Posted by A reader posed an interesting question: How many of the legislators affected by yesterday’s “double-dipping” ban by the State Board of Education represent districts that would have competitive races if the legislator chooses not to run again? That is to say, would one party have an opportunity to take a seat from the other in any of these districts? (Granted, the SBOE decision will face challenges.)
Very interesting, and I asked someone who knows more about this than I do about the thirteen legislators who are two-year college employees, as listed by the Associated Press. I have merged his comments with the AP list.
- Rep. Pebblin W. Warren, D-Tuskegee. Alabama Industrial Development Training institute. Black-majority district, and it will stay Dem regardless.
- Rep. Thomas E. Jackson, D-Thomasville. Alabama Southern Community College. Black-majority district, and it will stay Dem regardless.
- Rep. Ken Guin, D-Carbon Hill. Bevill State Community College. Unopposed in 2006 and his district is pretty-heavily Democratic. The district is largely Walker County, which Dems have a lock on at the local level.
- Rep. Michael J. Millican, D-Hamilton. Bevill State Community College. Millican was unopposed in 2006 and his district is lean-Dem. Dems dominate on the local level in Marion County.
- Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville. Calhoun Community College. Black-majority district, and it will stay Dem regardless.
- Rep. Betty Carol Graham, D-Alexander City. Central Alabama Community College. Graham was unopposed in 2006, but her seat would be competitive. However, Dems dominate on the local level in the district’s anchor of Tallapoosa County.
- Rep. Randy Hinshaw, D-Madison. Central Alabama Skills Training Consortium. Hinshaw’s district would be competitive. He only received 60% in 2006 against a political nobody.
- Rep. Terry Spicer, D-Elba. Enterprise-Ozark Community College. Spicer’s district would likely switch to the GOP, he only barely survived with 51.3% in 2006. The district is wholly and entirely Coffee County, which leans GOP on the local level and is heavily GOP in statewide races.
- Rep. Blaine Galliher, R-Gadsden. Gadsden State Community College. Galliher’s district would be competitive, but leans GOP. Within the district, more people live in Etowah than St. Clair. However, in a GOP primary, the majority of votes would come from St. Clair. Therefore, if the GOP nominates a St. Clair guy against a Etowah Dem, it really becomes a toss-up.
- Rep. Jack Page, D-Gadsden. Gadsden State Community College. Page’s district is solid-Dem. Page only received 60% in 2006, but that was mostly due to dislike of Page. Etowah is Dem heavy at the local level.
- Rep. Todd Greeson, R-Ider. Northeast Alabama Community College. Greeson’s district would be highly competitive as DeKalb is traditionally Dem and is Dem-heavy on the local level.
- Sen. Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery. Trenholm State Technical College. Black-majority district, and it will stay Dem regardless.
- Rep. Neal Morrison, D-Cullman. Wallace State Community College-Hanceville. Morrison’s district would be competitive as all of Cullman County is a toss-up between the parties.
There you go. Comments? Surprises? Observations?
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Very interesting. The other part of the equation is which, if any of these legislators would give up their college job to stay in the legislature. On the surface, I think age and financial circumstances would be big factors, but politics may trump those practical considerations.
So Page and Hinshaw ONLY received 60% of the vote? Whew, then Bob Riley must’ve barely squeaked by a win against Baxley (and her noncampaign) with his paltry 57% against her.
It would also be interesting to know which of these legislators held these positions before they were elected and which got them afterwards. I’m betting the answer for the vast majority would be afterwards. That would seriously weaken their argument about being “educators” as opposed to opportunists.
Anonymous, he did not say that the races were close. His point was that the races were close enough to suggest that the district’s election for the seat would be competitive between both parties if there was not an incumbent running.
Same thing with your example of the Governor’s race. I would agree that Riley’s victory with 57% (well, 58% actually) of the vote was not close, but it’s close enough to suggest reasonably that Republicans don’t have a lock on the race next time when an incumbent will not be running.
Mooncat, no question in my mind that some (or many) of them would choose to run again.
Good question, Susan. All I know off the top of my head is that Hinshaw had his position before he was elected. I would not be surprised if many or most of them took their positions afterward though.
Morrison is another one that had his job before hand.
Can someone explain to me why the 2-year colleges appear to be the only focus? Shouldn’t this apply to 4-year institutions, as well as other taxpayer funded entities. Is it ok for corporate employee/legislators to do the same, and whose interests are they representing–the people in their district or their employer? I’m thinking back 10 years when a sure-to-pass transit referendum was blocked by an employee of HealthSouth, which was associated with domed-stadium interests, only to be tossed into the MAPS proposal, which was defeated the next year.
Helen,
This applies only to two-year colleges because the SBOE has no jurisdiction over the 4 year universities. I’m thinking that there is a reason there are far fewer employees of
4 year universities in the system. At Auburn it is widely understood that a faculty member running for the legislature will have to choose between the office and the job. As for private corporations, they are not funded with taxpayer money. There are ethics standards to prohibit legislators from voting on something on which they have a conflict of interest.
I think this should apply to all taxpayer funded entities (like the federal Hatch Act), but the SBOE only has jurisdiction over the K-12 and 2 year colleges.
Nevertheless, the State Government still has the right to regulate private corporations and therefore can directly affect the financial situation of those corporations. Conflicts of interests are inherent when you have a legislature made up of private citizens, even if their legislative role is a full-time job, their fundraising represents a conflict of interests. Certainly, there have been a series of high profile egregious actions by members of the Alabama legislature employed by the state two year college system in the past few years, but this new rule cannot and will not hold up in any court of law. Laws should be passed to prohibit leglislators from voting in specific situations in which a conlfict of interest is apparent. This will likely become a federal case and I could very easily see it going before the US Supreme Court. No entity has the right to deny any individual a role in goverment solely based on their place of employment.
SamfordDem,
I think you’re missing the point of this issue. It is not whether someone with an interest or job related to an issue can vote on it in the Legislature. There already are rules in place dealing with that. The issue is whether someone can hold two taxpayer jobs at the same time, and use one of those jobs to obtain or benefit his other taxpayer-funded job. The notion that privately employed citizens are similar to those on the state payroll is comparing apples and oranges. Also, the issue in this case appears to be a state board with oversight over these matters as the employer has an interest in limiting who it employs, in this case another state-paid employee. If that interest is upheld, it would appear the ban would remain. Other states have taken this approach, and have won the legal challenges based on the courts recognizing a greater state interest in creating such an employment ban. Now, opponents’ best argument against this is to cast this as a voting issue, i.e. the state cannot limit who can serve in elected office. However, that issue has not always prevailed in other states.
I think the point of the issue is that conflict of interest needs to be acknowledged in all areas. I’ve heard about 2-year-system abuses since first moving to Alabama in 1980 and have been disgusted by the failure to address them; however, I worry about throwing the baby out with the bathwater in the zeal to clean up–these institutions have provided wonderful opportunities for many people in the state. And other taxpayer funded and private entities have contributed to favors done special interests at citizen expense.
And how do we increase citizen pressure for greater transparency in government without just raising the level of cynicism?
[...] Last week we took a look at the districts of the 13 state representatives employed by the two-year college system and considered if they represented a pick-up opportunity for the other party if the legislator left the House. Who knew our just-for-fun-peek could become relevant so soon? [...]
[...] Some Republicans had heard from the highest levels that the investigation into the 2-year college program would touch at least one of the two Republican legislators employed by two year colleges. Greeson (of Ider) is one, the other is Rep. Blaine Galliher who is employed by Gadsden State Community College. [...]