JeffCo Probate Judge Campaigns
What’s with the Probate Judge races in Jefferson County?
A mailer and a radio ad for Mark Gaines, Republican nominee for Jefferson County Probate Judge Place 1, would have you believe that his opponent, Democrat Alan King, allowed a developer to seize a grandmother’s home via eminent domain. The mailer depicts a woman with a tear rolling down her cheek.
According to the public record (Case #189655, Jefferson County Probate), the reality is that the house had been abandoned, utilities had been disconnected, parts of the house were in advanced states of disrepair, no one was made homeless, and the city of Homewood legally acquired the property for over $320,000.
The ads were so egregious that Homewood City Council President Ginger Busby and two city council members held a press conference to say that the “ads supporting Mark Gaines, Republican nominee for Jefferson County probate judge, are false and are tarnishing her city’s reputation.”
Alan King has responded aggressively and has his own radio ad out (mp3).
I am trying to get a copy of the Gaines mailer or even the radio ad. Anyone have a copy of either they could email me?
Over at Place 2, where I am hearing from a lot of upset people about Sunny D. Smallwood’s misleading campaign against Sherri Friday (see here and here), well, she’s at it again. She has a new ad that showed up in the Clay News and as a mailer that apparently and bizarrely claims she was author of the Alabama Adoption Law. Look at the ad and tell me if we are to think anything other than that she was author of the Alabama Adoption Law (which would be news to Drew Whitmire who I am told is the actual author).
Update: I am told that Drew Whitmire was a member of the Alabama Law Institute’s Child Code Committee that wrote the Alabama Adoption Law which passed in 1991 and which had no involvement from Smallwood. Why would S. D. Smallwood put “Author, Alabama Adoption Law” on her campaign material?
To add to the awful campaigns being waged by the two GOP contenders for these probate spots, racist ads are being circulated, claiming that Judge King and Sherri Friday are simply pawns of “liberal” (i.e. black) politicos like Richard Arrington, Earl Hillard and Larry Langford. Photos of these men are prominently displayed in these flyers, leaving no doubt that the purpose is to throw red meat at whatever racist tendencies may exist in some parts of the county.
Whatever the outcome, Mark Gaines and Sunny Smallwood should get an award for conducting the sleaziest, most dishonorable campaigns seen in Jefferson County.
Comment by Anonymous — November 6, 2006 @ 5:24 am
For what it’s worth, I found out today from talking to someone in the Smallwood camp that the line that says, “Author, Alabama Adoption Law,” was a mistake by the newspaper that ran the ad. The mailer does NOT have that claim. Smallwood apparently wrote some kind of brochure discussing Alabama adoption law (which was used by a non-profit group). The campaign told the newspaper to add information about Smallwood’s involvement with the adoption community involving this and send a proof. The proof wasn’t sent and the verbal instructions were garbled between phone and typesetter. This seems credible since this claim isn’t made anywhere else the same basic ad was used.
Comment by Anonymous — November 6, 2006 @ 2:59 pm
As for using pics of black politicians, a candidate such as Friday opens herself up to that when she uses black party support to get black votes but wants to distance herself from those people when she’s talking in lilly-white areas. It’s clear that the use of the photos is designed to turn off white voters, but it’s equally clear that Friday has one message for black voters and another for white voters. BTW, those black politicians ARE liberal. And liberal black politicians control the local Democratic Party. That’s a fact, even if people think it’s racist to point it out.
Comment by Anonymous — November 6, 2006 @ 3:04 pm
Wow–I was not aware that a Probate Judge candidate would have “one message for black voters and another for white voters” –that is sorta well ridiculous–putting black faces on that mailer was only to race bait–
Especially true since the Smallwoods would be no where without Arrington as I understand their Bahakel wannabe history–
o well
Comment by Anonymous — November 6, 2006 @ 4:45 pm
Wow–check out these comments–Smallwood wins she’ll be disbarred before the swearing in–
http://alablawg.wordpress.com/2006/11/06/elections-post/
Comment by Anonymous — November 6, 2006 @ 6:22 pm
may have not made it
but here is link address
http://alablawg.wordpress.com
/2006/11/06/elections-post/
Comment by Anonymous — November 6, 2006 @ 6:24 pm
If you’re unaware that a Democratic Party candidate in Jefferson County would try to have a different message for black voters than for white voters, you’re terribly naive. The message a white Democrat is going to send to black voters is that he is endorsed by the local black leadership. Period. The message to most of the white voters (i.e. the Republicans) is that he really shares their values and is just running as a Democrat for pragmatic reasons to win. That is the strategy that Friday has pursued. It’s effective, and it will probably win the race for her. Of course, it helps that Smallwood has run one of the most inept campaigns in recent memory.
Comment by Anonymous — November 6, 2006 @ 8:34 pm
Per number 2 the same claim appears in a FULL page ad in the Leeds paper–”Alabama Adoption Law Author”–so might need to get a better story
Comment by Anonymous — November 7, 2006 @ 2:40 pm
It is in the direct mailer sent to Hoover also–
Comment by Anonymous — November 7, 2006 @ 3:15 pm
I’ve seen a copy of the Smallwood campaign’s mailer (which I understand to be its ONLY mailer), and it did NOT contain any claim that Smallwood authored any law. Unless something was printed and mailed which was apart from the campaign’s major mailing, there wasn’t any such claim in a mailing. So I would be very interested in seeing a copy of this alleged mail piece which you say was sent to voters in Hoover.
I have a copy of the campaign’s mailer which I’d be happy to scan and send to someone who’s interested.
I truly don’t care who wins this particular race (and I’ve never met either of the candidates). It just seems to me that some people might be jumping to conclusions about bad intent when there are other (more reasonable) explanations about this particular point.
Comment by Anonymous — November 7, 2006 @ 5:22 pm
To the last comment, I understand that the Smallwood campaign did have targeted mailings with different fliers going to specific communities.
Comment by Danny — November 7, 2006 @ 10:34 pm
[…] The highest vote getter in the county in any race was Democrat Sherri Friday in Probate Court Place 2. (One Republican judge told a friend of mine, “You do not want to run against an over-the-mountain Democrat.”) At Probate Court Place 1, Riley appointee Mark Gaines fumbled so badly that the Birmingham News, who had endorsed him, editorialized that they were “deeply disappointed” by his “misleading and unfair allegations about his opponent, Alan King,” and that he “deserved to lose.” (And he did.) […]
Pingback by Top Ten Election Winners: #7 » Doc’s Political Parlor — January 12, 2007 @ 11:43 am
[…] In the Jefferson County Probate Judge Place 1 race, Democrat Alan King defeated incumbent Mark Gaines by 6 percentage points after people reacted strongly to Gaines’ negative campaign that was widely believed to be unfair to King. (Even The Birmingham News who endorsed Gaines said he “deserved to lose.”) […]
Pingback by Top Ten Who Lost: #9 » Doc’s Political Parlor — July 27, 2007 @ 2:52 am