Bobby Bright 'Continues to Prove His Staying Power'

Alabama's 2nd Congressional District

U.S. Rep. Bobby Bright (D – Montgomery) “continues to prove his staying power,” according to Chris Cillizza of The Fix at WashingtonPost.com. The Fix removes the district, AL-02, from its rankings of the 20 House races most likely to switch parties in the November election.

Mike Rogers Has Tight Grip on AL-03 Seat

Alabama with the 3rd Congressional District highlighted

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R – Saks) is looking secure in his AL-03 seat, says another political observer, this time Isaac Wood at Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball.

If Segall was not able to best Rogers in one of the best years for Democrats in recent memory, it is hard to imagine him doing [...]

Turning Out for Parker Griffith

Parker Griffith Protesters, March 8, 2010

Flashpoint has pictures of protesters who turned out for tonight’s fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith, Republican nee Democrat, in Huntsville.

Folks on both sides of the political aisle are unhappy with the Congressman. See more on that here at CNN’s Political Ticker, Flashpoint and Left in Alabama.

The national GOP [...]

Cook Political Report Changes Rating on AL-02

Alabama with the 2nd Congressional District highlighted

Speaking of AL-02, as we were yesterday…

Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report moves the 2nd Congressional District from the “Toss Up” category to “Lean Democratic,” saying:

[Incumbent Bobby] Bright was one of only three House Democrats to vote against the stimulus package, the energy bill, and health care bill, and a February poll conducted [...]

Stephanie Bell Enters AL-02 Race

Alabama's 2nd Congressional District

Stephanie Bell, currently serving in her fifth term on the State Board of Education, officially throws her hat into the ring for the Republican primary for the 2nd Congressional District by qualifying with the party. Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha Roby has also qualified on the GOP side. Republican businessman Rick Barber has [...]

AL-07: Ad for Sewell, Endorsement for Hilliard

Alabama with the 7th Congressional District highlighted

In the race for the Democratic nomination for AL-07, Earl Hilliard Jr. picked up an endorsement from IBEW.

Terri Sewell is first on the air with a radio spot that starts today and that you can hear here.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

This seat is expected to be a safe seat for the [...]

New Ad: I am a Republican and I Support Parker Griffith

U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith has already been on the air for two weeks with an ad in heavy play in Huntsville.

Now, the former Democrat continues building/claiming his Republican street cred with this ad that starts airing [...]

Anzalone-Liszt Polls AL-02 for Bright

Man at a Graph

Here is a one page polling memo [.pdf] from Anzalone-Liszt summarizing results of a February poll done for U.S. Rep. Bobby Bright (D – Montgomery). The memo reports Bright leading potential GOP candidates Martha Roby, Rick Barber, and Stephanie Bell by 24 to 32 points. While [...]

Steve Raby Qualifies for AL-05 Race

Alabama's 5th Congressional District

Political consultant Steve Raby makes official this week his candidacy for the 5th Congressional District by filing his qualifying papers with the Democratic Party. Look for a forthcoming public announcement. Democrats Mitchell Howie and Taze Shepard have also qualified.

On the GOP side, you have incumbent Parker Griffith running his first campaign as a [...]

Martha Roby, Young Gun

Alabama with the 2nd Congressional District highlighted

Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha Roby is one of 10 “highly touted [Congressional] challenger candidates” to reach the top level of the national Republicans’ “Young Gun” program. NRCC Recruitment Chairman Kevin McCarthy said promotion to the top level was based on factors such as “polling data, strong fundraising and even outstanding numbers of Facebook [...]

Democrat Taze Shepard to Announce His AL-05 Candidacy

Alabama's 5th Congressional District

Huntsville attorney Taze Shepard will announce his candidacy for the 5th Congressional District seat tomorrow.

The body of the release reads, in its entirety,

Taze Shepard, a Huntsville attorney and longtime community leader in North Alabama, will announce Wednesday that he is seeking the Democratic nomination for Alabama’s Fifth Congressional District. Shepard will formally announce his candidacy [...]

Democrat Mitchell Howie Enters AL-05 Race

Alabama with the 5th Congressional District highlighted

Democrat Mitchell Howie announces that he is entering the race for the 5th Congressional District. With Steve Raby and Taze Shepard making noises about entering this race, this looks to be one of the more interesting Democratic primaries.

News from AL-05

Alabama's 5th Congressional District

Political consultant Steve Raby (D) has confirmed to the Political Parlor that he has lined up consultants for a potential run and is looking at lining up his fundraising.

Insurance executive Wayne Parker (R) attended the state GOP’s Red, White, and Blue Dinner Friday night and the party’s meeting the next day, leaving some to conclude [...]

Sen. Richard Shelby Throws Blanket Hold on Obama Nominees

Richard Shelby

Our Sen. Richard Shelby (R) has taken the unusual step of placing a blanket hold on all of Obama’s nominees “in an effort to force presidential action on the Air Force refueling tanker and other matters,” according to FederalTimes.com.

Shelby is particularly peeved about the refueling tanker because a tanker contract worth up to [...]

Re-District Alabama for us

Map from Re-districting app

Re-districting is looming on the horizon beyond this year’s census. (Natalie Davis gives us some good reading about the national implications here.)

Want to re-draw the state’s Congressional district lines? Maybe give Republican Mike Rogers a boost in AL-03, or add some Dems to AL-02? Some state politicos have been having a [...]

Small Town News

Small town political gazette – 3/19/10

The Cullman TimesTim James: ‘Government must live within its means’ - an interview

Cleburne NewsPayne let go as Police Chief in Heflin – something is going on here

Moulton AdvertiserHiker finds campaign signs

The Sand Mountain Reporter - Albertville city website defaced – Have you applied all [...]

See more Recent Small Town News

 


 

Legislative Dispatch

Change

I wish my friend Hinton Mitchem godspeed and good luck after his retirement from public service. Hinton, on Monday, announced what many had suspected — he will not seek re-election. I remember meeting Hinton for the first time while I was a student at Auburn University. He served the people of his [...]

Ten Minutes in the House, Senate Moves On

Riley and her friend Caroline joined Julie on the campaign trail in Isabella this past weekend.

Here is a quick preview of the upcoming week in Montgomery. This week will be a standard legislative schedule for the House. We will be in session on Tuesday and Thursday with committee meetings scheduled for Wednesday.
The House will take up a ten minute calendar this week. A ten minute calendar is [...]

Purple Dot Connection

MARCH MADNESS

TOP TEN INDICATIONS OF MARCH MADNESS

10.  Eric Massa inviting us to ask the 10,000 Navy men he served with whether he is gay.

9.  Larry Langford hitting the jackpot 33 times in one day and not remembering it.

8.  Ron Sparks being able to make payments on a $500,000 loan with an income of $80,000.

7.  Artur Davis [...]


Back in the Day...

Union Avenue in Ozark in the 1920s

Vintage postcard