December 25, 2024 - Some of Alabama’s Great Political Leaders Passed Away This Year
As is my custom, my year end columns highlight the lives of legendary Alabama political figures who passed away during the year.
Elbert Peters, a Republican Party icon, passed away in the waning days of 2023 at age 90. Elbert Peters was Chairman of the Republican Party during the 1990’s. Elbert was Republican before being Republican was cool. Elbert was one of the most stalwart Republicans in Alabama history. He was probably best known for being the driving force and originator of the Madison County Republican Men’s Club. These gatherings were and remain the go-to event for Republican candidates.
Former Second District Congressman, Terry Everett, died in March, at age 87, at his home in Rehobeth. He was a native of the Wiregrass. He served 16 years in Congress from 1992-2008. He had a keen interest in agriculture and the military. Governor Ivey said it best, “during his time on Capitol Hill, he was one of the strongest voices for Alabama’s military bases and veterans.” He was also a stalwart advocate for Alabama farmers.
Robert “Bobby” Timmons, one of the most legendary figures in Alabama political lore, passed away in March at the age of 91. Bobby Timmons served as Executive Director of the Alabama Sheriff’s Association for 47 years from 1975 through 2022. He was the beacon of guidance and support for sheriffs across the state. Prior to his almost five decades as the Director of the Sheriff’s Association, he served in the Alabama House of Representatives. He was a close ally of Governor George Wallace. He was one of Governor Don Siegelman’s closest and most ardent friends and mentors.
Former State Representative William Thigpen passed away in June at 83 in Montgomery. During his 12-year tenure in the State House of Representatives, William and his wife Betty were mainstays of the legislature. He was on affable and gregarious fellow. When you met him, you felt immediately like he was your best friend. William was successful in business. He founded a manufacturing plant and owned a car dealership in Fayette. He was a very conservative and pro-business legislator. After his time in the legislature, he became an Assistant Director of the ABC Agency for 13 years.
Long time Supreme Court Justice Gorman Houston passed away in September. He was 91. Justice Houston was known as a stalwart, conservative, pro-business jurist.
Legendary Ozark Southern Star Editor and Publisher, Joe Adams, passed away in August at his home on Broad Street in Ozark at 91. The Southern Star had been run by his family since 1867. Joe had been publisher for 66 years. He loved Ozark, his family newspaper, and his alma mater the University of Alabama and the Crimson Tide.
Longtime Jefferson County Judge, Quentin Brown, passed away at 77 in July at his home in Birmingham. Quentin had a lot of friends. If you were his friend, you had a true friend. Quentin was a real yellow dog Democrat.
Alabama lost one of the finest ladies to ever grace the Capitol and Statehouse in June. Mrs. Miriam Shehane founded Alabama’s Victims of Crime and Leniency (VOCAL) in the 1980’s and was CEO and lobbyist for the organization for over 40 years. She was a dear friend and hero to many victims of crime in our state.
Miriam was a tireless giant for victims of crime. Her dedication and total devotion was instigated by her daughter’s brutal murder. Quenette Shehane was murdered as a student at Birmingham Southern College. Miriam was dismayed by the lack of judicial action and punishment in the prosecution of the murderers. She dedicated the rest of her life to helping victims of crime in our state. Miriam passed away in her hometown of Clio at age 91.
My belief is that Quenette Shehane’s murder, just outside the gates of Birmingham Southern, during her junior year at the prestigious liberal arts school in the late 1970’s was the beginning of the end of the school. Its perilous location averted Alabama’s brightest away from one of Alabama’s most illustrious private colleges. Birmingham Southern officially died on May 31, 2024. The landmark, elite Alabama private college, ended 168 years of excellent education this year.
See you next week.
December 18, 2024 -The First “Working for Alabama” Czar will be Greg Reed
During the last session of the legislature, Governor Kay Ivey, Speaker of the House, Nathaniel Ledbetter, State SenatePresident Pro Tem, Greg Reed, along with the business leaders of the state made the “Working for Alabama” program their priority. The Governor and legislature passed a sweeping package of bills that will streamline workforce development in our state and make us one of the most competitive states in America for attracting industry and creating jobs and careers for our young men and women in Alabama.
Included in this package was a proposal that will merge the state’s current workforce development programs and agencies under the umbrella of a new state agency called the Alabama Department of Workforce. It will be a cabinet-level department of the state and will replace the old Labor Department. This agency is designed to be one of the most important cabinet posts. Governor Ivey has selected the aforementioned StateSenate President Pro Tem, Greg Reed of Jasper, to be the agency’s first Director. He is a perfect choice.
Greg Reed is a Walker County native, born in Jasper and raised in Cordova. Senator Reed was first elected to the Alabama Senate in 2010, the year the Republicans took the majority. It did not take long for Reed to distinguish himself as a leader in the Senate.
He became the body’s majority leader in 2014. Reed served the Republican caucus as majority leader for several years. With the retirement of long-time Republican President Pro Tem, Del Marsh, the Senate overwhelmingly chose Greg Reed to take on the Senate’s top job.
The results, since his ascension to the top of the Senate, have been truly impressive in just about every way. Senator Reed is viewed by all parties as a consensus builder, who seeks out and appreciates the input of all of his members, not just Republicans, but Democrats, too.
Reed has been at the forefront of other major economic packages. He sponsored the Alabama Incentives Modernization Act in 2019. Reed also sponsored the Alabama Jobs Act, prior to being one of the shepherds of this “Working for Alabama” package of bills.
Senator Reed’s role as a business leader in the Senate is coupled with his true conservative Christian values. He and his wife, Mitsy, are devout members of the First Baptist Church of Jasper. Governor Ivey is fortunate to have Greg Reed to serve in her Cabinet as the first director of this department.
This new Department of Workforce will be assisted by a Board of Alabama Industry titans, such as Alabama Power Company President Jeff Peoples, Great Southern Wood Preserving Founder, Chairman and CEO Jimmy Rane, and several other top business leaders in the state. The agency will streamline and make the state’s workforce development system more efficient.
When it comes to business attraction and retention, one of the first questions that an enterprise considers when deciding between locations for opening a new business is whether the states being considered can supply the workforce needed for that business to be successful. For many years, Alabama has had one of the worst workforce participation rates in the country. This comprehensive “Working for Alabama” legislation, and this new workforce development office is designed to correct this problem.
Through recruiting, training, and employing Alabamians across the state, to take advantage of the in-demand jobs of today and the future, we can give our state’s people careers that allow them to make a better life for themselves and their families. We can also give our state’s economic developers the assurance they need to make a compelling case to employers and industry considering making Alabama home.
One of the integral factors in making this workforce development come to fruition is the Alabama Community College System (ACCS). Chancellor Jimmy Baker has been at the table and at the forefront of this entire plan. The Alabama Community College System is poised and ready to put young Alabamians to work. ACCS has become the best vehicle to develop and implement data-based plans for academic training and workforce development. Our Community College System is just what the doctor ordered for workforce development in Alabama, and Greg Reed is the doctor that will make it work.
Merry Christmas!
December 11, 2024 - The Bright Star – An Alabama Institution
By far the most legendary restaurant in Alabama is The Bright Star in Bessemer. The famous establishment is iconic for not only its fabulous food but also for its hospitality.
It is a Landmark of Alabama history. The Bright Star is the place to see and be seen. Anybody who is famous and well connected in Alabama politics eats at The Bright Star when they are in Birmingham. It is a regular place to gather for Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, and Walker County politicos.
It has also been the favorite eating location for legendary Alabama football coaches Paul “Bear” Bryant and Nick Saban. In fact, there are private dining booths named the Bear BryantRoom and Nick Saban Room. In recent years Alabama basketball coach, Nate Oats, has become a regular. He has become close friends with the heir apparent owner, Andreas Anastassakis.
Greek families have been the Lords of all the famous restaurants in Alabama. The Bright Star may be the brightest star in the history of Alabama’s fine dining. However, if they have had a rival in past years, it was the magnificent Elite Restaurant in downtown Montgomery. The Elite was run by the Xides family. Ed Xides ran an impeccable restaurant. They and the famous Sahara Restaurant in Montgomery were excellent but both closed decades ago.
The Bright Star continues to shine. It makes every culinary list of favorite Birmingham Restaurants every year. It dominates every list in every category. Two brothers, Jimmy and Nicky Koikos, have continued the magnificent heritage of excellence at the Bessemer landmark for the last 50 years. Jimmy passed away from cancer a few years ago. Nicky continues to manage the fine eatery. He is there every day at age 78.
The Bright Star is in its 118th year. The restaurant opened in 1907 with only a horseshoe shaped bar. It opened its doors to the bustling coal mining community of Jefferson County that year. It moved three times in the early years. The Bright Star moved to its present location in downtown Bessemer in 1915. The original marble floors and marble walls exist today. Can you imagine how majestic and elegant this place was to diners in early 20th century Bessemer? Another unique interior feature at The Bright Star is its array of murals painted by a European artist passing through Bessemer and restored to their original brightness in 2010.
Good service and high-quality cuisine have perpetuated The Bright Star’s reputation for excellence. Fresh seafood is delivered daily from the Gulf Coast. Only the finest cuts of steak available are served. The Bright Star’s longtime dedication to culinary excellence was recognized on the national stage in 2010, when it was named one of “America’s Classics” by the James Beard Foundation at a ceremony in New York City.
The fine food and service make it a delightful place to eat, but what I love about the place is its history and family legacy. When you see Nicky Koikos, you can look over his shoulder at portraits of his mother and father, who ran the restaurant for decades prior to Nicky and Jimmy. Jimmy and Nicky Koikos took over the reins in the 1970s. They were keeping it in the family. Nephew Andreas Anastassakis and niece Stacey Cocoris Craig have come on board to take over. Andreas is also the Chief Master Chef.
The walls of the great Bright Star are adorned with photographs of some of the most famous people in America, like Sandra Bullock. However, it is practically a museum of University of Alabama football legends, who ate there regularly, including legends that won lots of national Championships like Bear Bryant, Nick Saban, Gene Stallings, and greats like Joe Namath, Johnny Musso, John Hannah to name a few. Even the legendary Bright Star maître d of 46 years, Marlon, is cousins with Marlon Humphrey and Bobby Humphrey. Bryant used to call him “Speedy.”
Some of my fondest memories are having dinner at The Bright Star, with two of our iconic U.S. Senators, Judge Howell Heflin and Senator Richard Shelby. Shelby and Heflin both considered The Bright Star their favorite Alabama restaurant.
It is a merry place to visit at Christmas.
See you next week.
December 4, 2024 - Big Mules Ain’t All Bad
Our legendary governor of the 1940’s and 1950’s was the giant,cartoonish, character James E. “Big Jim” Folsom. Ole Big Jim ran against the big businesses of Birmingham – big banks, utilities, and U.S. Steel – and labeled them the “Big Mules.” He campaigned on the back of a flatbed truck in every hamlet in the state. He would dance and sing with his band, the Strawberry Pickers, and rail against the Big Mules of Birmingham and the Big Planters of the Black Belt.
George Wallace came onto the scene in the 1960’s. Wallace was a protégé of Big Jim Folsom. Wallace, like Big Jim, Huey Long of Louisiana, and other southern political demagogues, knew you had to find a boogeyman to run against. Wallace had an easy target. His boogeyman was the race issue. He became the most ardent racist segregationist in the south. However, that issue played out when Blacks were given the right to vote in 1965,and quickly constituted 25% of the electorate. Wallace had to find a new boogeyman to run against, so like his mentor, Big Jim, Wallace went after the last Big Mule standing – Alabama Power Company. Wallace was the ultimate demagogue, but history reveals that what is good for Alabama Power is good for Alabama.
While nobody likes paying power bills, most of us fail to consider what we get for our money. We want to see the lights come on when we flip the switch and Alabama Power does a better job at making that happen than just about anybody.
Three years ago, a historic winter blast of cold air on Christmas Eve made the lights go out in Georgia. They also went out in Mississippi, Tennessee, and the Tennessee Valley of Alabama, as rolling blackouts spread across the South. However, the lights stayed on in Alabama Power territory. Yet, when the lights do go out in the middle of the storm, you can rest assured a lineman from Alabama Power will weather the storm, leaving his home and family to get the power back on for your home and family.
Alabama Power does more than just keep the lights on. It has been the driving force behind economic development in Alabama for an entire century. Today, while industries are abandoning plans for investments in other southern statesbecause they cannot get a reliable supply of electricity, business is booming in Alabama Power territory. This is because the leadership of Alabama Power has refused to buckle to left-wing advocates that suggest we run steel mills and factories off solar panels and windmills.
A group calling itself Conservatives for Clean Energy has hired shady political operatives to attack Alabama Power and promote so-called “clean energy.” Anytime a pro-solar and pro-windmill group puts the word “conservative” in their name, you can bet there is nothing conservative about them.
Fortunately, for the past decade, our Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, has had strong leadership and the backbone to stand up to the left-wing forces that would have us sitting in the dark, freezing, and paying higher bills. The President of the PSC, Twinkle Cavanaugh, is as smart and tough as they come. Along with her fellow commissioners, she has held the line on regulations that keep the lights on, the jobs coming, and the cost of electricity around the national average.
To the contrary, Texas deregulated utilities a few years ago and left power suppliers on their own to meet the demands of America’s second-biggest state. Windmills and solar panels went up everywhere and utilities cut their maintenance budgets to the bone. Then, in the winter of 2021, the sun went down, the windmills literally froze up, and people started dying. Even as late as this past August, Texas faced rolling blackouts because the utilities could not meet demand.
One reason Alabama is not Texas is because our Public Service Commission demanded that Alabama Power put Alabama families, businesses, and industries ahead of the left-wing environmentalist agenda. It is the PSC’s job to hold the power company and all the businesses they regulate accountable, and they do. The Commission has proven it will hold the power company’s feet to the fire. For example, the PSC has not granted a rate increase since 2021, and the commission monitors the cost of fuel and other expenses on a monthly basis. The PSC has done an excellent job requiring the power company to cut the fat without sacrificing the muscle needed to care for Alabama families and create more jobs.
Some people will keep taking shots at Alabama Power because they are an obvious Big Mule boogeyman – but it has always been true, if you’ve got a heavy load to pull you need a big mule.
See you next week.
November 27, 2024 - Alabama vs. Auburn Game
The only sport that Alabamians enjoy more than Alabama politics is college football. We especially love the Alabama vs. Auburn football game – one of the fiercest of college football rivalries. It is the game of the year. It is a state civil war that divides friends and families. It is bragging rights for the entire year. The loser must live with his boasting next-door neighbor for 364 days. You must choose a side even if you despise college football and could not care less who wins. Newcomers to our state are bewildered on this fall day each year. They cannot comprehend the madness that surrounds this epic war.
Young boys all over Alabama grow up playing football in their front yards and dream of playing in this big game. It is often said that when these two rivals meet one can throw out the record books. However, this is not true. In 90% of the meetings the favorite has won. A lot of SEC championships and bowl games have been decided in this game. It has made many Alabamians’ Thanksgiving holiday either joyous or sad.
The game was not played for 40 years between 1908 and 1948. Myth has it that the game was halted because of the intense rivalry. However, that is not the case. The history is that after the 1907 game, the schools could not agree on the terms of the contract. The dispute involved meal money, lodging, officials,and how many players each side could bring. Football was not the passion it is today, so the two schools let the matter rest and the fans did not seem to care. That began to change as college football grew to a major sport in the 1940s.
When the series resumed, a popular rumor is the Alabama legislature called a special meeting and forced the teams to play. That never happened, but the House of Representatives did pass a resolution in 1947 to encourage, not force, the schools to meet in football, and officials at Alabama and Auburn agreed. The presidents of Auburn and Alabama simply decided it would be in the best interest of the schools to start playing again.
A contract was drawn up, papers signed, and the rivals literally buried the hatchet. On the morning of December 4, 1948, the presidents of each school’s student body dug a hole in Birmingham’s Woodrow Wilson Park, tossed a hatchet in, and buried it. The series resumed in 1948 with a 55-0 Alabama victory and the teams have squared off every season since.
Many of you have seen signs and car tags that simply say, “A house divided,” with half the tag emblem being Auburn and the other symbolic of the Alabama Crimson Tide. There are many families in our state where one spouse went to Auburn and the other attended Alabama. The family that epitomizes this “house divided” adage of my generation is Joe and Katie Espy of Montgomery.
Joe is an Alabama man through and through. Espy is one of our state’s most gifted and successful attorneys. He grew up in Abbeville and journeyed onto the University of Alabama where he began his meteoric legal/political career. He was President of the SGA at the Capstone, then graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law. Many expected Joe to enter politics and probably become governor. However, he has lived a better life as one of the state’s top lawyers.
Katie Espy was born and raised in Eufaula. She was “Miss Everything” at Eufaula High School, including head cheerleader. She went straight to Auburn where she became a cheerleader for the Auburn Tigers. Joe and Katie have been married for 54 years. Every Auburn vs. Alabama game, Katie dons her orange and blue attire and Joe dresses in crimson and white.
As stated earlier, Joe Espy is from Abbeville. Guess who grew up around the corner from him? None other than Jimmy Rane, the Yella Fella. Espy and Rane are both 78 and were born only three months apart and grew up as best friends and neighbors.
Joe has probably been the most ardent Alabama alumnus and fan in history. He was a University of Alabama trustee for over a decade. Jimmy Rane is the most devoted Auburn man in Auburn history. He has been one of the largest benefactors of Auburn for 50 years and a member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees for 25 years. These two outstanding gentlemen epitomize loyalty to their alma maters and grew up together in Abbeville – a town of 2,000, which is probably evenly divided on Iron Bowl Day.
As I have said many times in the past, Alabama is one big front porch.
WAR EAGLE and ROLL TIDE!
See you next week.
November 20, 2024 - The Trump Triumph
Our 45th President, Donald J. Trump, was elected as our 47thPresident on November 5. He not only won, he won overwhelmingly. Under the Electoral College system, our President is elected not by popular vote, but by a system where each state casts the same number of votes as they have Representatives and Senators in Congress. We, in Alabama, have seven Congressmen and two Senators. Therefore, we have nine electoral votes.
National voters and the media knew in this 2024 Presidential election, there were seven pivotal battleground states that would determine the outcome of the Presidential race. They were Georgia and North Carolina in the south, both with 16 electoral votes – pretty good prizes, Arizona and Nevada in the West, and the ultimate battleground Rust Belt states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania in the Midwest. There were all kinds of formulas and scenarios as to how these states would fall and which ones Trump or his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, would win. Polls revealed all seven states were showing dead even contests leading up to the election. According to all polls, no winner could be projected. Not even the Las Vegas oddsmakers could predict a clear winner.
Trump claimed a tremendous triumph on election night. He won all seven of the battleground states, including the Blue Wall big three of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. It was like a giant red wave that swept those three pivotal states, as well as every red state, which was the vast majority of the rest of the country.
Trump’s triumph was so prolific that he had coattails which enabled the Republicans to garner a majority in the U.S. Senate. They were expected to pick up seats in West Virginia and Montana, but Trump’s triumphant journey gave them two more seats in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Going into November 5th, Democrats had a majority in the Senate of 51 to 49. In January when Trump is inaugurated and the Senate organizes, there will be a Republican majority of 53 to 47. This is a mandate for Trump, which will allow him to enact his legislative agenda –but more importantly, appointments, and advise and consent of federal judges and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Speaking of courts, the federal courts gave the Democrats one of Alabama’s Congressional Seats. Currently, we have six Republicans and one Democrat. Last year, federal judges handed the Democrats a seat and re-drew Alabama’s congressional lines from the bench. They made the new 2nd Congressional District in south Alabama a seat that should vote 60% for a Democrat. The race for this seat was the only good, contested race on the Alabama ballot this year. It featured Democrat Shomari Figures and an impressive new Republican first time candidate,Caroleene Dobson. She made it a close race. Figures, the Democrat, won with 55% of the vote. You may not have heard the last of this race or the last of Caroleene Dobson on the Alabama political scene.
Our five incumbent Republican Congressmen, Robert Aderholt, Mike Rogers, Gary Palmer, Dale Strong, and Barry Moore were overwhelmingly reelected with no or token opposition, as was Democrat Terri Sewell. Figures will join Sewell when they organize. We will have two Democrats and five Republicans on the Potomac.
Alabama did its part in electing Donald Trump. He carried 65% of the vote in the Heart of Dixie. His best yet. He got 63% four years ago. This was Trump’s third triumph in Alabama. The Republican candidate for President has carried our state in the last 12 Presidential races going back 48 years.
Trump’s triumph is good for Alabama. With us being a Republican state and having both our U.S. Senators as Republicans and five of our seven Congressmen in the GOP with Trump, we should be in the “catbird” seat. Both of our Senators, Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, are in very good graces with Trump. Tuberville is especially close to Trump. In fact, Tuberville is probably Trump’s closest friend and ally in the Senate. They golf regularly together at Mar-a-Lago. It was expected that if Harris had won and Republicans remained in the minority in the Senate, that Tuberville was eyeing running for Governor in 2026, rather than reelection to his Senate seat,which is up in the same year. However, with Trump in the White House and Republicans in the majority, Tuberville wouldprobably like to remain in the Senate.
See you next week.
November 13, 2024 - 2026 Governor’s Race Has Begun
Over the past year, I have been on a speaking tour throughout the state – especially leading up to the General Election on November 5. The reason for my visiting and speaking to civic organizations was to discuss the national Presidential Race and its evolvement, as well as how the race for the White House affects Alabamians.
It was one of the most unusual, interesting topsy turvy Presidential contests I can remember. It was entertaining to say the least. After my talks, I left time for questions from the audiences. You would think that the first, and most important questions would pertain to the Presidential contest. However, that was not the most prevalent inquiry. In almost all 30 venues, the most asked question was who will follow Kay Ivey as Governor and who is running for Governor in 2026.
My answer is that it will indeed be one of the most interesting and entertaining Governors Race in decades. With Kay Ivey unable to run for another term, there will be no incumbent.There are three obvious successors to the throne that are immediately brought to the forefront: Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth, Attorney General Steve Marshall, and AgricultureCommissioner Rick Pate. They all three must go somewhere else, because all three are term-limited in their current posts.
Will Ainsworth is considered the prohibitive favorite by all Montgomery insiders. He has indeed been doing his homework and has been campaigning non-stop for Governor for the past six years, as Lt. Governor. He has locked up the Montgomery political lobbying money. This, in and of itself, probably puts him miles ahead of Marshall and Pate.
Ainsworth does not need any of the big lobbyists’ money. He has enough money on his own. His Daddy’s money is enough to fund several Governor’s races. His father has already shown thathe will help his boy as much as he needs. He bought him the Lt. Governor’s office and can buy him the Governor’s office. However, Ainsworth’s move to garner the big Montgomery money is an astute political maneuver because it prohibits his competitors from gaining access to these donors. Afterall, money is the “mother’s milk of politics,” and this is Ainsworth’s calling card.
Marshall and Pate cannot compete with Ainsworth financially. Marshall has built a following among the ultra-right-wing, social conservative base but these folks do not have any money, and the ones who do, do not give. Again, money is the “mother’s milk of politics.” Therefore, Pate and Marshall are relegated to being also rans in the brass ring race. However, they would be big dogs in the Lt. Governor’s Race, which looks to be drawing quite a crowd.
My response to audiences early in the year was Ainsworth is the early favorite because of his family money, but there is a big vacuum for an unknown candidate. 2026 could be another 1978 where a Fob James-like candidate comes out of the dark and buys the Governor’s office. A 60ish businessman who built his or her own business and made their own money is more attractive than a 40-year-old boy whose daddy has a lot of money.
The most popular and successful mayor in the state, Tommy Battle, would be a major player for governor. However, being mayor of the largest and most prosperous city in the state, if not nation, is a better job than being Governor of Alabama.
However, in the past month or so, a name has surfaced in the 2026 Governor’s Race that will turn the tide and change the landscape of the race. Coach Tommy Tuberville is rumored to be considering a run for Governor in 2026. His Senate Seat is also up for election in 2026. He got to the Senate at age 65, which is not the best age to arrive in the U.S. Senate and attain any power under the seniority system. He is 70 and looking at another six-year term as a 70ish back bencher.
He has his detractors, but polling reveals he is very popular in Alabama. He has over 75% name identification with high positives. Whereas, Ainsworth, Marshall, and Pate only have 20% name identification. Tuberville would automatically become the favorite and Ainsworth and Marshall would probably look hard at Tuberville’s Senate Seat.
Coach Tuberville needs to decide and move quickly because,folks, the race has begun.
See you next week.
November 6, 2024 - Alabama is a One-Party State
Alabama is a one-party, ruby red Republican state. This is a given in both state and national political races – especially presidentially, as you saw earlier this week.
The proof is in the pudding. With Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump’s triumphant conquest of our state on Tuesday, that makes 12 straight Presidential races in which the GOP candidate has carried our state. Trump has carried Alabamaby more than 60% in the last three Presidential cycles – 2016, 2020, and now 2024.
Prior to the Civil War, conservatives in Alabama were Whigs. The Whigs were well-heeled former Virginians and were slave owners. They settled in the Black Belt around the Alabama river. These gentlemen, even though small in population, monopolized and controlled state politics.
The Republican Party came to power as the party that abolished slavery. They enacted an extremely vengeful and devastating reconstruction upon the white people of the South, both rich and poor, slave owner or yeoman farmer. The radical Republicans did not discriminate. They took their vengeance out on all white people. Reconstruction lasted 11 years, 1866-1876. It cemented an inherent hatred towards the national Republican Party. Alabama and our sister Southern states swore allegiance to the Democratic Party. Alabama became and remained a totally Democratic state for almost 90 years, 1876 to 1964.
This Democratic loyalty was instilled by the yoke of Reconstruction. This loathing towards radical Republican rule was handed down from one generation to the next. Many a dying southern grandfather told their children and grandchildren on their deathbed, “One, don’t ever sell the family farm, and secondly, don’t ever vote for any damn Republican.” That is why you would hear old people saying, “My grandaddy would roll over in his grave if I voted for a Republican.” That is how the term “yellow dog” Democrat began. It was said that if a yellow dog were the Democratic candidate, he would win. This Democratic solidarity really made Alabama a no party state because all the activity was in one party and primary.
Alabamians cared very little about national politics or presidential elections between 1876-1964. They just voted for the Democrat in a perfunctory manner. The Democratic candidate for President carried Alabama in every election during those 90 years, but that all changed 60 years ago, today.
It changed presidentially and congressionally in the 1964 Southern Goldwater Landslide. We started voting Republican for national offices that year and have not looked back. The GOP captured the Governor’s office in 1986. It has been that way for now close to 40 years.
Folks, when we change, we really change. We do not do things halfway. Sixty years ago, every statewide official was a Democrat. Every state judge was a Democrat. Our entire congressional delegation was Democratic, and our legislature was unanimously Democratic. We were a Democratic state more out of tradition than philosophy.
Today, we are arguably one of the most Republican states in America from top to bottom. Since 1964, there have been 16 presidential elections, and Alabama has voted for the GOP nominee in 14 of those 16 contests, including this year’s Trump win in our state.
Jimmy Carter is the only Democrat that has carried Alabama in the last 60 years, and that was by a very slim margin in 1976,almost 50 years ago. George Wallace and his American Independent Party won the state in 1968. Therefore, the American Independent Party has won as many presidential contests in the Heart of Dixie as the Democratic Party has over the past 60 years.
Our Congressional delegation reflects a Republican dominance.Every statewide elected official in Alabama is a Republican. Republican control of Alabama politics today is so dominantthat we can safely be called a one-party state, again.
The Republican Party nomination for statewide office, today, is tantamount to election. This Republican dominance of Alabama will continue unabated in the Heart of Dixie for the foreseeable future.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
See you next week.
October 30, 2024 - Presidential Election Next Week
America will elect its 47th President next week. At least 99% of the votes will be cast by American citizens. With millions of illegal immigrants having poured through our country’s southern border over the past four years, there will be some illegal ballots cast by non-citizens. The opening of the border by the Democratic administration was permitted to allow these illegal immigrants to vote Democratic.
Fortunately, most of these illegal votes will be cast in California, because Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott had the foresight to steer the flow of illegal immigrants to California or bus them to other liberal Democratic sanctuary cities. Thus, any illegal immigrant votes will not affect the bottom-line result, because these states are left-wing, blue Democratic states anyway. The illegal votes will merely run up the score in the national election total votes for the Democrats, which is irrelevant.
As you know, we do not elect our president by popular vote but by an electoral college system, whereby each state casts the same number of electoral votes as they have members of Congress. The magic number of electoral votes is 270.That’s the magic number you should be watching for as you surmise the election results next Tuesday night.
As late as six decades ago in the 1960 Presidential Election between Republican Richard Nixon and Democrat John Kennedy there were 40 states in play that were not predetermined by party preference. People voted for the person and not the party. Therefore, Nixon and Kennedy had to campaign in all 40 states and their appearance and campaigning made a difference. That is why John Kennedy selected his enemy Lyndon Johnson to be his vice-presidential running mate in order to carry the State of Texas.
Today, the election is exactly diametrically the opposite as 1960. In next Tuesday’s Presidential Electoral College Election, there are only seven states in play that really matter. The hay is in the barn in 43 states. The country is divided along party lines like never before in history. That’s why the polling reveals a 48/48 split and has since the move by the Democrats to swap Joe Biden for Kamala Harris. If Mickey Mouse were the Republican nominee, he would carry Alabama and Kansas. By the same token if Donald Duck were the Democratic nominee, he would carry California and New York.
Again, as you are watching Tuesday night, ignore the national horse race numbers. A Democrat will get the most votes because there are more voters in California and New York than there are in Alabama and Kansas. As soon as the polls close the news channels will color 43 states either red or blue, because the exit polls will tell them what everyone knows and that is that these states are in the bank or as we would say in red states, “the hay is in the barn.” Most of the country, geographically, including most of the less populous states, will be covered in red. The blue will stick out on the left coast of California, Washington and Oregon. One blue state in the middle of the country, Illinois, and the other end of the country New York and New Jersey.
The battle for the White House will be waged in the seven pivotal, swing battleground states where the partisan divide is especially divided. Those states, which will decide the election, are Georgia and North Carolina in the South, Arizona and Nevada in the West, and the three rust belt midwestern states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
The Democrats were going to lose with Joe Biden at the top of the ticket. Younger Democratic voters were not going to vote for a decrepit senile old white man. They were not going to vote for Trump either and would have just stayed home.
However, the orchestrated maneuver to replace Biden with Kamala Harris was a brilliant ploy. She, being a liberal Democrat of mixed origin and of color, has brought the younger Democratic base Black voter into the fold and they will turn out to vote for Kamala Harris. That is what has made this a 48/48 percent horse race, which leaves the 4% undecided vote in these seven states – the golden circle of voters. Although Kamala Harris brings home the young, Black Democratic voter, polling shows that this golden circle of undecided voters made up of white, middleclass suburban women, may not be solidly in her corner. These women – probably in Michigan and Wisconsin – will more than likely decide who is the 47th President. However, turnout is the ultimate key to this race and in any close election.
Is the Trump older, conservative Republican base more enthused and motivated, or does the liberal Democratic base get their voters to the polls for Harris?
We will see next week.
October 23, 2024 - Contest for New Second Congressional District is the Race to Watch
We are down to the final days of our 2024 Presidential Year. We go to the polls Tuesday, November 5, to elect the next President of the United States.
We have no good statewide races in Alabama this year. All our important state offices are up for election in 2026. However, thanks to the federal courts, we have one doozy of a congressional race in the newly drawn Second Congressional District. It is not only the most interesting, important, entertaining contest in Alabama, it is one of the premier, pivotalcongressional races in the nation. It may well decide which party has the majority control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The federal courts designed this district to elect a Democrat to Congress from the Heart of Dixie. They blatantly overruled the Alabama Legislature’s constitutional power to draw congressional lines for the state. The federal court hung their hat on the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The new seat is comprised of all of Montgomery County, as well as most of the more rural counties surrounding Montgomery including Macon, Lowndes, Bullock, Pike, Butler, Crenshaw, Barbour, and Russell. It continues through the Black Belt counties like an arrow towards Mobile and gathers most of the Black voters in Mobile. The district goes from the Georgia line to the Mississippi line. The lion’s share of the votes are in Montgomery and Mobile.
Although this gerrymandered district was created by the federal courts to implement a new Democratic Black district, as soon as the new lines were drawn, Republicans said, “not so fast” and, “over our dead bodies.” “You ain’t taking it without a fight.” As the beginning of the race began, there were 11 Democrats running in the Democratic Primary and nine Republicans seeking the GOP nomination. When the dust settled after the April primaries, two surprising candidates emerged from the 20 aspirants.
The two stellar horses that emerged are thoroughbreds. The Republicans nominated Caroleene Dobson, and the Democrat’s stallion is Shomari Figures. Voters may have subconsciously chosen two young combatants. Youth is an omnipotent advantage in Washington. Dobson and Figures are both in their 30’s and could build generational power under the seniority driven power structure in D.C. They are both sterling candidates who are genuinely representative, philosophically, of their respective party. Figures is a real liberal Democrat and Dobson is a real conservative Republican.
Shomari Figures has a Democratic pedigree a mile long. He grew up in Mobile as the son of two legendary state senators. His late father, Michael Figures, served 18 years as a leader in the Alabama Senate. His mother, Vivian Figures, followedMichael, Shomari’s father, in the same Senate seat when he died early. She has become an icon in Mobile and the state senate in her nearly three decades in the upper chamber.
The Figures name has been at the forefront of Mobile politics for over four decades and it paid off in the Primary. Shomari received an amazing 92% of the vote in Mobile County. He also carried Montgomery County. It also did not hurt that he was able to outspend all 10 of his opponents combined with the bulk of his money coming from crypto currency groups. Figures has a law degree and has spent his entire career in Washington working for the Obama and Biden Administrations.
Caroleene Dobson is a sensational, sterling, young Republican candidate. She is a homegrown Monroe County girl. Her ancestral home is in the heart of the new district, perfectly nestled between the two metro voting centers of Mobile and Montgomery. She received 88% of the vote in Monroe County.She outdistanced the other major GOP contender, former State Senator Dick Brewbaker, in the Republican Primary by an amazing 59% to 41% to capture the Republican nomination.
Caroleene is a 37-year-old lawyer, mother, and wife. She is poised and exudes class and integrity. Her family has deep roots in the cattle industry in the state. She has been helped immensely by ALFA. She has worked hard and left no leaf unturned.
Regardless, the Republicans and Caroleene will need some help to secure this seat. A low voter turnout among Democratic voters may be the key to victory. This race is the ultimate purple, swing, congressional race in the south, and one of the most important races in the country. It could go either way.
See you next week.