Democratic gubernatorial candidate Walt Maddox slammed Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday during a speech to the Birmingham Rotaract Club, claiming the governor's campaign lacks substance and is focusing on issues that don't affect the state.

"On one hand ... you can see that we have released content and complex policies about the challenges facing Alabama. On the other hand, my opponent has talked about Judge Kavanaugh - by the way, I don't think the governor has any say who sits on the Alabama [sic] Supreme Court," Maddox, the Tuscaloosa mayor, told the club of 18-30 year olds. "They talk about the 2nd Amendment, they talk about President Trump, they talk about a couple of other things."

Maddox said the state needs a plan to attract businesses for the new, tech-based economy and training Alabamians for those jobs instead of focusing on manufacturing.

"The economy is changing quicker than we can imagine. We have no sustainable workforce development strategy in the state of Alabama," he said. "But they [the Ivey campaign] want you to hold on to mountain oysters, and Confederate monuments and things that are up in Washington, D.C. that'll do nothing for the people in your neighborhoods. ...That is why this election matters."

An Ivey campaign spokeswoman called Maddox's criticisms "cheap political shots," contending that the governor is putting the state on the right track.

"Since he can't seem to win over voters with his liberal agenda, Walt has resorted to taking more cheap political shots," the spokeswoman said. "Under Kay Ivey's leadership, employment is at a record high, teachers and schools are receiving the funding and resources our children deserve, and the future looks brighter than ever."

Maddox said the state's Republican leadership, starting with then-Gov. Robert Bentley, failed the people by not expanding Medicaid under Obamacare, which would have added 331,000 Alabamians to the Medicaid rolls. If the state expanded Medicaid, according to Maddox, Alabama would have received $1.8 billion in direct economic benefit from a $108 million investment.

"You know why we didn't? Because it was Obamacare," Maddox said. "People running for board of education [at the time] were running against Obamacare" because it was a Democratic ideal.

The Tuscaloosa mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate also dismissed Ivey's campaign attacking him for supporting Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

The choice in this election for Governor is clear: if you want a candidate who proudly voted for Hillary Clinton, Walt Maddox has earned your vote. pic.twitter.com/rw2L3sNsV8 — Kay Ivey (@kayiveyforgov) July 19, 2018

"If the worst thing that you can say about me is that I voted for Hillary Clinton, I think you're in the wrong race for all the wrong reasons," he said.

Updated at 8:06 p.m. to change economic benefits of Medicaid to $1.8 billion, not $108 billion.