State Auditor Jim Zeigler is forming an exploratory committee to test the water for a possible run for governor next year. He announced Monday in a speech to the Common Sense Campaign, a conservative group in south Alabama. He would face incumbent Gov. Kay Ivey, who has announced for yet another term.
Zeigler told the packed house of 80 people that having the announcement at a group named “Common Sense” fits well into his issues.
Zeigler stated, “Gov. Ivey’s plan for an I-10 toll bridge between Mobile and Baldwin Counties did not make common sense. I was blessed to lead the citizen opposition that blocked the Ivey 2019 toll scheme. Gov. Ivey’s Amendment One made no common sense. It would have taken away the right to vote for members of the school board and made them all appointed by the governor. My wife Jackie Zeigler and I were blessed to lead the statewide ‘Vote No’ campaign that defeated Ivey’s Amendment One with 75% ‘no’ vote.
“Gov. Ivey’s plan to waste over $3 billion on a prison rental scheme made no common sense. I was blessed to be one of the leaders that helped block the Ivey prison rental scheme,” Zeigler continued. “If I could keep the campaign about common sense and not about the millions of dollars and cents raised for Gov. Ivey by the Montgomery Insiders, I could win.”
Zeigler has a deadline of Jan. 28 to make a decision but says he hopes to decide before the state Republican meeting on Aug. 26.
The Republican primary is May 24, 2022, eleven months away.
Zeigler is finishing his second term as State Auditor. However, he is term-limited and constitutionally prohibited from seeking a third term.
