just these big races,” Sneed said. “We need to be fighting everywhere, as long as the candidates reflect the values that we’re fighting for.”

Alabamians will be casting their votes for multiple political offices in 2026. The primary election is set for May 19, with the general election taking place on Nov. 3. Other Democrats running for Alabama’s 5th congressional district include Candice Duvieilh and Jeremy Devito. Strong is currently running unopposed on the Republican side.

Those who wish to register to vote or want to check their voting status can do so on the Secretary of State website.

Sneed recognizes the challenges of going against an incumbent. Along with galvanizing financial support to run a campaign, Sneed said he will need about 32,000 votes on top of the Democratic voting bloc in order to win the election. But Sneed believes it can be done.

“The biggest challenge for us is getting folks to realize that we can have politics that listens to everybody,” Sneed said. “We just have to choose leaders that’ll do it. And that means listening to Democrats, listening to Republicans and vice versa. But [Rep.] Dale Strong doesn’t listen to anybody.”

Strong has been called out by his constituents for not being an accessible representative. North Alabamians have held protests and flooded the comment section of the congressman’s social media pages to demand more town halls. As of Wednesday morning, Strong has not responded to an email from Al.com for comment. But back in March, Strong’s office stated that the Congressman has attended 1,500 meetings and events over the past two years, and has reached 35,000 people through his teletown halls. Constituents who wished to speak to Strong were pointed to the “Email the Congressman” tab on Strong’s website. They were also encouraged to call any of his three offices.

Public scrutiny isn’t a fear for Sneed. If elected, he said one of the first priorities as congressman is to restore the voice of the district by being a representative who is easy to reach. Doing this will help cut down on division and bring more unity to the area, according to Sneed.

“I don’t mean kumbaya unity,” Sneed said. “I mean unity where we answer your questions. It starts with listening to everyone in the district, whether we agree with them or not. Period. Full stop. And that doesn’t mean office hours. That means listening with intentionality. That means having sessions where you get yelled at, which we’re committed to do.”

There were a couple of reasons Sneed felt compelled to political office. He and his wife were concerned about how polarizing politics were affecting everyday Alabamians. The issue created a bleak outlook for their three daughters, he said.

“This isn’t what I want for them politically,” Sneed said. “They’ve never seen functional politics in their entire lives. That’s really a shame, and it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Sneed defined functional politics as legislative work that prioritizes problem-solving over party ideology. The 2024 presidential election helped to solidify Sneed’s decision to launch a campaign promising to be an accessible congressman who will renew the public’s trust, rebuild unity and represent the working class.

“I thought to myself, ‘There’s no one coming to save us. We, the people, have to become the heroes in this story,’” Sneed said. “If we want something different, we have to fight for it. And I do believe people people want something different.”

Sneed remembers a time when North Alabama’s political landscape looked different than what it is now. He admired the legacies of Robert Edward “Bud” Cramer Jr., a moderate-leaning Democrat who served as the district’s representative from 1991 until his retirement from politics in 2009. Sneed said he wants to bring that era back.

“We have the most engineers per capita of anywhere in the United States. We’re an educated place. We’re a blue-collar place. We’re a down-to-earth place,” Sneed said. “I think we are mostly a moderate place. And I don’t think we have moderate representation, and I do think that that would be more reflective and representative of our district. And I think our district loses by not being reflected in this representation.”

“No one is opposed to moderation,” Sneed continued. “That doesn’t mean being wishy washy on principles at all. It just means a disposition of listening,” Sneed said. “It’s not just listening to, in this case, the White House. It’s listening to all the constituents and reflecting what they wish in Congress.”

Sneed explained how moderate politics benefits both business and constituents. While Redstone Arsenal and NASA’s Marshal Space Flight Center are economic strongholds in North Alabama, he believes political representation should reflect those working in the district’s diverse economic ecosystem.

“We are more than just a military space industrial complex. There is more to North Alabama than just that,” Sneed said. “I think we need to be listening to our farmers. We need to be working with our HBCUs. I am a whole-systems thinker, and we have a whole district here. Not just one sector.”

Sneed believes both Strong and the Democratic party have fallen out of alignment with its constituents. While he referred to himself as a proud Democrat, his critique about the party is a matter of messaging. He believes the party missed the mark when it comes to connecting with blue-collar, working-class people.

Being a small-business owner who has been in the trades business for 13 years can help bridge that gap, Sneed said. He is the founder of Whole Home Solutions, which provides HVAC, plumbing and crawl space services.

“You can’t be the party of the working class if you’re not willing to meet the working class where they are. I certainly have worked with the working class,” Sneed said. “I’ve had a desk before, but I’ve never had a desk job ever. I’ve just always worked with folks, and you have to meet folks where they are. I think our party has lost track of that.”

In terms of current representation, Sneed believes Strong has supported policies that have not been in the district’s best interest. Strong was a dedicated supporter of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE,) and even suggested that Huntsville’s economy would recover from the job losses caused by the Elon Musk-led government entity that sought to cut down on federal spending. Alabama’s 5th Congressional District, which includes Huntsville was listed by the Associated Press as one of the areas that would be most affected by DOGE.

“To me, when you vote for DOGE, which costs us thousands of jobs here in North Alabama, that’s not fighting for our district. That’s putting politics first and, and we deserve better than that,” Sneed said.

Making Congress more accountable and stable is another priority for Sneed. If elected, he wants to establish term limits for Congress members. He’s also pushing political leaders to adhere to congressional duties. For example, the Constitution gives Congress the authority to assign tariffs. The Trump Administration used a Cold War-era law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to bypass Congressional approval. The U.S. Supreme Court has recently heard arguments concerning the legality of Trump’s tariff policies, which have placed farmers in the crossfire of a trade war. According to Reuters, farmers have lost billions of dollars in soybean sales due to China turning to other countries to purchase the crop. Sneed said the issue has affected North Alabama’s agricultural community. He said Congress played a role in that harm.

“I don’t blame the president,” Sneed said. “I blame our representatives who are supposed to represent us and should demand that Congress be respected because we have a three-pronged system for a reason. We’ve gotten away from that, and it’s become where it’s politically expedient to just feed the division.”

Sneed called the 2026 election cycle an “election of hope” – one that brings the power back to the people. Sneed said he wants to be the congressman who turns the attention away from the White House and focuses on the issues that matter. “We have a real degradation of critical systems right now. Things like the Department of Education being stripped away, rural healthcare being taken away, women’s health becoming less of a priority,” he said. “We’re on a very slippery slope in this moment, and I think that what is requisite is a leadership that is passionately committed to the Constitution and passionately committed to representative government. We’ve gotten away from that and 2026 is an absolutely critical referendum to get back on track.”