Segall Raises Quarter Million
The campaign for Joshua Segall, Democratic candidate for Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District, reports that he raised $270,304.68 in the first quarter of the year.
From the release:
According to the Segall for Congress campaign, Josh received $251,034.34 from individual contributions, $3,300 from PAC donations, and a $14,000 in-kind contribution from the candidate. $57,195.71 was raised from 277 ActBlue donors.
That’s a strong start for the newcomer. Will Republican incumbent Mike Rogers have to break a sweat in his re-election bid?
That is a fast start. I had heard Segall was over $100k but this number is pretty huge. I see a real change in the state coming with 3 House districts in play. Rogers might as well be a lame duck like Cramer and Everett, ’cause he’s not doing anything anyway.
Comment by Anonymous — April 14, 2008 @ 6:33 pm
Lets hope so. A reminder that some one else wants your job, makes a more efficient worker.
Although, in my small niche in AL-03 I’ve yet to see the first campaign ad/sign/sticker/nail file from either.
Comment by walt moffett — April 14, 2008 @ 6:38 pm
This is encouraging news.
And walt….there is a Rogers sign on 280 in Alex City. It is the only one I have seen for either.
Comment by Loretta Nall — April 14, 2008 @ 7:28 pm
This is so refreshing to see. It is time for some new leadership in the House and I am happy to see that such a strong candidate is leading this charge.
Comment by Anonymous — April 14, 2008 @ 7:28 pm
Watch out Rogers!, not only is your voting record making this an easier fight, but now you have a candidate that can blow you out of the water! Its time for a democrat in Alabama’s third district!
Comment by Anonymous — April 14, 2008 @ 7:30 pm
It’s time we see a Democrat in all Houses of Congress. Then, maybe we can get something done to turn this country around before it is to late. Vote for the Dems in November!
Comment by Evaluator — April 14, 2008 @ 7:45 pm
Rogers is just so out of touch. Raising this kind of money proves that people are ready for a real change.
Comment by Anonymous — April 14, 2008 @ 7:47 pm
Is this Bobby Segall’s boy, the fellow who has the Prince Valiant haircut?
Comment by Willie — April 14, 2008 @ 8:04 pm
Actually that is an impressive amount…and i am saying that even though i’m a Republican. Rogers better pay attention and work hard.
Comment by GOPer — April 14, 2008 @ 8:10 pm
All of Bobby Segall’s friends and clients have donated, as all good friends would do. Unlike a state race, though, they face a limit to how much they can give. Let’s see how much the second quarter brings, as that will be a far more telling sign of the strength of this campaign.
Comment by Will — April 14, 2008 @ 8:14 pm
Segall, the ACLU kid? He will sell real well in East Alabama.
Comment by Whatever — April 14, 2008 @ 8:33 pm
That’s a good chunk of money to use to remind voters about Rogers vote for CAFTA.
Comment by BlueDog — April 14, 2008 @ 9:19 pm
Segall does civil defense law NOT ACLU. It’s Rogers who’s the Trial Lawyer who was part of the Dole versus BMW case and got his client $4mil for a scratch on a car – what a scam.
Comment by Anonymous — April 14, 2008 @ 9:26 pm
Rogers is also a USED CAR SALESMAN… you add that to his terrible wig, throw him in a plaid jacket and he’s a cartoon. Why do Republicans feel the need to lie to win???
Comment by Anonymous — April 14, 2008 @ 9:28 pm
I would rather have a trial lawyer than someone who votes against SCHIP.
Comment by Anonymous — April 14, 2008 @ 9:55 pm
As I said numerous times before, AL 3 is the most favorably drawn district in the state for Democrats after AL 7. It could be just as strong a pickup opportunity for Dems as AL 2. I don’t know much about Segall, but if he can raise $250K in Q1, Rogers should be sweating.
Comment by SamfordDem — April 14, 2008 @ 9:57 pm
Oh come on, Will. Segall raised more than a quarter million in three months solely from people who wanted to be nice to his dad? You have to be kidding me.
Comment by Matthew — April 14, 2008 @ 10:08 pm
What’s your inside line, Will? I didn’t think the detailed contributor records had been released yet, so how do you know who all gave?
Comment by SouthAlDem — April 14, 2008 @ 10:08 pm
Thanks Loretta, don’t get out towards Alex City much. Did watch some district judge candidates politic the little league game tonight, which was about the first time this year, I’ve seen anyone working the crowds.
Anyone know which side of the bankruptcy biz, Segall works, creditors or debtors?
Comment by walt moffett — April 14, 2008 @ 10:12 pm
At this point, Mike Rogers is the only Republican in the state who has NOT signed the discharge petition for Heath Shuler’s bill to limit illegal immigration. If Segall has the nerve to pick up this issue, he could really pressure Congressman Rogers.
Comment by John Killian — April 14, 2008 @ 10:54 pm
Well, blow me down! Congressman Rogers signed the discharge petition TODAY! Good for Brother Rogers.
Comment by John Killian — April 14, 2008 @ 10:56 pm
Matthew and SouthAlDem, ask yourselves a legitimate question. Which is more likely: Josh Segall, a candidate with almost zero name identification in his district, is receiving large donations because people believe his having hosted a farmer’s market makes him the ideal candidate to unseat Mike Rogers and score a net victory for Democrats, particularly in a year when two open Congressional races will be taking place in Alabama? Or the friends Bobby Segall, a man who has vast connections within the state Democratic Party, enjoys countless favors from those in the state Democratic Party, and whose client list reads like a “who’s-who” of Alabama politics, are showing loyalty to their friend and colleague? This isn’t exactly a difficult question.
Comment by Will — April 14, 2008 @ 11:02 pm
Doesn’t Rogers have a million on hand?
Comment by Will Makes a Good Point — April 15, 2008 @ 8:35 am
Will, I am sure some of his father’s friends donated, and if Segall had reported $100,000, I might even agree with your theory. The idea that his father was responsible for producing more than a quarter million in three months of a congressional race is laughable and makes it seem like you have no knowledge of political fundraising (or do have knowledge, but are being insincere in the extreme). Segall had to have a very effective fundraising and organizational effort of his own to raise that kind of cash over that period of time. And effective organization and fundraising is how you generate name recognition - few candidates have name recognition outside of political circles when they first run. Heck, half the people in this country can’t name their senators, let alone all the viable candidates for house in their district. Organizational capacity comes before the (temporary) name recognition that an election cycle generates.
Comment by Matthew — April 15, 2008 @ 8:38 am
“Will Makes a Good Point” - Yes, I think Rogers is above $900,000 on hand. Best case for Segall is that he closes the money gap; sure doesn’t seem likely he’ll be able to outspend Rogers. But then, a dollar is several times more valuable for a challenger than an incumbent.
Comment by Matthew — April 15, 2008 @ 8:40 am
Anybody know what PAC(s) Segall got the $3300 from?
Comment by Anonymous — April 15, 2008 @ 8:53 am
Josh is very talented politically and worked on several campaigns before law school. I would not be surprised if he raises well in excess of 1 million dollars.
His father is a former state bar president. I’m sure these connection have helped, but he did not simply pick up the phone and tell his buddies to contribute to Josh.
Mike Rogers is a former trial lawyer with little respect in Washington. He is very ineffective and has done little to establish himself.
Comment by anonymous lucy — April 15, 2008 @ 9:46 am
Still a longshot for the kid, but lightning is more prone to striking in some cycles than others and this may be one of those years. It’s been a while since I checked but my recollection is that the 3rd CD was the poorest, blackest district in the nation represented by a republican
Comment by anonymous — April 15, 2008 @ 10:27 am
According to the Washington Post, CD3 has the third-highest black population. Not sure about income demographics. Does anybody have that info?
_____
“A quick look at other districts with high black populations currently held by Republicans turns up a few seats that are expected to be hotly contested this fall, and where a surge in the African American vote could make a difference.
Among those districts: Louisiana’s 6th (35.5 percent black), Louisiana’s 4th (34.1), Alabama’s 3rd (32), North Carolina’s 8th (29.5) and Ohio’s 1st (28.7). All figures are according to the 2000 census.
In both of the Louisiana seats, Republican incumbents are retiring, although in the 6th, Rep. Richard H. Baker’s resignation means a special election this spring and then a race for a full two-year term in the fall.
Rep. Mike D. Rogers (R-Ala.) has represented Alabama’s 3rd District since 2002 and has not faced a serious reelection fight yet. National Democrats are making noise about challenging him, and Democratic lawyer Joshua Segall entered the contest earlier this month.”
Comment by Matthew — April 15, 2008 @ 10:40 am
If Obama is the nominee, this could get very interesting.
Comment by SamfordDem — April 15, 2008 @ 11:39 am
if obama is the nominee, i hope the people are too “bitter” to vote…
Comment by cooper — April 15, 2008 @ 2:25 pm
I saw that Congress.org has Rogers rated 403rd in its power rankings. Yep, that’s out of 435 Congressmen. It’s a relief to see he’ll be facing a real challenger this election. This could get very interesting, indeed.
Comment by Anonymous — April 15, 2008 @ 2:32 pm
You can’t count on the Montgomery black vote in CD 3, Mayor Bright will pay to have them bussed to vote in CD 2
Comment by JD — April 15, 2008 @ 2:54 pm
Matthew, take a look at the US Census Fast Facts for AL-03 for what you seek.
Comment by waltm — April 15, 2008 @ 3:24 pm
With the watchword of the election being “change” (see Gallup’s 15-83 right track/wrong direction numbers), Segall definitely has a shot in this 47.5% Democratic performing district. Especially if he keeps raising this kind of money.
Comment by Aaron — April 15, 2008 @ 4:00 pm
Matthew, you once again fail to answer the most important question: Why would Josh Segall raise this kind of money? There are three reasons someone donates money to a political campaign: they know the candidate will win, they think the candidate can win, or they are friends with the candidate. As I pointed out earlier, there is absolutely not evidence that Josh Segall will win this race or has a shot at winning this race. No, comments on websites do not count as evidence and this fundraising total occurred after the fact, just to answer a few comments I can already foresee. Having established a lack of evidence of a victory, that leaves the third option, friends of the candidate.
I agree with you that Segall has put together a fundraising organization to raise this money. Yet it would be asinine to imply that the base of such an organization is not Bobby Segall’s rolodex. To suggest otherwise, to turn your phrase a bit, implies you have no understanding of Alabama politics. That or you comment on this site for the sole purpose of boosting the Segall candidacy which, based upon the volume of comments articles regarding said candidacy draws, I believe is the case with several people who frequent this site.
Comment by Will — April 15, 2008 @ 4:24 pm
Let’s see, Will:
Your claim: A large fundraising effort does not prove that people think the candidate can win because the money came from his father.
Your proof: The money had to have come from his father because people do not think that the candidate can win.
You get an F in logic. Here is a helpful page for you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question_begging
Comment by Anonymous — April 15, 2008 @ 5:20 pm
Segall is very politically astute and if i’m not mistaken he has already raised more than the last two challengers did in their entire race.
If he’s working the right parts of this district and closing the gap in Rogers home county this could get very very very interesting.
Comment by anonymous lucy — April 16, 2008 @ 9:29 am
Sure, his father’s name opened up some doors, but a guy is not going to rack up $275K if people really believe has no shot at winning. If this was the guy challenging Robert Aderholt, I might agree with you, but Rogers is the weakest Republican congressman in the state in the second most Democratic district in the state. Any remotely credible challenger has a shot at winning this race, just based off the numbers.
Comment by SamfordDem — April 16, 2008 @ 11:17 am
In the FWIW category, todays snail mail brings a hand written note and three Segall bumper stickers, acknowledging my comments in #2.
Comment by walt moffett — April 16, 2008 @ 2:28 pm
Also, anyone know why Rogers fundraising is so low. I’m not sure what his warchest looks like, but he only raised about $100K in Q1, a shockingly low amount especially considering what Segall did over the same time period. Even stranger, Rogers burned through around $97K in Q1. What exactly is he spending money on at this stage? Research toward a more realistic hairpiece?
Comment by SamfordDem — April 16, 2008 @ 8:54 pm
shows Rogers with about 900k cash on hand, which might make one either complacent, reluctant to ask for more or who knows.
Where his campaign spends the money, might be a good question for a campaign appearance.
Comment by waltm — April 16, 2008 @ 10:23 pm
Futz, that should be the FEC shows ….
Comment by waltm — April 16, 2008 @ 10:28 pm
Segall should be able to raise 1 million in this race.
Comment by anonymous lucy — April 16, 2008 @ 11:20 pm
As badly as District 3 is gerrymandered to favor Dems, Mike Rogers is serious about this campaign and will defeat self-funded Segall. I think you’ll see plenty of Rogers campaign activity when the general election draws near. He’ll most likely have a $2 mil campaign war chest. Shoot, Segall is the only candidiate I can think of that is less qualified for the office sought than Obama himself.
Comment by BB — May 2, 2008 @ 10:49 am