On Tuesday, Kyle Callaghan, a retired military officer, announced on Tuesday that he would run for Mobile City Council.

“I love our city, I want to see it prosper,” Callaghan said Tuesday during a press conference called at Government Plaza. “My daughter is a fifth-generation Callaghan here in Mobile. It’s time that we stepped up and moved our city forward.”

Callaghan would run to replace Scott Jones, who resigned earlier this month. Jones initially said that he resigned over the city’s continued relationship with AltaPointe Health Systems, but later confirmed that he was leaving Mobile.

In his announcement, Callaghan emphasized that, if elected, he would serve out the remaining three years of Jones’ term and run again.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

Callaghan said he “stands behind” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson and endorsed the mayor’s plan to annex territory west of the city. Jones had also been a supporter of annexation.

In addition to annexation, Callaghan also emphasized crime as a focus of his campaign. He would work with the Mobile Police Department to try and fix the issue of officer attrition, something the city has struggled with in recent years.

“The mayor and the chief of staff and the police chief and the fire chief have done a great job with their incentive pay,” Callaghan said during his press conference. “That’s great. But we need to improve things, we need to keep them here, and stop losing $2.5 million a year.”

Callaghan is endorsed by former Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich, who introduced him to the crowd at Government Plaza. Callaghan praised Rich, who retired last year, as the “most effective DA we’ve had in a long time.”

Callaghan currently sits on the Mobile County Board of Registrars, which assists the county probate court in registering voters and holding elections.

Callaghan worked in law enforcement for 30 years. He previously served as a special agent in the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service. He spent 30 years as a reservist in the Coast Guard and in the U.S. Marine Corps. Callaghan ran for Mobile County Sheriff in 2006 and lost the Republican primary to Sam Cochran, who retired from the sheriff’s office last year.

Callaghan will face Josh Woods, executive director of the The Grounds, in the special election, which is set for July 25, with a runoff on August 22 if necessary. More candidates may still enter the race, as qualifying for the election does not begin until June 6.

Woods lost to Jones for the District 6 seat in a runoff in 2021. Callaghan said that, while he initially supported Woods in that race, when Jones entered, he decided to support Jones.