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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Amendment One Backers: Nailen - Love - Grimes
All of the above will never be able to live that down in District 2.
Amendment One Opponents: Tim James, Harri Anne Smith (although Smith DID vote for the referendum to vote on the tax package).
These two pass the first hurdle.
Comment by Get Real — October 8, 2007 @ 4:01 pm
If Smith chooses to run, she has the financial backing.
Comment by MH — October 8, 2007 @ 4:01 pm
I think James has a following - and some of that following is with a few of the bigger players among state associations (primarily the ones that hate taxes - and James was way out front in opposition to Tax-Hiking Amendment One). Nailen’s sole political experience is heading BCA - the leading supporter of Tax-Hiking Amendment One. Get the picture?
Amendment One support + Absolute Political Nobody= Nailen has No Candidacy.
Comment by Get Real — October 8, 2007 @ 3:59 pm
Agreed that james, love and nailen can “raise” the money out of their own pocket if needed. no one has heard or love outside his distrcit and tim james people have heard of but he has run for office before and it fell flat. if he was fob james, jr obviously his name would play better. remember that everett and riley had zero name recognition when they first ran for congress; so it can and has been done.
Comment by Anonymous — October 8, 2007 @ 3:54 pm
Giles cannot raise the money, BTW. That’s why you haven’t heard anything about him. Only people who can raise the dough will be serious in the end. Obviously Tim James and this “Nailen” guy have their own money. I am unsure if anyone else will have the moolah to stick it out in this race - Jay Love may have enough.
Comment by Get Real — October 8, 2007 @ 3:27 pm
I am hearing more and more about Tim James making this race - and I think it is a serious buzz. He may have the biggest marquee name in it if the other “major contenders” are people like Nailen, who 9,999 out of every 10,000 people in the district have never heard of.
Comment by Get Real — October 8, 2007 @ 3:25 pm
Has anyone heard a word out of John Giles? He is listed as having buzz about him as a possible candidate but I have not seen a word written about him in any articles or heard anyone talking about him seriously.
Comment by JT of Ozark — October 8, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
Enterprise was not due 70 million. With insurance and FEMA monies there is no way enterprise was due 79 million. Get a grip. that is why the senate reduced the amount, and rightfully so. Yes, Spicer spear headed the effort in the house as he is the relevant house member that represents enterprise, then it went to the senate where holley spear headed the effort. Sorry guys but a monkey could have gotten those bills passed. the alabama legislature would not have stopped such an effort no matter who sponsored it. but yes, the amount was reduced, as it should have been.
In terms of Holley running - sorry but he is an old man - he is not up to being a freshman member of congress and staying in the job for 10 or more years so he can actually be effective. he will not run. Spicer is young but has problems of his own to deal with including having a sweet deal with the state to double dip and barely winning his lat state house bid by 51% i recall. not impressive for an incumbant whose supporters think he has the ability to be elected to Congress. Ego is an amazing thing guys…Spicer for President!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by CoffeeCy — October 8, 2007 @ 9:46 am
Cassady has it right. Mr. Spicer got a $79 million bill passed out of the house first thing in the session. Spicer is a close ally of Seth Hammett. The senate leadership was so sideways with Holley that they had to spank him on the hand and embarass him. The senate was not going to not do the right thing and respond to the tragedy. But they surely were not going to go out of their way to help Senator Holley. The senate version was signficantly reduced to something like $30 plus million. Holley
was presented with the lesser deal and told to take it or leave it after a very heated committee meeting. He took it. I am not arguing that Holley should have lined up with the Senate democrats but if he had been lined up Enterprise would probably have surely gotten the $79 million if not more.
Comment by Blue — October 8, 2007 @ 9:15 am
Enterprise school relief was not spearheaded by Jimmy Holley. I’m sure everyone is tired of hearing this, but it was spearheaded by Terry Spicer. Holley is on such shakey gound he doesn’t know who’s behind him. If Spicer hadn’t intervened, Enterprise would be stuck in trailer classrooms for the next two decades. Spicer’s House appropriation bill was gutted in half by the time it left the Senate. Go Jimmy!
Holley’s interest in this race is purely a passing-of-the-torch play - he obviously wants something to stay out of the race. Some of his Repub buddies have probably convinvced him that their behind him like Riley did before he campaigned against him last go-round.
Comment by Cassady — October 8, 2007 @ 9:05 am
Regarding Jimmy Holley and comment #59…
In case you are wondering, I moved Jimmy Holley to “Serious Buzz” based on this article in the Dothan Eagle. The main criterion I use to place a potential candidate in “Serious Buzz” is a credible report that the person has said that he/she is strongly considering a run.
There has been speculation that Holley might run as a Republican but the Dothan Eagle article said nothing about that, so I did not bump up Holley’s name on the GOP side.
Comment by Danny — October 8, 2007 @ 8:34 am
Enterprise school relief was spear headed by jimmy holley…not my favorite guy but those are the facts. enterprise is his senate district after all. so, surely harri anne supporters will not point to that as one of her senate accomplishments. i am sure there are others…but that can not be one of them.
Comment by Dothan Pol — October 8, 2007 @ 8:15 am
As for the personal life, don’t have a care in the world about it. You do have a nice vocabulary. Since you are such a historian of the great
accomplishments of Harri Anne why don’t you as requested note a few major accomplishments of her’s. I’ll be willing to bet anything you want
to give her credit for is really the work of someone else. She is great about taking credit for things she had nothing to do with. Example: to
hear Harri Anne tell it she was the lead advocate to pass the Enterprise schools relief bill in the legislature. She was quick to show up for press
conferences and ride the media coverage but she did not do anything but sit back and let others do the work. By the way, wrestling, beer, and a little
football too are on my schedule tonight. I’m not the brightest bulb but I know a fake when I see one. The real reason Harri Anne is getting any
attention at all is because she has a few coins in the bank. I applaud your passionate defense of the much maligned female.
Comment by Pookie Wilson — October 8, 2007 @ 7:05 am
Well,“Pookie” THAT is a VERY sexist remark, and regardless of what nom de plume you choose to call yourself, no woman would ever say that to another woman. You are the one who has been ‘unmasked’. The wonderful thing about the Internet is that the anonymity gives some people a false sense of comfort to be whatever and whomever they please…often someone quite different than who they truly are. It always cracks me up when men pretend to be women, though. Makes you wonder….
Why is it that when a woman supports another woman, and refuses to let The Boys Club treat her and other women like Barbie Dolls, Chattell, or door mats; she is treated like she has no brains? The last time a man did that to me, I challenged him to compare IQs at $50 a point. Pity he was too chicken to put his money where his mouth was. It would have made a nice start to Senator Smith’s warchest…
So, “Pookie”, why don’t you go watch some wrestling and guzzle some beer. I’m not going to hijack this blog in order to list the pages and pages of data on why Smith is the best qualified potential candidate. I doubt you would read it anyway. If she declares for the race, I’ll see if I can squeeze in time to build a website detailing her many fine attributes and accomplishments…in between polishing my nails, lunching with the girls, and shopping (at least, in your mind, that is how intelligent women spend their time…or do you ardently believe that ‘intelligent women’ is an oxymoron?)
Anyway, this blog is not about me. It is about the candidates and potential candidates for the seat that will be vacated by Terry Everett. As much as I enjoy this witty repartee, but we do need to get back on topic, before the other bloggers get disgusted and leave.
The floor is open to anyone who would like to discuss the subject AT HAND (as opposed to my personal life, which “Pookie” seems sooo interested in.)
Comment by MH — October 7, 2007 @ 10:26 pm
Your exposed MH. You simply like Harri Anne because she is a female. You will of course respond and give various reasons why you support her otherwise. Won’t happen in 2008 at the Congressional level. Go catch some HGTV and a Lifetime special. You are out of your league as well.
Comment by Pookie Wilson — October 7, 2007 @ 8:27 pm
I have read many of the posts over the last week. I like Senator Smith very much but I do agree that she would be in over her head in DC. She has let her name be discussed many times before including running against Terry Everrett in the Republican primary and also running against Bob Riley in the primary. Neither time did she make the move. I believe she will do the same again and sie this race out.
Comment by Dothan Pol — October 7, 2007 @ 7:05 pm
Oh, and by the way, boys….women vote. I know, it is a shock to find that out, but we’ve been doing it for quite some time now. Not only that, but we make up a VERY large proportion of the constituency. And some of us even have post secondary educations that we use to make informed decisions. We are your worst nightmare…a strong core constituency who can think for themsevles. En Garde!
Comment by MH — October 7, 2007 @ 6:59 pm
That really sounds sexist to me. You think she is ineffective because she is a woman..admit it. Don’t you know a woman has to work twice as hard as a man to be thought half as good…yet women are the ones who shape the leaders of EVERY generation.
Why is it that in school, girls regularly out perform boys on every standardized test, yet the minute we try to enter The Boy’s Club, we are called ineffective and told to go home. Well, I’m sorry, I don’t think you can bully Smith. It just makes her stubborn and she tends to dig her heels in.
Comment by MH — October 7, 2007 @ 6:43 pm
Give me a break MH! Ethical and ineffective. I applaud the ethical. She has that. But she is among the most ineffective in the Senate. She’ll
get run over in DC! As for being afraid, no way. What I am afraid of us is enough people like you actually electing her. We then will have
a do nothing in Congress that will ensure the 2nd gets kicked in the tail every day in DC. In a year or two after she shows she has nothing to offer we will be the laughing stock of the country. Yes she is a nice lady. She is not the best we can do. DC is hardball. Those who know how to play
gets things for their district. Those who don’t or who don’t wish to engage in the process get overlooked. When you get overlooked other states and districts steal things from your district and increase their influence. If you don’t get on the right committees you don’t get out of the gate
in the DC horse race.
Comment by Anonymous — October 7, 2007 @ 6:30 pm
No, Anonymous, I don’t work for Harri Anne Smith, nor do I ever plan to. You think that because I have strong opinions I must be on someone’s payroll? That is the kind of politics Senator Smith is trying to get away from.
Whose payroll are YOU on? Are you the same Anonymous that thinks Smith should run for Treasurer????
Why would her election “challenge our strong military and agricultural prescence”? Face it, you are afraid of her, and well you should be. Ethical poiticians are rare in this day and age, and I can see how they would be viewed as a threat by many who don’t hold to the same high standards.
Comment by MH — October 7, 2007 @ 5:57 pm