vote larriett for u.s. senate may 19, 2026
Son of a U.S. Army veteran, successful entrepreneur, longtime community volunteer, lifelong Democrat, Dakarai Larriett is — above all a proud Alabama native, deeply committed to serving the citizens of his home state.
During his childhood, his father’s service led the family from Alabama to bases in Washington, California, Oklahoma and Germany. They returned home when Dakarai was in elementary school, and in the 6th grade he enrolled at Birmingham’s WJ Christian — a magnet school for gifted students. An honors student at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, he earned a full scholarship at the University of Alabama — where he studied business and economics, graduating Magna Cum Laude.
“Education has always been a central issue in my family. My mother is a public-school teacher. She taught my sister and me at home, wherever we lived during my father’s service. When we moved to Germany, she even taught at the school on our base.”
A SERVANT LEADER
Dakarai’s passion for public service was ignited during his junior year as an exchange student at Howard University, a historically Black college and university (HBCU) in Washington, DC. At the same time, his internship at US Airways (where he worked in cargo e-commerce and supply chain management with the United States Postal Service) helped forge the professional path he’s followed ever since — first as a corporate leader, and now as a business owner and candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat in Alabama, created by Tommy Tuberville’s gubernatorial campaign.
A nationally publicized wrongful arrest in Michigan in 2024 ignited a fire within Dakarai, compelling him to run for office. This pivotal moment unveiled the deep flaws in our criminal justice system and highlighted the myriad broken systems that shape the everyday lives of Americans.
A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN
Dakarai’s career took him from New York to Texas and Michigan before his heart drew him back to Alabama. Working full-time as a Forecasting Manager for L’Oreal managing a broad range of leading national consumer products, Dakarai entered NYU’s Stern School of Business MBA program in 2006 — earning his degree in just three years. That experience gave him the confidence to launch his own pet care business (while still working full-time) in 2012.
Like so many entrepreneurial journeys, Dakarai’s started in his garage. “I spent my weekends driving to retail shops with my dog and building relationships with the people who sold our products.” Fueled by the surge in demand for pet care that came with the pandemic, Dakarai’s company eventually reached the point where he could leave his day job at Whirlpool.
AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY
Dakarai has dedicated his time and resources to serving the community. For the last 20 years, Dakarai has held leadership roles on various organizational boards, advocating for equal access to housing, healthcare, and education. In addition to his volunteer work with United Way, Meals On Wheels and the Humane Society, Dakarai leads the board representing the 60 families and businesses located in the Mercantile on Morris, a mixed-use development in downtown Birmingham. “I love my home state, and my hometown. I love our culture, our history, and our quality of life. Most of all, I love the people.”
A longtime gun hobbyist, Dakarai can often be found Saturdays at the nearby shooting range, and on Sundays at First Church Birmingham — where he’s a regular attendee.
WHAT I STAND FOR
“Alabama deserves leaders who put service over self and country over party. We’ve had enough political division and chaos. It’s time to focus on real solutions that benefit everyday Americans.”
— Dakarai Larriett
HEALTHCARE
Every Alabamian deserves access to quality, affordable healthcare. Healthcare ought to be a human right, not a commodity. We can lower prescription drug costs and protect rural hospitals — while also ensuring that honest working families aren’t one medical emergency away from financial ruin. Let’s pursue common-sense solutions that put people and patients over politics and insurance companies.
I believe in and respect science. I would oppose Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-style nominees for healthcare posts. I am pro-vaccine, pro-medicare, and pro-medicaid expansion (by eliminating income restrictions). I oppose the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” (which I call the “One Big Billionaire Bill”), because the bill trades hospitals for tax cuts for the wealthy; it transfers wealth from the poor to the rich.
Inadequate reproductive and maternal health care does not equate to caring for our women. Our state’s Black Belt has already lost rural hospitals. As a result, I know a lady who will need to travel two hours each way to obtain medical care. For our seniors especially, this struggle is unacceptable.
EDUCATION
Strong schools are the foundation of a stronger Alabama. Every child — no matter where they are — deserves access to the kind of education that prepares them to become employable, responsible members of our communities. We must support our teachers with good wages, expand our technical and job training programs, and ensure that parents have a voice in their children’s education.
My grandfather studied in a three-room, Rosenwald school through eighth grade. For undergraduate and graduate school, my mom attended Alabama State University, where she met my dad. When my mom was a public school teacher in the 1990s, schools in Birmingham were not delivering the superior education that students deserved. She entered me in a magnet school, where I received a great education. Previous generations invest in future generations.
Reestablishing a robust Department of Education will be a priority of mine. Educating our children ought to offer a good start to every child, and pre-kindergarten to college ought to be affordable. Everyone should have access to a quality education, and I support standards-setting and enforcement.
The Choose Act will bankrupt the state. There ought to be quality, base-line public education, and I am concerned about the Choose Act. In particular, thanks to the coming income cap elimination; it subsidizes education for wealthy people who do not need the financial assistance.
We need to stop raiding the education trust fund to fuel the school-to-prison pipeline by building prisons instead of better-funding schools.
Not everyone has the ability to travel to a better school. Kids should have the opportunity to excel and live a full life in Alabama. A fully funded Department of Education supports special needs in public schools. No one who needs special education ought to go without it.
SAFE COMMUNITIES
Every family deserves to feel safe in their home and in their community. That means supporting law enforcement, giving them the resources they need to do their jobs effectively — while also fostering mutual trust and accountability. We need policies that keep criminals off the streets, while ensuring that our justice system works for everyone.
To those of you familiar with my own personal experience, rest assured: it has not shaken my faith in law enforcement or my respect for the men and women who faithfully serve and protect us all every day.
I advocate for more just community-based policing policies and mental health care, because it is cheaper and more effective to fund education than it is to fund policing and prisons. I prefer preventing problems over dealing with the consequences of neglecting them. Community-based policing starts with education.
I went to the Alabama State House to address my own false arrest in Michigan, and I don’t want a wrongful arrest to happen to anyone else. My case was dismissed because the officers had qualified immunity. I oppose bills like the federal Back the Blue Act and HB 202 in Alabama, which actually reduce protection for the public. The Back the Blue Act duplicates state law, and it will lead to more mass incarceration. If mass incarceration worked, then Alabama would be the safest state in the nation, and it is not.
My proposed Motorist Bill of Rights will:
1. Federally standardize probable cause for traffic stops.
2. Make sobriety testing scientific and objective. Eliminate road-side behavioral tests, which are subjective.
3. Guarantee free-of-charge release of body camera evidence from traffic stops to prevent police from weaponizing police body camera evidence with selective editing. Automatic release would be to a neutral, third party, cloud destination within 24 hours to promote transparency.
4. Eliminate qualified immunity.
Community-based policing starts before the 911 call, with quality education, economic opportunity, and access to mental health care. In Jefferson County, the sheriff partners with mental health social workers, and it works great, and I seek to roll out similar programs more broadly. I attended the Birmingham Black Male Summit, where we discussed the front end of crime; inadequate education, economic opportunity and mental health access. I believe that everyone prefers to thrive and to live peacefully, and if given the tools, the result will be a satisfying and tranquil society. I don’t give up on anyone, and I believe in second chances.
Safety also means protecting our natural environment. After all, we all live here, and we all want clean water and air that is safe to breathe.
JOBS & OPPORTUNITY
Hard work should be rewarded, and Alabama should always be a place where businesses can thrive and workers get a fair shot. That means cutting red tape for small businesses, investing in our infrastructure, and bringing meaningful, high-paying jobs to our state. Let’s build an economy that benefits everyone.
When I graduated from University of Alabama, I could not find a job here, so I looked outside the state for employment. I will advocate for businesses that come here to be synchronized to our skill sets so that state education matches employer needs. As we attract businesses to the state, we offer tax incentives, and these businesses sometimes bring their own out-of-state employees to the project. Business incentives (our taxes) need to be compensated by employer commitments to employ locals. Relocating businesses need to offer jobs for local talent. In return, Alabama needs to offer job training programs to get people ready for the companies. We also need to invest in the right infrastructure. In Huntsville, roads and housing are not keeping up with industry, which leads to congestion and an affordability crisis.
My grandfathers worked in the Birmingham steel industry for ACIPCO and O’Neal Steel- I believe in unions, the PRO Act, fair wages and workplace safety for all workers. Alabamians deserve a raise and I support an increase to the federal minimum wage. I also support an inflation-adjusted living wage that will keep pace with the cost of life. No one who works full-time should be unable to afford their basic expenses. The Trump administration has decimated our Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the civil rights division of the Department of Justice. I support a robust EEOC to support American workers.
2ND AMENDMENT
I support the rights of responsible gun owners, and I also support common-sense safety measures to protect us all. I support keeping guns out of the hands of violent or otherwise dangerous criminals, including those on terrorist watch lists, as well as keeping firearms from those who pose a threat to themselves or others. We can all agree on these safety measures. For example, Republican gun owners favor universal background checks to buy a gun (80%), raising the minimum age to buy an assault-style weapon to 21 (64%), and red flag laws (57%). Respecting the second amendment is consistent with keeping our citizens safe with training programs, background checks, and red flag laws.
NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENSE
As the son of a U. S. Army veteran, I know how important a strong military is to protecting not only America, but our very way of life. We must invest in modern defense strategies to keep our country safe, while — at the same time — ensuring that our veterans get the care, support, and respect they deserve when they return home.
Dad’s military deployments were stressful for both him and the family. This work often leads to mental health and addiction challenges. We must take care of veterans, which means maintaining a robust Department of Veteran’s Affairs and helping vets understand what their benefits are and how to access them. We need to stay out of wars of choice, and we must ensure that congress asserts its Article 1 war powers authority. The Defense budget will soon top one trillion per year, which is more than half of the nation’s current discretionary spending. An important national security issue is Elon Musk’s no-bid contracts and his ketamine addiction. Eliminating no-bid contracts will save tax money and promote our security.
I want to be clear: I will never accept donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
FAITH
Faith is a guiding light for so many of us, myself included. I’ve drawn on my own faith for inspiration to serve others, with a deep sense of responsibility to demonstrate compassion and integrity in leadership. In the same way, God calls us to love our neighbors, working together toward a better future for us all.
We all have the First Amendment right to worship as we choose. In contrast to Tommy Tuberville, who attacks our Muslim brothers and sisters, I’ll never use my religion as a weapon, and I won’t attack any members of any community. My faith is based on love, not hate. In part, that means that I also fully support LGBTQ equal rights.