Ivey should support a state lottery, then play it: she’s one lucky lady

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Kay Ivey
Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey is sworn in as Alabama governor, Monday, April 10, 2017. [Photo Credit: Governor's Office | Sydney Foster

The fact is Kay Ivey likely would not have been touchable at all this election cycle by anyone in the state; her popularity is just that high. People were so ready for Governor Robert Bentley to be gone by the time he finally resigned that Ivey’s quiet and calm demeanor have been a God-send. His failures, personally and professionally, made her one lucky woman who slipped into the governor’s race with ease.

Her luck continued when her primary race was anything but a race. That luck for her however might have cost the rest of us. If she had drawn a true challenge, if her primary opponents had taken the time to do the same level of opposition research that Walt Maddox has started pushing out in the last two weeks then maybe she could have been forced into a debate or at least some have a reason to rethink the direction of her office, the way its been run since her days as Lt. Governor and the way it is being run now.

The steady drip of information, documents, and statements against and about her and her staff have been damning. The questions posed aren’t about partisan politics or even the election; they go right to the heart of the type of administration Ivey is running versus the type she has repeatedly promised the state to run.
Let’s look at the questions we’re left with at the moment based on just the three stories reports coming from the Maddox campaign. Imagine if they had come from a Republican instead while conservative voters were paying attention:
  1. Did Ivey and her staff lie to the media and public about her Colorado hospitalization?
  2. Did Ivey and her Chief of Staff Steve Pelham have a state trooper reassigned for his refusal to lie and/or cover up the events of Colorado?
  3. Did the governor and her staff purposefully evade public records laws by using personal email addresses for state business while she was LG?
  4. Are they still using these email addresses?
  5. Who set up the governor’s fake (alias) email address and when and how much state business has been conducted using said email?
  6. What budget transfers have been made beyond the transportation to court diversions that the Maddox campaign highlighted today?
The people of Alabama deserve more answers and accountability than what we’re getting right now. Luckily for Ivey and her team they can point to these reports as election shenanigans and most of the base will see that the questions are a result of Maddox releases and dismiss them based on that. Again, that Ivey luck.
I don’t think we’re going to get full answers with defensive staff who are more interested in protecting their power and her reputation than the people. When Ivey took over from disgraced Robert Bentley, she promised accountability and transparency. In the last week and a half, the Walt Maddox campaign has brought forth questions that I hope lead to: a new way of doing business in the Governor’s office, some serious internal investigations and some true changes. Will it? That remains to be seen but it’s going to take more than Maddox raising the questions to get there so here’s looking at you conservatives who turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the Bentley scandals until it was too late. Will you call on Ivey to make real changes and give real answers or will you just sit back and wait for the inevitable train wreck that’s coming?