Party-Hopping with a Party of Ten
Tongues clucked and elbows jabbed neighbors’ ribs at the sight of Jefferson County Tax Collector J.T. Smallwood at the Democrats’ Jefferson-Jackson Celebration Friday night. Smallwood was elected as a Democrat in 2002, but has since declared himself a Republican (and, for example, was a candidate for the County GOP Executive Committee).
So it was J.T. Smallwood the Republican who bought a whole table at the Democrats’ fundraiser. Or he is positioning himself to run for re-election as a Democrat. His obstacles to running as a Democrat? The Radney Rule and fallout from his behind-the-scenes role in his sister’s …umm… odd campaign as a GOP candidate for Jeffco Probate Judge last year. (One elected official told me that “she was pretty much a figurehead,” that “JT & his chief deputy John DeLucia were the brains & mechanics behind her.”)
Rep. Jack Williams (R - Birmingham) narrowly lost that Jeffco Tax Collector’s race to J.T. Smallwood (1.5 percentage points) and has since said that he supports Smallwood for re-election. In all likelihood, Williams’ assumption was that Smallwood would run as a Republican.
Whether Smallwood runs for re-election as a Democrat or a Republican, he can expect a challenge from Jennifer Parsons Pope who lost the Democratic nomination to Smallwood in 2002 by fewer than 400 votes.
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J.T. Smallwood is a good man and is a fine public servant. The Democratic Party is the party of inclusion, so Smallwood will be welcomed back - if he chooses to return to the Party.
Comment by Jim — April 23, 2007 @ 7:26 am
The big question is will Jennifer Parsons Pope use illegal tactics like her cousin, Sherri Friday did by blocking anyone from qualifying against her in the democratic primary?
Comment by Barbara — April 29, 2007 @ 7:18 pm
Barbara, would you explain, please?
Comment by Anonymous — May 1, 2007 @ 1:01 pm
I was told by a Jefferson County Democratic candidate for Judge last year that Sherri Friday and a Jefferson County Democratic official made a “deal” in which Friday would not have to face opposition in the Democratic Primary. There were three Judgeships up for election in Jefferson County that were open seats: a District Judgeship, a Circuit Judgeship, and the Probate Judgeship Friday ran for. The District and the Circuit places each had 3 Democratic candidates in difficult primaries, while strangely Friday faced absolutely no opposition in her primary. The Democratic official, in collusion with Friday, deliberately blocked anyone that attempted to run against her. I was told that others were involved in this scheme also.
Comment by Barbara — May 2, 2007 @ 8:10 pm
Barbara,
There was a “race swap” late in the race.
If you or anyone has evidence that these things happened differently than I am going to outline them below, then I am glad to hear it.
Sherri Friday intended all along to run for JeffCo Probate Court, Place 1, against GOP incumbent Mark Gaines.
If Alan King (incumbent Dem in Place 2) faced no opposition for re-election, he would oversee the election.
Mark Gaines (or someone, but I understand it to be Gaines) did not want King to oversee the election so arranged for an opponent for King in Place 2.
King decided that if he was going to have to run a race anyway, he would rather run for Place 1 against incumbent Gaines.
A day or so before the deadline, King asked Friday if they could swap races, so that King would run in Place 1 and Friday would run in Place 2.
Friday agreed to swap races, which is understandable because Place 1 against an incumbent would have been a harder race for Friday. Again, this was in the last day or so for qualifying.
That’s how I understand it. If there was an elaborate scheme worked out so that for one day other Democrats were blocked from entering the Place 2 race, well, I would be impressed and would like to know more. I also would like to know what Friday could have offered anyone in a “deal” to keep other Democratic challengers out of Place 2.
Danny
Comment by Danny — May 7, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
The swap was planned well in advance. You would have to be naive not to see that. Also, just your explanation alone shows there was obvious manipulation in these two probate races. Why Would King “ask” Friday to swap with him? Why not run against her in the primary? It further shows Friday was not to have any competition in the primary. More importantly, a potential candidate did attempt to qualify for the place 2 position and was suppressed from qualifying in the democratic primary. That candidate was life long democrat S.D. Smallwood. It is my understanding she was told there was no way she would be quailifying in the probate race. This prompted her run under the GOP. What the Jefferson County Democratic party did in this situation was political manipulation at its worst and the Smallwoods and many other Democrats were shocked by the party’s actions. Why else would J.T. Smallwood declare himself a Republican in an election year in which he was not running? It is also my understanding that Jefferson County Democratic Party’s actions was a hot topic in political circles even outside Jefferson county to the statewide level. It is my guess that one reason this was done was because Friday would not appeal to the average voter in a Democratic primary considering she is from Mountain Brook and her brother is a Republican Judge, so behind the scenes manipulation was in order.
Comment by Barbara — May 9, 2007 @ 1:20 pm
It was my understanding that Judge Smallwood, a prominent figure in democrat politics for decades, purchased the table for his family and friends. As for JT’s re-election, it is well known that several democrat leaders from both the state and county level have been trying to persuade Smallwood to rejoin the democrats for his re-election bid. JT would be a welcome addition back to the party and if you ask many of the democrats in office, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who has been more active in helping others in their run for political office.
Comment by Bill — May 9, 2007 @ 3:06 pm
Bill, you are correct. Statewide and local democrats are trying to persuade him to come back and many of them have apoligized on behalf of the democratic party for what happened in the probate race. It was really a slap in the face what they did and those involved should be ashamed.
Comment by Barbara — May 9, 2007 @ 3:54 pm
Thanks, Barbara and Bill, for the comments.
Barbara wrote:
The swap was planned well in advance.
What is that necessarily so? I have multiple party sources that say it happened right at the end.
Why would King “ask” Friday to swap with him? Why not run against her in the primary?
Well, for one thing, without a plan in place, then the Democrats may have been abandoning Place 2 to have two Dem candidates run for Place 1. What sense would that make?
It is my understanding she was told there was no way she would be quailifying in the probate race. This prompted her run under the GOP.
I understand that there are some hard feelings and disagreements about what happened in the last hour before qualifying closed.
Why else would J.T. Smallwood declare himself a Republican in an election year in which he was not running?
I’m not sure why a loyal party man would switch parties. If he felt so seriously wronged that he had to do that, then why would he want to come back? I’m genuinely curious about that. Any insight you can offer would be appreciated.
Barbara and Bill, you both say that state and local leaders in the Democratic Party are trying to persuade J.T. Smallwood to re-join the Democratic Party. That is a very interesting story and runs counter to what I am hearing. Barbara and Bill, could you use the contact form to send me the names of state and local leaders (maybe 2 or 3 of each) who are trying to get Smallwood to return so that I may talk to them to get a broader sense of the story? I won’t post their names if they prefer that.
Comment by Danny — May 9, 2007 @ 10:53 pm
I don’t understand the big deal.. So two candidates (Friday and King) decided to swap which number (#1 or #2) in THE SAME election for THE SAME POSITION (Jefferson County Probate Judge) they were running for. How does this prevent anyone else from challenging them in the primary? Isn’t the primary open for any candidate who pays the application fee? From what I can see, it appears King and Friday didn’t want to run against each other, which makes sense as they are both Democrats. So they discussed which would run for which place. No crime there. And actually it appears that Friday did appeal to the “average voter” since she received more votes in Jefferson County than any candidate (including the governor’s race) except for I believe the sherriff. From reading the linked articles above, it seems that the Smallwood camp is much more interested in running on personal attacks than political positions or principles, which are important to me as a resident of Jefferson County.
If Smallwood wants to run as a Democrat, why not try telling us why he is the best Tax Collector for the county?
Comment by William — May 10, 2007 @ 2:03 pm
From what I understand, the swap had little if anything to do with the situation with Smallwood. Smallwood’s application fee was flatly refused by an individual on the Jefferson County Democratic Committee on the last day of qualifying for the sole purpose of ensuring Friday would be the democratic nominee. This allowed her to receive the large democratic voting bloc in the general election, which accounted for approx. 70-80% of the votes she received, without having to go through a primary.
Someone mentioned why J.T. Smallwood would consider going back to the party. I have heard, but can’t confirm, the democratic official responsible for what happened in the probate race, is no longer on the Jefferson County Democratic Committee. This could be a reason for him considering going back.
Comment by Anonymous — May 11, 2007 @ 12:00 pm
Danny himself wrote “I understand that there are some hard feelings and disagreements about what happenend the last hour before qualifying closed.”
Very interesting comment. It looks like something shady went on afterall.
Comment by Anonymous — August 25, 2007 @ 11:52 am
The last hour before qualifying may have not been anyone’s fault and more than likely no one’s fault on the Democrat Executive Committee. But if there is some wrong doing down to the very end I would like to know what exactly happened and who was denied and by what office holder. Please explain. Your story lacks substance.
Comment by Hey Anonymous — December 2, 2007 @ 12:29 pm