Tommy Battle challenges Kay Ivey to explain contributions from special interests, industry

Campaign finance reports filed with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office on Tuesday, revealed Governor Kay Ivey in the lead with over $3 million in fundraising money; but they also revealed an interesting fact about her campaign.

According to the reports, Ivey’s campaign has received more than $1 million in contributions from 114 different special interest group or PAC donations.

Some of the PAC’s contributing to Ivey’s campaign are: Alabama Power Company State Employees PAC, Business Council of Alabama’s PAC, Alabama Farmer Federation’s PAC, Alabama Forestry PAC, MCG PAC, and BIZPAC.

While Ivey rakes in the millions, her GOP opponents — Tommy Battle, Bill Hightower, and Scott Dawson — are trying their best to keep up.

As of Wednesday Battle has raised a total of $1.8 million; Hightower a total of $860,847; and Dawson a total to $731,782 for his campaign.

In a release sent on Thursday, Battle touts his campaign has received more than 1,100 individual contributions from “real Alabamians” since the beginning of his campaign, which he claims are more than any other candidate running.

“Only 14 PACs have contributed towards Battle’s fundraising efforts. In contrast, Governor Ivey’s numbers show she’s topped more than $1 million in contributions from her 114 PAC donations,” said Battle’s campaign.

“Our numbers show that the people of Alabama are behind us. They’re looking for a better vision and a better plan for moving Alabama forward,” said Battle. “As Governor Ivey said in 1982, I think the voters deserve to hear from my opponent about what commitments these endorsements carry.”

Battle has consistently challenged Ivey over the course of his campaign, most recently pushing her to commit to joining himself and other candidates in some of the debates scheduled before the primaries. A call to action that as of Tuesday, Ivey has yet to answer.