Political Drama Unfolds In Alabama’s Early Party Primaries
Campaigning in the party primaries is beginning to pick up as candidates receive endorsements and make allegations (allegations? in Alabama politics? Naw).
Once was the days when the Democratic Party nomination was tantamount to November election back during the days of "the solid south". Those days are long gone as Alabama is a hardcore "red state" with a Republican Super Majority in the legislature and its constitutional officers. However, with polling numbers falling for Republicans nationwide, many Dems believe this could be a year to make some progress with the largest slate of candidates since 2018.
Here is a look at what is happening as campaign season gets underway with the new year.
U.S. Senate
With Tommy Tuberville vacating his senate seat after one term and heading to Alabama to mount a campaign for governor, his vacant seat has drawn interest from seven Republicans and five Democrats. This is mainly a two-horse race at this point.
On the GOP side Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, constitutionally prohibited from running for AG again, is leading the polling.by 13 points. But that may change with President Trump's surprise endorsement of Rep. Barry Moore (R-1) on January 17. That was just after polling showed Marshall with 26% of the vote in the Remington Poll while Moore received 13%.
While Trump is popular in the state and his backing is sure to give Moore a major boost, his endorsements have not always won elections in Alabama.
“Alabama — you know me by now. I don’t back down, and I most certainly don’t back up,” said Marshall in reaction to his opponent receiving the president's endorsement.
Marshall is attempting to counter Trump's backing for Moore by stressing the myriads of endorsements he has received from state organizations such as the Alabama Farmers Federation, and 50 District Attorneys and Sheriffs.
Moore, so far, has the backing of three national political action groups: Club for Growth, Senate Conservatives Fund and Republicans for National Renewal.
Moore's campaign website quickly put up a photo of the congressman in the Oval Office with Trump and claiming to be the first to stand with Trump and be Alabama's most conservative congressman.
Marshal counters by pointing out he led the multi-state amicus briefs supporting Trump's immunity claims, his authority to reform the federal workforce, and his executive orders.
Governor
Tommy Tuberville is seen as the pre-emptive winner of the Republican nomination over insurance executive Ken McFeeters and little known "Alabama" Will Santivasci. But here is where controversy comes in. McFeeters and Democrats are still raising the question of where Tuberville's official place of residency is located, Alabama or Florida. Tuberville says he is not worried, but several legal challenges are expected to be forthcoming.
The problem with questioning Tub's residency is that Alabamians have shown little interest in that as an issue.
On the Democratic side, the man who held Tuberville's U.S. Senate seat before him is widely seen as the front runner by a wide margin. Doug Jones lost his re-election bid to Tuberville by over a half-million votes. But now it will be easier to take shots at the state's senior U.S. Senator because unlike 2020, Tuberville has a record Jones can campaign against.
Jones recently delivered a pre-emptive strike at Republicans, complaining about straight-ticket voting which has given Republicans at all levels on the ballot an advantage. Out of 1.4 million ballots cast in 2022, 647525 vote straight GOP and 297,598 straight Democrat. So, Jones ignored the fact that there is also a lot of straight-ticket voting on the Democrat ballot.
While pollsters give Tuberville the lead, Jones has already run a number of TV political ads showing he is well financed and serious about winning. A well-financed Jones campaign will be the strongest Democrat challenger to a Republican nominee in years.
The fact that Jones is the last Democrat to win statewide office in Alabama has energized Dem voters. However, there is a wildcard, how many GOP voters will crossover in the primaries to vote for Will Boyd or Chad ‘Chig’ Martin to throw a monkey wrench in Jones' bid for the governor's chair?
Lt. Governor
The race that is garnering the most attention right now is for Lt. Governor in the Republican primary. Now former Republican Party Chair John Wahl surprised everyone when he signed qualifying papers literally at the last hour last Friday. That almost overnight ignited a negative response from front runner, Secretary of State Wes Allen and raised other questions about Wahl's qualifications.
"By entering this race, Nehemiah Wahl has, once again, betrayed his obligation to the Alabama Republican Party," said candidate and Tuscaloosa native Wes Allen in referring to Wahl's first name. "Instead of living up to his duty to promote Republican values and the success of Republican candidates, he has chosen self-promotion that will undercut the campaigns of Republicans up and down the ballot. Democrats are fielding the strongest slate of candidates in recent history, and the Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party is giving them ammunition to attack every Republican candidate in the state."
Nehemiah Ezekiel Wahl is the legal name for "John" Wahl. He reportedly was stopped by an Alabama State Trooper and gave him a Tennessee driver license with that name. But here is where confusion begins. Wahl created a fake government ID in order to vote in Alabama, in direct violation of state voter ID laws. When a local poll worker reported the alleged voter fraud, he was fired.
Some Republicans have filed ethics complaints again the butterfly farmer who calls Limestone County home. They have questioned Wahl and his brother for possibly improperly using party funds for their consulting business.
Add another interesting factor to the race between Wahl, Allen, Ag. Commissioner Rick Pate, Patrick Bishop, George Childress, Stewart Tankersly, and Nicole Wadsworth - Wahl has drawn the support of President Trump. To that backing, another candidate for the office, Dean Odle responded, "The President must have seen the article that exposed Wes Allen as a Never-Trumper."
And Primary Election Day is Still More than Four Months Away
This is just late January, and the party primary election is not until May 19th. To slightly alter a famous quote from Bette Davis in the 1959 movie All About Eve, "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride" to election day.
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