Alabama Politics in
Doc’s Political Parlor
& Home of Lawn Mower Repair

Continuing to look at the Top 10 Most Interesting Questions to Be Answered by the Primary Elections with great help from folks who roll around in politics all day and come home covered in it…

Oh boy, let me tell you that that nothing got my political veterans more animated than talking about Nancy Worley.

The story is not about challenger Ed Packard’s candidacy, or that Ed Packard works in her office, or how he filed a complaint that she violated Alabama election laws. The story is Nancy Worley.

Said one knowledgeable lobbyist:

She has gotten such consistently bad publicity. She’s at such odds with county boards of registrars. There’s that bill that put them under her authority. When you [tick] people off in 67 counties, you are in trouble. I think she’s in trouble. Man, she’s gotten such bad press. There’s the HAVA lawsuit…

Said another: “When you put her up against [Republican Candidate Beth] Chapman, Chapman will lay her in the shade. Chapman is a bulldozer. The AEA is behind Worley, but the perception is that she’s incompetent.”

Said one Democratic campaign veteran:

Worley created the most powerful Secretary of State office in the country, and she’s about to hand the keys to [Republican] Beth Chapman. That office handles election disputes, voter registration… It will be hard for Democrats to get clean voter registration lists, but every Republican will get it. When a Democrat needs a clean voter registration list, it will be, “Oh, I’ll get to it. It will be a few weeks.” Worley has made every state employee angry… at one point Carolyn Ellis was going to run. She could have taken the nomination but she decided to run for the House instead [in District 79]. There are a lot of people including me who are really frustrated. Beth is so damn partisan that she is going to cause headaches. People are going to talk about a partisan shift in Alabama and will say “it’s all because McCain is more moderate than Hillary,” but it’s going to be because Beth Chapman won’t give the Democratic candidates what they need in local races.

But didn’t the AEA endorse Worley?

They had to. She was [AEA] President. But when AEA endorsed her, [AEA Executive Secretary Paul] Hubbert said, “If she had listened to me, I could have saved her.” They endorsed her, but when she asks for $5000 more, he’s going to give her $1000, and that’s when she will know he’s kissing her off.

Is Nancy Worley vulnerable? Definitely in November.

Is Nancy Worley vulnerable to Ed Packard in the Democratic primary? Well, it would be an upset. Says the first lobbyist from above:

Packard really might pull this one off. Worley has such pathetic press. It seems like the only time we read about her is related to some gaffe she’s involved in - pissing off local registrars, buying her SUV, getting sued over religion by employees, blah, blah, blah. And her insistence on going ahead with the “voter education” TV campaign - I just don’t think that the voters are going to see that as good government, but rather a way to get her name before the public at public expense.

The Birmingham News, as far as I can remember, is the only paper to endorse Packard thus far, but I’d be surprised if he doesn’t pick up more in the next few days. While I first thought of Packard as really just a disgruntled employee, it’s obvious that he’s getting some support. With a “normal” Secretary of State, he probably wouldn’t have a chance, but with Worley..?

My frustrated campaign veteran said, “If you could bet it this way, you could take Packard and the points, if you wanted a fun upset.”

We’ll know next week.

If you want some extra reading, here is an article from January, 2004 that looks prescient now.

Related posts:
Intro to Top 10 Most Interesting Questions
#10. Who is “one and done?”
 #9. Will the Democratic nominee for governor win the primary without a runoff?
 #8. Who will be the most noteworthy newcomer among primary winners?
 #7. Is Republican AG candidate Mark Montiel a contender or a pretender?
 #6. How did the ALFA slate do?

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