Russellville native and longtime businessman Jamie Kiel has officially qualified to run on the Republican ticket for State House District 18 representative.

This is the first time Kiel has run for a political position, but he said he has always been interested in state politics specifically and believes his business background will be beneficial to him.

“I believe that businesspeople should be more involved in politics. They both require some of the same principles,” Kiel said.

He has owned Kiel Equipment for 22 years and said he believes that critical parts of his job there, including balancing a budget and making out a payroll, would also apply to the representative role.

“The government doesn’t necessarily need more money; we just need to make it more effective. That’s what businesspeople do and people that run a household do, and the government should do the same,” he explained.

One thing Kiel said he would like to do in office is cut back on what he considers unnecessary regulations on small businesses.

“The red tape of bureaucracy is very expensive and costs businesses money. I want to try and streamline that and take away the red tape,” Kiel said.

Education is another topic about which Kiel is passionate. His wife is a reading intervention teacher at Tharptown Elementary School, and he has three children in school in Franklin County.

“I want to make sure the money that is going to Montgomery is actually going back into the classrooms,” Kiel said.

The opioid crisis is something that Kiel calls an “epidemic.” “It affects almost everyone. I’ll do whatever possible to investigate and pass laws to help end it,” he said.