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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here is another one, Anonymous. “Yawn” to anything posted anonymously.
Comment by JT — February 29, 2008 @ 11:30 am
Well Sen. Smith’s fundraiser accomplished one thing, they finally paid their webmaster bill, and the Harri Ann campaign site is now up. Got a good chuckle from a good bit of it especially the
“The Second Congressional district is home to many military bases like Fort Rucker and Maxwell-Gunter”,
She really knows her district…Sen. Smith, here is a hint, those are the “Many” military bases.
Comment by Scott Ninesling — February 29, 2008 @ 11:07 am
Am I the only one who has noticed that “both” pikecountyguy and GOPer like to use the same phrases? (i.e.”yawn”)
Comment by Anonymous — February 29, 2008 @ 8:40 am
By the way - there were over 300 people at that Harri Anne fundraiser by several counts. I didn’t count up the people on her invite list, but that is how many were there.
Comment by Actual count — February 29, 2008 @ 8:22 am
You can take this to the bank per Harri Anne Smith’s fundraiser: 1) She raised the money and 2) she didn’t have a dime of that in ANY loans, from herself or otherwise. Check out the reports when available - those statements are facts.
Jay Love is the Chip Ellis of this race. He’s the Kredit King,and his supporters empty casting of aspersions is getting tirresome. As long as he is a quarter of a million in debt he should stop trying to call into question other candidates proven fundraising abilities.
Comment by Anonymous — February 29, 2008 @ 8:14 am
I spoke with a reporter yesterday at Judge Binfords’ swearing in ceremony in Dothan, who told me that he attended H.A. Smith’s fund raiser Tuesday evening. He confided that there were not many people there above the expected honorary - host committee. He didn’t see how they could have contributed $230,000 since the max per person is $2300. Then he offered that perhaps she loaned her campaign most of the money. I said, “we won’t know until she files with the FEC in May”.
That comment did stir enough curiosity in me to check the Alabama SoS elections website to discover that on January 31 2006 H.A. Smith filed to run as Governor and put up $1,000,000 ( 1 mil) of her own money.
Things that make you go, Hmmmmmmm.
Comment by LB-22 — February 29, 2008 @ 7:52 am
MH, glad to see you can spell! HAHA. I agree with your thoughts but I do think the previous blogger makes a point. Dothan and Geneva, alone, does not make up the Wiregrass. Any candidate hoping to be the “wiregrass candidate” has a lot of work to do and it must stretch over several counties. I do think folks are getting caught up in some of this and not realizing that Alabama’s Congressional District 2 is as large as it is. I don;t think anyone can take the wiregrass, voting as a block, for granted. But if they do, then as MH said, it is a force to be reckoned with. Yokels or not.
Comment by JT — February 29, 2008 @ 7:15 am
Sorry to bust your bubble, but the Wiregrass is a lot more than a bunch of yokels (please note spelling).
Additionally, you might want to check the voting demographics for the Wiregrass area. We ‘yokels’ (many of whom are professionals with advanced degrees, many have traveled the world, and quite a number of us have the ability to spell correctly), are a force to be reckoned with.
Comment by MH — February 29, 2008 @ 1:26 am
You yokles just don’t get it. Senator Smith will win her Senate district and that is all. Yes, folks give cash to her because she is a sitting State Senator. Her stock will be down once she loses this race. She should have stayed out of the race and waited to run for statewide office like she really wants to do. Once she loses the primary in district 2, her stock will be down and her hopes of a statewide race will be diminished.
Comment by GoFigure! — February 28, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
Nobody needs to ordain Senator Smith anything. The Wiregrass loves her. And they have proven it by coming up off their wallets to support her.
I don’t see any of the Montgomery folks being able to garner that kind of support from the northern part of the district, or anywhere else for that matter.
Comment by MH — February 28, 2008 @ 6:30 pm
Yawn…
I am sure Queen Smith (as you have ordained her) will be happy when she remains in the Senate for the rest of her term.
Comment by PikeCountyguy — February 28, 2008 @ 1:19 pm
The fact that Smith has so much support from her constituents of the Wiregrass that they can raise $230k for her (umm, isn’t that called ‘grassroots support’?) speaks volumes to the loyalty the area feels for Smith. I’m sure if I were running against her, such a show of support from ‘the people’ would scare the beejeezus out of me. Perhaps that is why so many of the people who blog here try so hard to discredit her.
I swear, if I had proof that she could walk on water, the folks on this blog would swear up and down that anyone could do it…or that they knew for a fact that it was a really low tide and there was a sandbar beneath her feet.
What y’all can’t dispute now, is that Senator Smith has the support of the Wiregrass…no wonder y’all are so scared of her.
BTW, I think it is wonderful that everyone is finally learning how to spell ‘Harri Anne’ correctly!
Comment by MH — February 28, 2008 @ 12:51 pm
If Harri Anne did, she’s a far better writer than you, pikecounty. Makes more sense also. Maybe that’s why she got a quarter of a million dollars in actual donations while your guy Jay is a quarter of a million in debt - unless his buddies at the liberal special interests are waiting to pay his debts AGAIN. They certainly (and provably) did precisely that in 2002.
I wonder which he is - a horrendous red-ink spender or a person who deliberately hides his donors from voters?
Either way, it’s bad for Love. I think Grimes looks cleaner in the Montgomery area if voters there want a local candidate.
Comment by Anonymous — February 28, 2008 @ 12:25 pm
Mr. Keynes:
Did Harri Anne Smith write that response for you? How kind of her…and how faithful of you to be her mouthpiece. Garbage…
Comment by PikeCountyguy — February 28, 2008 @ 10:31 am
BTW pikecounty, according to Love himself it is NOT financing with his “own money.” He lists that money as “loans.
That means someone else will pay that off. SELF-FINANCING IS CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE CANDIDATE TO HIS CAMPAIGN - NOT LOANS.
Love already has an established record on this issue from his previous race against Bob McKee. He listed all of his serious campaign money as “loans” from himself so no voters could tell - prior to the election - where his money came from. After the election, his “loans” were paid off by government employee unions -some of America’s most liberal special interests.
Cold hard facts.
Comment by John Maynard Keynes — February 28, 2008 @ 8:10 am
Get real, my friend. It is far far better to have 300 people in the district give you $1,000 you are NOT IN PERSONAL DEBT FOR than to hvae Paul Hubbert write a $300,000 check to cover your debt you are personally responsible for. Smithg’s fundraising methods are far better and are ethically superior to Love’s “loans.” If they are indeed “loans” they show incredible fiscal irresponsibilty of a type already a plague upon congress. If he knows already who will be paying off those loans, he is deliberatley hiding his donors. Everyone can see who is supporting Smith.
Her method is more ethical. It is more honest. It is better.
Comment by John Maynard Keynes — February 28, 2008 @ 8:06 am
John M Keynes, what a dear and bright fellow you are. So let me get this right; donors give 1,000 to 2,000 (or a little more) to a candidate and that is much better from an influence peddling stand point than a candidate financing with their own money? How interesting. And how flat out wrong. If you think Senator Smith will not jump and ask how high for those donors that give 1,0000 or more a piece…you don’t have a grip on reality. Ignorance is bliss, huh?
Comment by PikeCountyguy — February 27, 2008 @ 10:48 am
MH, you will ave to eat your own words about our elected officials missing votes in order to campaign. Your beloved Harri Anne did just thatr yesterday. Her “emergency” was so she could be at her fundraiser of 1,000 donors. I don’t blame her…I am just saying, stop acting as if she is above all other candidates from a moral and sense of duty standpoint.
Comment by Jaker — February 27, 2008 @ 10:43 am
Word is that Harri Anne raised enough money at her fund raiser to pay off Jay Love’s quarter-of-a-million dollar debt . . .I am way more in favor of candidates raising money from real people than these “loans” that candidates take and then sell their influence to the highest bidder . . .
Harri Anne at least can get donors . . Love is going into huge debt . . .since Love is such a big fan of deficit spending he would be right at home with the others in DC . . . .
Comment by John Maynard Keynes — February 27, 2008 @ 10:12 am
Could it be that she was too busy setting up for her fund raiser in Dothan Tuesday evening to attend the business of the State? It’s all about priorities and she has demonstrated what hers are.
Comment by LB-22 — February 27, 2008 @ 8:57 am