The job of the state treasurer is to serve as the state’s bank and look after the tax dollars of Alabama’s citizens.

Two candidates who are running in the Democratic run-off to be held June 25 for the position of Alabama State Treasurer are Carol Jean Smith and Stephen Black.

Smith received 159,555 votes, while Black received 120,801 votes among ballots cast for the candidates during the June 4 primary.

Smith, who visited Selma on Friday, has 28 years experience in government from being a Supreme Court Law Clerk to being Chief of the Opinions Division of the Attorney General’s Office.

Smith is a graduate of Jacksonville State University and received a law degree from the University of Alabama.

Smith said she is a strong advocate for education and believes that education is the most important avenue for curbing juvenile violence and preparing young people for the twenty-first century.

She also added that she strongly supports the Prepaid Affordable College Tuition, or PACT, program, a program administered by the State Treasurer’s office, which allows families to invest money in higher education for their children. 53,000 children are currently enrolled in the program, according to the State Treasurer’s Office.

“[If I become State Treasurer], it’s a program which I hope to see grow and expand,” said Smith.

Smith also supports the Alabama College Education Savings program, or ACES, a program created by the State of Alabama Legislature in 2001, which is still currently being developed.

Black, who is a Birmingham attorney, is a graduate of Yale Law school, and is the grandson of Alabama U. S. Senator and U. S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black.

Black, who said he is also a strong supporter of education, supports the PACT plan, and has also proposed a Scholarship Foundation to provide matching funds to working families who want to save toward their children’s college education.

He has also proposed the Alabama “Extra Credit” Educators Home Purchase Plan to encourage principals to work in under performing community schools by helping them secure home mortgages at reduced rates.

“This is a plan, which I feel will greatly help all underprivileged communities in our state,” Black said.

The candidate who is elected State Treasurer will replace the present treasurer, Lucy Baxley.