Butler to Sit Out AL-05 Race
aka “The Butler Did Didn’t Do It.”
Democratic state Senator Tom Butler is telling colleagues today that he is not going to run for the 5th Congressional District.
Butler had previously told colleagues and party officials that he would be switching to the GOP and would run for Alabama’s 5th Congressional District as a Republican (see for example, here and here). Butler had received congratulatory and “welcome to the party” phone calls, and the GOP began to make preparations for an announcement.
Then spring break intervenes, the session is out for a week, Butler travels, and now that he is back, he is telling those close to him that he has decided not to run.
One GOP insider understands that the party switch is also off at least until after the session.
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It breaks the heart. I know for sure that district 2 will be better off with him in the senate, but to see him choose not to run after so much talk about running has left me confused. I wonder what happened.
Comment by D2 Voter — March 31, 2008 @ 1:40 pm
I think Wayne Parker is what happened D2 Voter. Once he let it be known he was running again all the GOP money probably dried up.
Comment by dan t — March 31, 2008 @ 1:47 pm
Either that, or the folks who have supported him over the years made it known fairly loudly they wouldn’t appreciate this brazen attempt to rebrand himself.
Comment by Jackson County Dem — March 31, 2008 @ 1:57 pm
It’s like I said: Tom Butler is a fine state senator and a great guy, but there is no way he was going to win a Republican Primary for Congress. Not with a true conservative like Wayne Parker running.
Comment by The Sandman — March 31, 2008 @ 2:03 pm
Looks like Parker Griffith is the next Congressman from north Alabama. The district stays Democratic, for now.
Comment by Anonymous — March 31, 2008 @ 2:30 pm
Good to see he will to wait until after the session to make the party switch (if he does), avoids one more excuse for gridlock.
Comment by walt moffett — March 31, 2008 @ 3:03 pm
Anonymous -
I am still hearing that one or two more candidates may enter the race on the Democratic side. It might be a little premature to anoint Parker Griffith as The Chosen One.
Comment by The Sandman — March 31, 2008 @ 3:35 pm
He still needs a new head shot.
Comment by Willie — March 31, 2008 @ 4:00 pm
The Sandman,
I don’t know what you mean by a “true conservative” but the majority of the American people have had it with “true conservatives”.
Comment by bhmhomeboy — March 31, 2008 @ 7:57 pm
Sandman: Last I heard, Tammy Irons is out, John Robinson is on the fence, but Robinson would get embarassed by Griffith.
However, the prospect of Wayne Parker rather than Tom Butler as the strongest GOP candidate might lure some D’s (back?) to the table.
Comment by well... — March 31, 2008 @ 10:40 pm
All along, a Huntsville Republican has told me that Tom Butler has made statements twice before that he might switch parties. This Republican said to me that Butler wants conservative support and that motivates this talk. My friend guaranteed that Butler would not run. He was right.
I see the finale between Wayne Parker and Parker Griffith. Could go either way.
Comment by John Killian — March 31, 2008 @ 10:49 pm
Homeboy -
No, what the majority of Americans are sick of are hypocrites who were elected to limit the size and scope of the federal government but are now throwing tax dollars around like drunken sailors. When I talk about being a “true conservative”, I’m talking about someone who actually votes with a mind towards fiscal restraint instead of big-government solutions to everything. Such people seem to be in short supply in Washington these days. If Wayne Parker campaigns with true conservative principles rather than big-government principles, he will find a tremendous amount of support, especially in this district.
Well… -
I haven’t heard that Tammy Irons has decided one way or another. As for Robinson, he wasn’t one of the names I had heard.
Comment by The Sandman — April 1, 2008 @ 12:24 am
Tammy’s out. I wonder who else you’ve heard.
Comment by well... — April 1, 2008 @ 12:19 pm
[…] Sen. Butler has since decided not to run for the 5th Congressional District, and we hear that Butler will not change parties at least until after the session. He has already been caucusing with the Senate Republicans, and since he is now not qualifying for the Congressional race as a Republican, there is no practical reason for the distraction of a switch in the middle of the session. […]
Pingback by Butler Unhappy with Handling of Switch Announcement » Doc’s Political Parlor — April 1, 2008 @ 1:55 pm
Well… -
I guess your contacts must be better than mine. I was told that there was a 70% chance that Irons would go for it and a 30% chance that Hinshaw would. Oh well, two things that you never should predict are the weather and politics - they both change too fast.
Comment by The Sandman — April 1, 2008 @ 2:09 pm