See also the AL - 05 Big List.
Welcome to the AL - 02 Big List.
This list has been an attempt to keep up with everyone in either political party who has been credibly mentioned (in public or private) as a potential candidate for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District since Rep. Terry Everett (R - Rehobeth) announced that he will not run for re-election.
Both parties’ qualifying period ended April 4, 2008. Three Democrats and six Republicans qualified for the primary race, and they are listed below. The primary is June 3.
The Political Parlor will update the Alabama Line (found in the sidebar) for the race, though perhaps not as fast as you like since input from a wide array of people is sought.
| Democrats |
Republicans |
IN
Bobby Bright, Montgomery Mayor
Cendie Crawley, Dentist, Troy native
Cheryl Sabel, Alabama NOW President
OUT
William Boyd, Montgomery Mayoral Candidate
Seth Hammett, Speaker of the House
Jimmy Holley, State Senator
Jimmy Lunsford, Troy Mayor
Gary McAliley, Pike/Coffee Co. DA
Wendell Mitchell, State Senator
Scott Ninesling
James Perdue, Crenshaw Co Probate Judge
Cooper Rutland, Union Springs Atty
Ron Sparks, Agricultural Commissioner
Terry Spicer, State Representative
Glen Zorn, former Florala Mayor
|
IN
David Grimes, State Representative
Jay Love, State Representative
John W. Martin, Retired Army (Dothan)
Craig Schmidtke, Dothan oral surgeon
Harri Anne Smith, State Senator
David Woods, President, WCOV-TV (Montgomery)
OUT
Greg Albritton, former state Representative
Wes Allen, former candidate for Auditor
Kenneth Boswell, Enterprise Mayor
Bobby Bright, Montgomery Mayor
Terry Butts, former Supreme Court Justice
Jim Byard, Prattville Mayor
Steve Clouse, State Representative
Mark Culver, Houston County Commissioner
Larry Dixon, State Senator
John Giles, former Christian Coalition of AL President
Jack Hawkins, Troy Univ. Chancellor
Jimmy Holley, State Senator
Tim James, Greenville businessman
Troy King, Attorney General
Ben Lewis, State Representative
Barry Mask, State Representative
Charles Nailen, Dothan businessman
Steve Pelham, former Everett staffer
Jim Sullivan, PSC President
George Wallace, Jr., former PSC Commissioner
Dot Waller, Autauga County Bd. of Ed.
Greg Wren, State Representative
|
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Perfect. And I know who bright’s boy is. Wynton Blunt the rich rep who ran for gov against Fob James. He’s been upstairs at city hall and telling people he’s going to get bright in the race
Comment by ALcrunch — December 20, 2007 @ 8:12 am
Bright is more like the girl who thinks that if she puts out then the boys will like her. But she soon finds out that she won’t get taken to the dance and she ends up with no friends.
Comment by Steph — December 20, 2007 @ 8:07 am
Bobby Bright is the Mitt Romney of this race. He’ll flip and think that if he pretends to be a conservative republican he’ll win… and then he’ll lose.
Comment by Doughnut man — December 20, 2007 @ 8:02 am
What’s Bobby Bright gunna say if he runs as a republican? “I just always wanted to be one of you”????? He ran against Republicans with the backing of Democrats. His wife has always run as a Democrat. Now he’s suddenly changing parties? It is the most blatantly political move he could make and it will be the end of his political carreer.
Comment by ALcrunch — December 20, 2007 @ 7:56 am
I saw the same poll. Bush was in the low 40’s. Why the democrats don’t release this is the only question. I can only figure that they don’t want the republican to figure it out and get behind one candidate.. But that probably wouldn’t work anyway. Jay Love is wealthy and motivated and the republicans are too cheap or too poor to run their own poll and figure out that they could lose this seat.
Comment by Steph — December 20, 2007 @ 7:53 am
William,
I really hope you let someone else right your letters and speeches. Please do not run on a pro-education platform if you are going to spelling “bEIng” as “been” you said “I’m is”. I’ll give you “fell” instead of “feel” as a simple typo. And on top of it all I mean this in all seriousness, but you have no chance and you are not a serious candidate. And after your previous comment I know this will be shocking to you, but that fact has nothing to do with your skin color. People in Montgomery took you serious and you came out and tried to stir up racial issues, you tried to attack the incumbent with stupid attacks that had very little reason to be made. I thought that you had a chance at getting into a run-off in that race from the beginning and you proved me wrong. If you run this race you will prove yourself wrong in thinking you are a serious candidate for District 2.
Comment by William Wyatt Wallace — December 20, 2007 @ 7:37 am
I like been the underdog, you made mention of all the WHITE candidates who announced their bid for the cong.dst 2 race and even those who have not, but might consider,like bobby bright. You also had the courage to mention that i’m (WILLIAM BOYD)is not a serious candidate. glade yall fell that way. Maybe the minds will change when i qualify as a DEMOCRAT. See you @ the polls. Fell free to contact me @334-263-1035
Comment by william boyd — December 19, 2007 @ 8:19 pm
Bright can win as a dem if he’s unopposed, especially if the rep field fights. He’ll win all the dems and some reps in the montgomery area and most of the independents who know he is pro-gun and pro-life. The best thing for the GOP is to get bright to run and then beat him up for being a democrat. Then they keep the seat easy and I also think Smith wins. But not because she’s the most conservative, but because she’s not from Montgomery where all the boys are and because she’s a woman.
Comment by Jimmy — December 19, 2007 @ 5:35 pm
The Republicans have a problem. They are going to end up in a nasty fight. If Bright runs unopposed in the primary and doesn’t talk about party but just about being “conservative”, he’ll win the general election. Ron Sparks won this district and he did nothing. Bright is from here. He’s pro-NRA and pro-life and that comes before party. Everett’s election numbers mean nothing, because he was there so long he had support from both parties. Bush’s numbers mean nothing, because he was okay in 2004, but not today. I heard there was a poll shown around the state house that had Bush’s positives under 50 and Bright running as a democrat above 50. That makes sense to me. The question is whether the GOP tricks him into switching parties just to keep him out of the general. If they do, this will just be a bigger bloodbath with the most conservative candidate with the most money winning. That’s probably Smith.
Comment by Erin — December 19, 2007 @ 5:12 pm
Really hasn’t been much happening here lately. Some potential candidates said they would make decisions by the end of the year, so perhaps we will have some news soon.
Comment by Danny — December 19, 2007 @ 10:09 am
No news?
Comment by William Wyatt Wallace — December 18, 2007 @ 7:25 pm
I think you are right. He could run as a democrat and get republican support but it won’t work the other way.
Comment by Erin — November 26, 2007 @ 11:23 am
He is a dem and everyone knows he. he only is talking about running as a rep. because he knows the seat (dustrict 2) is a rep. seat. If he tries to run in the rep. primary however, he will be rejected by ovters. the GOP does not welcome him.
Comment by Stephen — November 20, 2007 @ 9:53 am
I saw Bobby Bright on the news still “thinking” of running for congress. He just got re-elected and now he wants to drop the city and the democratic party? He was the one dem I could have voted for because he says what’s what. But if he now says he’s a republican then he’s just another politician.
Comment by Erin — November 19, 2007 @ 1:03 pm
Wish it were. I could use some of her money! Then again, I kinda like being in my 40s.
Comment by MH — November 16, 2007 @ 1:31 pm
For those of you that might not understand the previous question…
We would all agree that MH has been an extreme defender of Smith, like a mother would protect her daughter. MH has a very large knowledge of Smith’s background, like she has known the Senator since the day she was born. I was reading an article this morning about Smith’s announcement yesterday and it said her mother was there, Marjorie Harris. As soon as I read the name it all clicked on this MH character.
Comment by William Wyatt Wallace — November 16, 2007 @ 12:45 pm
MH would your name happen to be Marjorie Harris?
Comment by William Wyatt Wallace — November 16, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
I understand all of MH’s points for sure but reading the threads, I do also understand that people are concerned that Senator Smith is not up to the job of US Representative. This will be a hard camapign so I personally hope she steps up to the plate and works hard and tells the voters what her positions are on relevant issues. I do agree that we see a lot of smiling and dodging of tough issues on her part but she has the chance to correct that during the election.
Comment by JT — November 16, 2007 @ 7:04 am
You know, I ought to also point out that Senator Smith’s dad died when she was only 29 years old and her sister (who is also involved in the management of the bank), was 27. The two of them had to either sink or swim…and they had to learn fast and pick up the slack while still in mourning. BTW, the bank is about to build a branch in Dothan, so I guess the girls have done pretty well with “what they were handed”.
And let us not forget that the banking industry isn’t exactly like running a candy store. It is a heavily regulated industry by both the Federal government and the state government, so picking up the family business in such a manner wasn’t easy under any circumstances, much less the previously mentioned situation. Seems to me that Smith and her sister are both pretty smart gals to be able to do that…and not only keep the bank going, but grow it as they have.
She also didn’t have three terms in the Alabama Senate handed to her on a platter..she beat a 20 year incumbent to gain the seat in the first place. Nor do you just ‘walk into’ being elected mayor or being asked to lead the Wiregrass United Way campaign (with record contributions for the year!)
And then there was the Humanitarian of the Year award.
Google her name…see what comes up…
Comment by MH — November 16, 2007 @ 1:32 am
So, just because she is employed in a family owned business means she isn’t a successful businesswoman? Gosh, better tell everyone who is employed in a family owned business that their work is meaningless. I’m sure a lot of the area’s farming families would appreciate knowing how easy they have it since they work in family owned businesses, too.
Comment by MH — November 16, 2007 @ 12:54 am