Alabama Politics in
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In the third and final part of our conversation, State GOP chair and House Minority Leader Mike Hubbard talks about Campaign 2010, GOP up and comers, the House District 12 race, the 2010 Governor’s race, and more. He also had some comments about the Senate District 32 race that are no less interesting for being made before the SD 32 GOP primary run-off election.

Part three is below. You can find part one of our interview here. Part two is here.

Campaign 2010 is a big undertaking.

It is. It is a challenge. It is going to take a lot of time, a lot of work. It is burning a tremendous amount of my time, but I feel like it is something that is worthwhile. And you know I do not get paid anything for it, which is not real smart, but I think it is the right thing to do. I don’t know if I will be successful at it, but I have every intention of being successful at the campaign and making the Republican party an entity that has the resources, the plan and the will to do what it is going to take to be successful, to be engaged, to recruit Republican candidates. Number one, we have to recruit good candidates. We have to find the races that we can win and then go in and make sure that those campaigns are funded properly and are run properly.

The party has really never taken on that responsibility, and I think we have always depended on others to try to do the right thing for us. I have given up on that happening. We are going to have to take the initiative. I have talked to my counterparts in Georgia and in South Carolina to find out how they did it, and I am basically trying to follow their road map.

Speaking of the job of party chair for the state, what part of that job has surprised you the most?

It has taken a lot more time than I thought. And I guess it is just my personality. I am not the best delegator in the world, and I realize that is a shortcoming of mine. But I don’t expect anybody to do work that I am not willing to do. It takes a lot of time and a lot of travel. It is not that anybody has done anything wrong. It is just I have my way of doing things and trying to get my staff organized, and getting things straightened out in terms of mailing list and putting the fundraising plan together.

We have actually gone out and done in-person interviews with people and taking surveys to find out what people think of the party and what they think the party ought to do and that sort of thing. It just takes a lot of time.

But we have completed that. I think after about six months I have finally gotten the party organized to the point that I am comfortable with it, and ready to move forward and engage in the fund raising. Actually we have already done that, I am actually making in-person visits and encouraging people to get involved in investing in the party. People who have never invested in the party before.

I am excited about it and even if we don’t meet our goal, even if we get just halfway on our goal, we will set a record for money that has been raised for the Alabama Republican Party. And so we set the goal pretty high. Our working goal right now is four million dollars and that is pretty aggressive.

My hope is that we surpass that, but it’s going to take a lot of work and it’s going to take getting a lot of people involved in it. To this point, I have been doing a lot of work myself as far as organizing it, but my next phase of it is to reach out and get more people involved in it. And make sure that they believe in the party and in what we are doing. We are basically a counter to Paul Hubbert and the AEA which is tantamount to being the Alabama Democratic Party. Same thing.

Speaking of Paul Hubbert, does it bother you that your names are confused?

(Laughs.) I guess that is unfortunate. I get that a lot. I just point out that I am an -A-R-D and he is an -E-R-T. I actually respect him. He is good at what he does. I believe that he is doing what he is paid to do, and that is to look after the people who pay him. It is not to do what is in the best interest of education in the state of Alabama. That is our job, as elected officials.

Our job is to do what it is in the best interest of the taxpayer, not what is in the best interests of the AEA and their union members.

But I like him personally. I do not take it personal. Like I said, with him spending half a million dollars against me and causing that to be the most expensive House race in the history of the state, I look at that as a compliment, kind of a back handed compliment.

I guess if he did not respect me, if he was not concerned about me, then he would not pay any attention to me.

Although my wife and kids probably would not view it as a compliment. It was not fun for them, and it was not a lot of fun for me, but I guess it is a compliment. Even if it is a back-handed one.

On the subject of legislators, colleagues, and so forth, are there folks that you see as the next generation of leadership for the Republican Party, the up and comers?

We have got lots of talented people in the caucus, lots of them. We got some young guys that are coming on that are really talented. But I think you’d have to look at Jay Love. I view him as a real talented, very capable Republican. Real up and comer and a solid conservative vote. And I think he has emerged as a leader in our caucus. He’s the whip. Cam Ward is a guy who is a great communicator and got lots of potential, and he is a good friend. He is the vice-chairman. Mickey Hammon. He is also an officer.

My only concern is that I leave some people out. We just have a lot of talented people so I probably just want to leave it at that.

What about on the other side of the aisle? Do you see up and comers there that you might think might be the next generation of leadership there?

I kid with a lot of the guys on the Democrat side, “If you would switch over you would feel a whole lot better about yourself, sleep a lot better at night.”

Well, I hope not. (Laughs.) They have got some good guys too. Ken Guin. I am friends with Ken. I don’t think that there is anybody on the Democrat side that if I called and needed some help with something that they would not help me with something personally. And I would do the same for them.

You can’t take any of this personally. It’s just political and you have to make sure that you don’t cross the line. But I do kid with a lot of the guys on the Democrat side, “If you would switch over you would feel a whole lot better about yourself, sleep a lot better at night.” And there are some of them that I wish would switch over to our side.

We are not that far away. And this one in House District 12 is going to be critical. It is very, very important, and both sides will be fighting for that one.

Do you have a favorite on the Republican side of the HD 12 race?

No, I am going to stay out of the Republican primary side. Honestly I hope that we can have a clean primary and come out of it unscathed. I hope that will be the case, but I can promise you that whoever our nominee is that we are going to be there fighting and working hard and doing everything we can to support him.

You probably know more about this than I do. The early AEA polling –

I read it on your site. AEA doesn’t share their polling with me, believe it or not. I read it on your site.

I do believe that, but some folks who had been privy to it said the district looks a bit better for a Republican candidate than a Democrat.

Neal [Morrison, former HD 12 Representative] told me that it is a Republican-leaning district. He is one of those guys that I always told him he should be a Republican anyway. But he has told me he knew it was a Republican-leaning district.

[Note: the comments below were made before Trip Pittman defeated Randy McKinney in the SD-32 primary election run-off.]

Do you have a favorite in the Senate District 32 race?

No, I think either way we will end up with a good senator. I think both of them will be a solid Republican vote.

And I know the Governor has endorsed Randy McKinney, and I can understand why. How can you not support a guy who has stood with you through some real tough battles and been with you and been in the foxhole with you? I do not know what kind of a person the Governor would be to say, “Well you have been with me and fought with me and done the right thing and taken a few bullets, but you are on your own, buddy.” I can respect that.

I know that you are focused on doing your current jobs well. You wear several hats with lots of responsibilities, but care to comment on speculation that you might run for Governor? Are you interested in running for Governor in 2010?

Well, I am just keeping all my options open. I have been flattered that people have mentioned it to me. You know, I am looking for a way to serve the state best.

I don’t know whether that would be in the House, or to run for higher office, or whatever. At this point, I am just keeping my options open and not making any decisions. I am just looking to see what is going to be available out there.

The one thing for sure is I want to do everything I can to make sure that the Governor’s office does not go back into Democratic control, because I think the worst thing in the world for this state would be for all the positive steps that the Governor has made to be undone by a Democrat in that office. And it can happen very quickly.

So I think it is very, very important that we keep someone in the office who has the same beliefs, goals, and visions as Bob Riley.

Most folks I talk to on both side of the aisle seem to acknowledge that [Democratic Lt. Governor Jim] Folsom has the inside track, which I guess is not an unreasonable observation this many years out.

Right. I would say that would probably be the case, yes.

I understand that you are a pilot.

I am, yes.

And that you own and fly your own plane?

Yes, just do that for fun. I don’t get to do it very much because I have not had time, but I enjoy it. That was a challenge. About four years ago I just decided I wanted to get my pilot’s license and I enjoy it. I don’t have any other hobbies. I don’t play golf or hunt or fish or anything like that so that is just a little hobby.

I went in with a friend of mine and bought a plane. We enjoy it. It is based here in Auburn, and it is just for fun. I do not really do any major traveling with it. Took my little boy last summer to a golf tournament that he played in Waycross, Georgia and flew over there. It was fun to spend a weekend with him and do it that way, just for fun. But I just do not have time to do it anymore.

One last thing… Alabama Democrats throw your name around some with your Auburn University connections when people are talking about the two-year college scandal. I know it is different, I know it is not the same thing, but I wondered what your thoughts are about that.

I think they are just trying to confuse the issue. It is very clear on a number of fronts. First of all, I sold [Auburn University multimedia rights] four years ago, so even if it was a conflict it does not exist anymore. But it is important for people to understand that with the contract I had, I am a private businessman taking a risk, and we are paying money to the university. We are generating private sector dollars and paying it to the university.

I want to do everything I can to make sure that the Governor’s office does not go back into Democratic control.

Actually, it is relief on the amount of money they have to depend on from the state, but we are taking a risk as the rights holder. We are saying we are going to guarantee that we pay x-millions of dollars to Auburn University whether we can make any money or not. So it is a totally different deal, and I had the contract long before I even ran for the legislature. It is not like I got the contract as a multimedia rights holder because I was in the legislature. I had it eight years before I even ran. But I sold it four years ago.

I still own Auburn Network Incorporated, which owns a couple of radio stations, a magazine, an audio production company and an ad agency. That is Auburn Network Incorporated but it has no contracts with Auburn University at all. My radio station does not even carry the Auburn broadcast.

I see that as a totally different deal [than the issues of legislators working in two-year colleges]. We get no taxpayer dollars. That is the big difference. My salary and my income is not derived one penny from taxpayers.

Is your company connected in some way to the media rights? Or do you work for the company that has the rights?

Yes, I work for the company that has the rights but I do not have any ownership in it anymore.

Again, the money goes the other way. We do not get any taxpayer money. We pay the money to Auburn.

About five and a half million dollars a year is what they pay. Thank goodness, I am not responsible for paying that anymore. That is why my hair has turned grey-it is going through that, but yes, that has been around four years ago when I sold it.

I thank you for your time.

No problem.

I wish you the best in making those hard decisions, especially about the General Fund.

I appreciate it, and I enjoy your website. I check it every day.

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Many thanks to Rep. Hubbard for taking time for us!

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• Mike Hubbard in the Parlor, Part Two
• State GOP Chair Mike Hubbard Visits the Parlor
• Seven Qualify for HD 12 Seat