Grimsley Ad on TV in Race for Treasurer

Democrat Charley Grimsley takes a swing at his Republican opponent in this ad running in Montgomery. (The ad buy will be expanded into other markets next week.) Grimsley and Republican Young Boozer are seeking to succeed Republican Kay Ivey in the Treasurer’s office.

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Mitt Romney Endorses 24 Alabama Candidates, But...

Mitt Romney announced in a release [.pdf] that he has endorsed and contributed to 24 Republicans in Alabama this fall, including Kay Ivey, Richard Shelby, Luther Strange, Young Boozer, John McMillan, all seven Republicans running for the U.S. House, four running for state Senate, seven candidates for state House, and even a candidate for the Montgomery County Board of Education.

But not the head of the ticket Robert Bentley.

See the whole list here in a .pdf file.

Update: Bentley declines Romney endorsement.

Bentley, Ivey, and Boozer Lead in Ivey-Commissioned Poll

A recent poll from “the polling company ™, inc. /WomanTrend” on behalf of Kay Ivey’s campaign for Lt. Governor has some interesting numbers. (You can find it all here in a .pdf file.)

Here are a few highlights…

  • 45% of respondents say they will vote for Kay Ivey for Lt. Gov. (“definitely,” “probably,” or “lean”), while 35% respond saying they will vote for Jim Folsom.
     
  • In the race for Governor, Bentley leads Sparks 55% to 29% (totalling “definitely,” “probably,” and “lean”).
     
  • Young Boozer leads Charles Grimsley 46% to 25% in the Treasurer’s race.
     

43% of Alabamians intend to vote only or mostly for Republicans, 21% for Democrats, according to the poll.

Net favorable Ratings:

  •  Candidates for Lt. Governor
      (R) Kay Ivey – 27% (38% Total Favorable minus 11% Total Unfavorable)
      (D) Jim Folsom Jr. – 7% (37% minus 30%)
     
  •  From the Governor’s race
      (R) Robert Bentley – 49% (61 minus 12)
      (D) Ron Sparks – 10% (37 minus 27)
     
  •  Candidates for Treasurer
      (R) Young Boozer – 9% (20 minus 11)
      (D) Charles Grimsley – 1% (6 minus 5)
     

If you were looking for mitigating factors… those more knowledgeable than I in this realm have suggested that the 20% African-American sample may be a bit low. One told me that 22% would probably still be on the conservative side. Also, the sample may be a little on the young side, with 18 to 24 year-olds representing 12% of the poll’s sample, and those 65 and over representing 20% of the sample. Others have suggested that the youngest group might be nearer to 5% of the actual turnout, while the oldest group might be nearer to 30% of actual turnout. As Alabama becomes more red, the youngest group tends to be more Republican, and the oldest group tends to be more Democratic than other age ranges, a holdover from the days when Alabama was a one-party state.

There is still this question, which struck me as odd before and still does:

10. This November, (SPLIT SAMPLED: Democratic incumbent Lieutenant Governor Jim Folsom, Jr.//Lieutenant Governor Jim Folsom, Jr.) is seeking reelection. Do you think Jim Folsom, Jr. deserves to be reelected, or is it time to give a new person the chance to do the job? (PROBED: And would that be DEFINITELY or PROBABLY REELECT FOLSOM/GIVE SOMEONE ELSE/NEW PERSON?)

A hard re-elect number is often gathered many months out to figure a baseline of support for the incumbent, but we are into September. This question gives respondents info to think about when they answer the next question (which is, would you vote for Republican Kay Ivey or Democrat Jim Folsom, Jr.?), info that won’t be on the ballot. As I mentioned before, I’d like to know results on the Ivey/Folsom matchup question asked straight-up without the preceding question. There may be little difference, but results tend to be more meaningful when info not on the ballot is not presented in the poll.

YMMV.

The poll was taken August 30-31. The margin of error is +/- 4.9%.

Lots of goodies are in there. Let us know what in there [.pdf] strikes you.

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ALFA Farm-PAC Announces Endorsements

The executive committee of ALFA’s Farm-PAC met yesterday and approved the recommendations for endorsements made last week by its Farm-PAC advisory trustees.

In addition to the ones you already saw here at the Parlor in a sneak peek*, ALFA’s Farm-PAC also endorsed:

CD 5 – Steve Raby (D)
CD 7 – Terri Sewell (D)
Secretary of State – Beth Chapman (R)
State Auditor – Sam Shaw (R)
State Treasurer – Young Boozer (R)

ALFA’s Farm-PAC had already endorsed our incumbents in Washington, Supreme Court Justices Mike Bolin and Tom Parker, Supreme Court candidate Kelli Wise in Place 1, and Tommy Bryan in his re-election bid to the Court of Civil Appeals. Of those, Bobby Bright in Congressional District 2 is the only Democrat.

No endorsement was made in the governor’s race between Robert Bentley (R) and Ron Sparks (D).

See the ALFA announcement here.

*Kay Ivey (R) for Lt. Governor, Luther Strange (R) for AG, John McMillan (R) for Commissioner of Agriculture & Industries, Jan Cook (D) for PSC Place 1, and Susan Parker (D) for PSC Place 2 were noted here last week as receiving the recommendation for endorsement from ALFA’s Farm-PAC advisory trustees.

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Boozer Blasts Wallace in PACT Ad

This ad doesn’t ask you to vote for anyone, but to vote no to Republican candidate for State Treasurer George Wallace, Jr., in the June 1 primary. Paid for by Young Boozer‘s campaign, the ad blames Wallace for his part in initiating Pre-pay a Child’s Tuition (PACT), a program which required a highly-publicized state legislative bailout this year.

http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/YoungBoozer-NotGeorgeWallace-May2010.flv

Wallace served as State Treasurer from 1986 to 1994 and  is running in part on coming back to office to fix what went wrong with PACT in his absence.

Related Articles:

Young Boozer Airs First Ad of Treasurer's Race

Republican Young Boozer is airing what is, as far as I know, the first TV spot of the state Treasurer’s race.

http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/YoungBoozerforTreasurer_May2010.flv

He may be right that his name may be an asset for him in the race. It is, as he says, “unbelievably sticky.”

He faces George Wallace, Jr. in the Republican primary. The nominee will face the winner of the Democratic primary between Charley Grimsley and Jeremy Sherer.

Qualifying Deadline Spurs Candidates' Decisions - Updated

Alabama Treasury SealUndeclared candidates have until Friday, the do-or-die day, to wrestle through their decision-making processes, or perhaps to announce what was long ago decided, and qualify for the races that will be decided ultimately in the November general elections

Young Boozer makes official what we heard as a possibility eight months ago: he will enter the race for state Treasurer. The former deputy state finance director will challenge George Wallace, Jr. for the nomination.

Also, it’s no secret to those close to Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh that the former state GOP chair is considering another run for the Public Service Commission. Cavanaugh narrowly lost the PSC Presidency to Democrat Lucy Baxley in the 2008 general election and has been giving serious thought to running for the seat currently held by Democrat Jan Cook. Republicans Chip Beeker, Terry Dunn, and Stephen Evans have announced their candidacies for the seat.

Who else might we hear from by Friday?

Update: Multiple sources tell the Parlor that Cavanaugh has expressed interest in getting Beeker to switch races so that he would run for the PSC Commisioner’s seat held by Democrat Susan Parker, but we also hear that it’s not going to happen.

Legislative Dispatch

A Look from the Rearview Mirror

This Thursday will mark the last day of the legislative Session.  For some, it was a Session that seemed would never end.  For others, it was one that ended much too quickly.  It may be early, yet, to write an obit on this Session, but as we approach the finish line, some perspective may be in order.

[...]

Putting Students First

As you know, a very important piece of legislation will be presented for our consideration in the House tomorrow in Montgomery – Senate Bill 310 – the “Students First” tenure and fair dismissal reform bill. Like me, many House members have been inundated with phone calls and emails from opponents of this bill, and some have been [...]

Legislative Transparency

There are a lot of issues to debate before we begin the final days of this session. In fact, I am quite certain there will be some comments on this post debating many of them. Before we get into the last seven day of the session I wanted to bring up a topic that [...]


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