Sen. Sessions’ Democratic Challengers

The Associated Press has an article today on possible Democratic challengers to our Republican junior Jeff Sessions which largely confirms what Political Parlor readers read here in February.

State Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks and state Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, say they are giving it a serious look. And retired Jefferson County District Judge Pete Johnson may be a possible candidate.

Back in February, we identified Ron Sparks as the Democrat most likely to take the seat (though he was then and now a longshot). Since then, he has received internet encouragement to run from sites like Swing State Project and DailyKos.

Vivian Figures and Pete Johnson also made our list of potential Democratic candidates. We keep hearing about a potential Folsom run against Sessions, but we judged those reports unreliable, saying that a Folsom run was “unlikely.”

AP today says the same:

Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr., who narrowly lost a race for the U.S. Senate in 1980, laughs at speculation on political blogs that he might run.

“I have absolutely no desire and no plans to run,” he said.

While Sessions remains a heavy favorite to retain the seat, Democrats are hopeful, as demonstrated by the new “Sack Sessions” website. One recent post has a video reminding Alabamians that in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Sessions was looking to find a business owner who had died in the storm and who could be used to “push back” on the issue of repealing the estate tax. (Clearly not Sessions’ finest moment.)