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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MH - take a look at Smith’s latest commercial. You like to be the truth squad and I am all for that - so tell me how her statement that last year congress raised billions in taxes is truthful. Does she mean the federal tax revenue amounted to billions? If so, the IRS not Congress raised that. My point is, what she is imlying is that congress increased (raised) our taxes to the tune of billions of dollars last year. That is totally and completely false.
Comment by Anonymous — May 17, 2008 @ 8:21 pm
Haven’t thought about since I don’t expect to have to vote for anyone else. I know I would not vote for Bright, Love or Schmidke. If Smith were not in the race, I would have to take a long, hard look at the front runners…those with a real chance to win, since voting for anyone else would just be taking votes away from those who do have a chance to win.
I’d look at their background, and how they behave during the election. You can tell a lot about a person’s character by how they behave when they are in ‘panic mode’….when it is down to the wire. Of course, that means weeding through the mudslinging because those who sling mud often like to disguise their own bad behavior by accusing others of the misbevior as well. Sort of like two siblings who blame each other for breaking Mom’s favorite vase. There is a good reason why they say that politics is a dirty business.
That said, it doesn’t necessarily mean I would vote for anyone who is a front runner now, because if Smith were not in the race, it would completely change the face of the race.
Comment by MH — May 17, 2008 @ 9:18 am
MH, just curious. We all know you are for Harri Smith. Who would you vote for as your next choice? Again, just curious and would love to know your rationale for picking your second choice. Again, I know you don’t plan to have to make that decision but just for funzies.
Comment by Seriously — May 17, 2008 @ 8:55 am
Calling on all in the 2nd. Elect anyone but Smith and Love. While the remaining contenders are rough around the edges too at least they either have had legitimate successes in life or at least they have true convictions. Since everyone on here seems to be suggesting I am a Love homer let me set the record straight. I am completely undecided at this point. If I were voting today I would likely vote for David Woods or the Dr. from Dothan, or possibly Grimes. I likely will vote in the Repub primary and vote for Bright in the general election albeit I am about 60/40 on that and reserve the right to change my mind. Nominating Smith or Love is an embarrassment to us all. If we send one of thus nervous nuts to Washington we will be the laughing stock of all. Can any of you imagine Smith or Love having enough sense to negotiate with the powerful appropriation committee members to get things for Alabama. That is how the game is played and you have to have some common sense to be a player there and bring the bacon home. Also to keep what you have like Ft. Rucker and Maxwell. We can kiss major pieces of those installations bye bye if Smith or Love are elected. Speaking of Love he would not know a combat rifle if it hit him aside the head. I can see Love now on his first military awareness trip looking like a boy scout learning about poison ivy for the first time. Geeez!
Comment by Seriously — May 17, 2008 @ 8:52 am
You want to send Love to Congress? Even Grimes has a more impressive REPUBLICAN record than Love. I’d vote John Martin before Love, at least Martin has at least a little experience in life that has made him a great person, Love is still a scumbag. He won’t make it past 2 years, let alone to 20 years. After two years he will be wishing he could get away with only Don’s sentence. He is known by many to be the “Dirtiest Player in the Game”. That is how he beat Bob and that is why he has Dirty Dax and Matrix on his side, since when do they believe in ethics/morals. Conservative Christian……I haven’t ever seen a bigger pile of BS and I grew up on a cattle farm.
Comment by TH loves gettin screwed — May 16, 2008 @ 11:21 pm
Poor Harri Anne, I actually spit up when I watched that new ad tonight. She would be a joke if we sent that pitiful soul to congress.
Let’s not humiliate ourselves and our state. Come on person’s of like mind! All of us that visit this site care. Please think long and hard about this important election. Dickinson was in for 24 years & Everett will have served 16 years. We are probably going to send someone to congress for the next 20 years!
I’m for Love personally, but any of the other five GOP candidates would be exceptable to me before poor Ms. Smith
Comment by TH — May 16, 2008 @ 10:45 pm
The new Smith “anti-tax” ad is awful. We deserve what we get in Congress if we elect this airhead. HAS is a long mile difference from the likes of Dickinson and Everett.
Comment by Seriously — May 16, 2008 @ 7:06 pm
Danny - I think if you contact the source he’ll tell you what he told me.
Comment by In da know — May 16, 2008 @ 3:10 pm
Danny - I sent you an e-mail. I trust the source.
Comment by In da know — May 16, 2008 @ 3:07 pm
Regarding comment #928… My understanding is that Joe Perkins is not working with the Love campaign. If you have someone or some evidence that shows otherwise, I am glad for you to contact me, but otherwise I understand there is no basis for such a claim.
Comment by Danny — May 16, 2008 @ 2:56 pm
Not hearsay. I trust the source.
Remember, Joe won a race for Jay before.
Comment by In da know — May 16, 2008 @ 2:48 pm
Love continues to be smeared with hearsay.
Comment by Anonymous — May 16, 2008 @ 2:39 pm
Hey - posted this elsewhere, but it appears Jay Love has hired Democrat uberconsultant Joe Perkins (AKA the master of negative campaigning) to work for him AGAIN. The state employees’ union hired him in 2002 to beat Bob McKee for Jay. AND Dax Swatek has a contract with a state employees’ union lobbyist. Coincedence? There is no such thing . . . .
Comment by In da know — May 16, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
You just took large chunks out of Schmidtke’s stump speeches put them together and regurgitated the soundbites for us all. I have heard him give that speech and where he says we don’t need to focus on what is wrong and he is not going to tell us what is wrong with America, but follows that with “like the economy, or gas prices…” He is saying I’m not going to tell you what’s wrong and immediately follows it by telling us what is wrong. Sounds like he might be a little full of it already.
Love doesn’t have any cards to lay down, he has to ask Mac (ASEA) and Paul (AEA) for those.
Also a previous comment said that the push poll by Love was only hearsay, well I heard the voice on the phone say that they wanted my opinion of a candidate claiming to be a conservative Christian showing such inappropriate shows on his network. So maybe if you didn’t have your head shoved so far up a certain orifice of your body you could see that it is a plain and simple fact that Love is playing dirty games that are not very becoming of a “Conservative Christian” such as he calls himself.
I am having a bitter friday in case you can’t tell.
Comment by Big Ole Me — May 16, 2008 @ 2:02 pm
Wow, I’m away for a day and come back to see so much activity on the site. MH, your sarcasm knows no end, but I do think your jokes are funny.
In reference to post #900 by annonymous, I regret to inform you that you are mistaken. You said that David Woods is the only candidate who has never held an office. On the contrary, Dr. Schmidtke and Mr. Martin also are newcomers to the political realm. And, from speaking with several members of various organizations, I have found that the career politician role is one that is unfavorable to many voters.
In case you (meaning any of you out there) don’t know this, Congress is at it’s all time lowest approval record. This is due to many factors such as the war, the economy, and immigration. New faces mean new ideas, even if some of them are more conceivable than others. But the fact of the matter is, that Mr. Woods has talked a big game about change, about the problems we as a counntry are facing, and about how he has made a payroll and run a business for 23 years. That is all well and good, but I have yet to hear him say one thing which led me to believe he has a plan or any idea about what he is going to do if he gets up there. For instance, I heard him speak in Redland, and it was the same old song and dance: his christian beliefs, his homelife as a child and now, he has made a payroll, he has run a business, that the worls is at one of it’s most crucial times in history, and that he wants to change what is going on. OK, great!! But, what do you plan to do? How are you going to do it? What resources are you going to use? We all know that we need to find other sources of fuel, we all know that something needs to be done about the immigration issue, we all know that the economy is in the dumper, we all know that the military bases are a lifeline in Alabama….what are you going to do? Put some meat in your message Mr. Woods, and Mrs. Smith, and Mr. Love. Take the initiative to lay your cards on the table.
Schmidtke has shown several of his hands. He has brought up the issue of connecting the wiregrass region with the central region by means of better routes of transportation, he has breached the issue of a fence along our borders, he has spoken of new industries and jobs and issues relating to medical coverage and spending. All we hear each and every day from the other candidates is what is wrong. It is time they show us what they are going to do to cure the ills they so often speak of. Up until now only one candidate has done this, and isn’t it funny that the one person to do this is, infact, a doctor???
Comment by little ole me — May 16, 2008 @ 12:42 pm
MH, you ignorant @#&*, I know what a Dixiecrat is. I also know southern politics and, more specifically the history of Alabama politics better than ever will, I’m sure.
From about 1986 through 1994 there were some of us “TRUE” conservative republicans who were working our tails off helping to create a two party sysyem in this state.
The hypocritical Harri Anne jumped on the bandwagon in 1994 after the “REPUBLICAN RELOLUTION” was established and the path had been made by others. Her “flip-flopping” days started then. And in 1998 through deceit, careful calculations, and a little luck, (i.e., not all REPs cared for Chip Bailey) She slipped into the State Senate seat. That is her story in a NUTSHELL!
That is my history lesson for you today! Do your homework MH before you spout off your nonsense!
Comment by TH — May 16, 2008 @ 9:47 am
(gasp!) No! Not the dreaded liberal slur! Oh no! When I first dragged my late Yankee DH down here, he noticed that the worst slur that seemed to be tossed about in every election was to call each other a liberal. The closer it got to the election, the more the term was tossed about. You could almost set your calendar by it.
No, I’m not a libral. I’m more of a Libertarian at heart. But since the Libertarian Party hasn’t made much headway in this country since Thomas Jefferson, a lot of people who are Libertarians at heart tend to vote Republican if there is not a viable Libertarian candidate. As a rule, though, Libertarians vote for the person, not the ticket.
As for Smith’s former allegiance to the Democratic party, I guess you guys weren’t around back in the days of the Dixiecrat. Dixiecrats were registered as Democrats…but they even were more conservative than a Republican. Up till the Republican Revolution a few years back, most natural born Southerners were Dixiecrats. I’m not sure exctly when the Southern Conservatives realized that they were actually closet Republicans, but there was a massive swing in the South where many of the old Dixiecrats changed allegiances due to that realization.
And that, my friends, is your history lesson on Southern Politics for the day….
Comment by MH — May 16, 2008 @ 9:29 am
MH, I’ll say it out loud. I do not like Smith and I will be voting for LOVE!
BY the way, you never responded to the fact that Harri Anne was The Democratic Chairman in Geneva County in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. What do you say?
I am worried about you MH, I think tou yourself might be a liberal At heart like Harri Anne Some of your comments and statements really make me wonder???
Comment by TH — May 16, 2008 @ 9:09 am
I wish I could share in your confidence that the Repubs will hold the 2nd District, but I don’t. Bush is destroying the party because he’s too stubborn to accept the fact that he might be wrong on some issues. His “Hitler” comment the other day added another brick to an already sinking boat. Senate and House Repubs are openly defying his position on the farm bill and Iraq funding in an effort to save face with the voters. Gas is approaching $4.00 per gallon because of the rapidly declining value of the US dollar, which can be traced back to a $9 trillion debt. It would not surprise me to see the Dems take back the 2nd District as they have recently taken back seats in three other states. Bright is being openly supported in Elmore and Autagua counties by influential Republicans and Independents. It going to be a very bumpy ride to the Nov general.
Comment by JRay — May 16, 2008 @ 9:06 am
And speaking of suspicious behavior….
You guys like to rag on me for my loyalty to Smith. But I think it is very enlightening that the people who attack Smith continuously on this board never reveal their own allegiances. I guess it makes it hard for us to point to exact misbehavior on Love’s part, when his employes and toadies won’t admit their affiliation with him when they make their snide remarks, innuendoes, and outright lies. Guess it gives him a level of denialbility…but it is pretty transparent who is behind them, when taken into context. Even folks who don’t like Smith can see through the pretexts….
Comment by MH — May 16, 2008 @ 8:51 am