Northport attorney Laura K. Gregory drew dozens of supporters to the District Room in downtown Tuscaloosa on Thursday evening, where she officially kicked off her campaign to become Tuscaloosa County’s next probate judge.

Gregory, a Democrat, is running to replace incumbent Probate Judge Hardy McCollum, whose age will legally prevent him from seeking his eighth consecutive term in that office.

Gregory said she spent more than 25 years in the Tuscaloosa County Probate Court before opening her own private practice in Northport in 1996. She said that experience sets her apart from other candidates in the race

“We need a lawyer in the probate judge’s office,” Gregory said. “I spent over 25 practicing in the Tuscaloosa County probate office and that experience has given me the opportunity and the knowledge to understand how the county courthouse and the probate judge’s office should operate.”

The Democratic hopeful said she would use her knowledge of the office to make it more efficient, streamlined and economical, benefitting all the residents of Tuscaloosa County.

Gregory said she was one of six children, the daughter of parents who never graduated from high school but worked hard to make sure their children could go further and do more. She said her father’s dream of making a better future possible for his children is the same one motivating her politically.

“If you will get me elected to probate judge, we will work together to make Tuscaloosa not only a place where we want to live and work, but a place where we all believe, just like my dad did, that each and every one of us has a future not only that we can believe in but one we can be proud to be a part of,” Gregory said.

Gregory and her husband Patrick have three children who are 16, 25 and 28, and the family attends Forest Lake United Methodist Church.

 Gregory said she doesn’t have the backing of big-name politicians or donors with deep pockets and will have to run a grassroots campaign against her opponents, which currently includes Tuscaloosa County Emergency Management Agency Director Rob Robertson who announced plans in August to run for probate judge as a Republican.

“If you’ll jump in on this David versus Goliath adventure – and that’s what it’s going to be – we can do this and we will do this,” Gregory said. “Because I am all in for all of Tuscaloosa County, I’m all in for Tuscaloosa families and I’m all in for Tuscaloosa businesses, big and small.”

Candidates seeking the office of probate judge must qualify to run by Feb. 9. Primary elections for the seat will be held on June 5 and the general election will follow on Nov. 6.

Reach Stephen Dethrage at stephen.dethrage@tuscaloosanews.com or 722-0227.