Martha Roby: Touting Covington County’s career tech opportunities
Congress was recently out of session for a district work period, and I used this valuable time to travel throughout Alabama’s Second District to visit with my constituents, outstanding local leaders, businesses, and more. During the week of district work, I made stops in Troy, Daleville, Dothan, Opp, Montgomery, and Prattville. I greatly appreciated everyone who hosted me and took the time to speak with me. Hearing directly from the people I represent enables me to be a better advocate for our district’s priorities in Washington, so I’d like to share with you more details about one of my visits in particular. I had the privilege of visiting Opp in Covington County one morning, and while I was in town, I stopped by the Lurleen B. Wallace Community College (LBWCC) MacArthur Campus for a tour and an update from leadership, faculty, and staff. I was thoroughly impressed by what I learned and saw. I was particularly glad to hear that LBWCC has experienced recent growth and that the school is greatly benefitting from some key partnerships it has with private sector businesses. While on campus, I received a tour of the impressive industrial electronics program. This program received a federal grant that has enabled it to purchase updated equipment and hire a new instructor. The industrial electronics program at LBWCC partners with some outstanding businesses in our district, including Wayne Farms, Kimber Gun Manufacturing, and Shaw Industries. These valuable public-private partnerships empower LBWCC to offer students hands-on, real world workforce experience right here in our backyard. Next, I toured the welding program that has also recently been enhanced and improved. Not too long ago, LBWCC obtained a mobile welding lab that they can relocate from campus to campus as needed. Right now, the welding lab is parked at LBWCC in Luverne, because that campus does not currently have a facility for their welding program. I then toured the campus’ diesel and heavy equipment program, which has recently received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that enabled the program to expand and offer complete degrees. Prior to this development, the program could only offer certificates, so this is certainly exciting progress. This NSF grant assistance also allowed LBWCC to purchase supplies for their natural gas engines that are very important to the diesel and heavy equipment program. This program at LBWCC partners with several successful private sector businesses, including Mobile Forest Products, FourStar Freightliner, Wiley Sanders Trucklines, Thompson Caterpillar, Thompson Tractor, and Parker Diesel. In addition, I was given very informative tours of the automechanics, surgical technology, cosmetology programs, and others. I was truly impressed by the many programs offered at LBWCC-MacArthur, and I am thrilled that the school and campus continue to grow and develop in so many areas. When I visited LBWCC in Opp, it just so happened to be the first day of summer classes. It was exciting to see all the students in class ready to take on whatever this semester has in store for them. My time on campus further underscored the critical importance of career tech programs and opportunities like the ones I’ve highlighted here. The visit also once again demonstrated how invaluable public-private partnerships like the ones at LBWCC are to workforce development in our district. Throughout my time in Congress, I have proudly supported efforts to strengthen and improve career tech education throughout our country and state. I am eager to continue working alongside my colleagues in Congress and the Trump Administration to support these hugely significant programs. Our state’s workforce depends on it. ••• Martha Roby represents Alabama’s Second Congressional District. She lives in Montgomery, Alabama, with her husband Riley and their two children.
2018 statewide election ad roundup: June 1 edition
The June 5 Republican and Democratic primaries are only 4 days away and Alabama’s candidates have taken to the internet and the airwaves with campaign ads in hopes of swaying Yellowhammer State voters to their side. Surprisingly, in the final week before the primary, none of the republican candidates for governor have rolled out any new ads. However, not surprisingly, Sue Bell Cobb released a new ad this week for the eleventh week in a row, Walt Maddox took a different approach to his new ad, using his field staffers to create the ad. Lieutenant governor candidates Will Ainsworth, and Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh both released new ads firing shots at one another, while Attorney General candidates Chess Bedsole, was the only candidate in his race to roll out a new ad. Gubernatorial ads Democrats Sue Bell Cobb: Title: On Retirement Published: May 28, 2018 Tone: Sentimental Walt Maddox: Title: Walt Maddox Field Staffers Making a Difference Published: June 1, 2018 Tone: Benevolent Lieutenant governor ads Republicans Will Ainsworth: Title: Shooting Straight Published: May 25, 2018 Tone: Direct Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh: Title: Truth Published: May 25, 2018 Tone: Agitated Attorney General ads Republicans Chess Bedsole: Title: Ready Published: May 24, 2018 Tone: Assertive
Will Ainsworth ‘honored’ Kay Ivey adopted his school security plan
Republican Lieutenant governor candidate Will Ainsworth announced on Thursday that he is honored Governor Kay Ivey chose to adopt his proposal to train and arm school administrators to protect their schools in the event of an active shooter situation. “Every school shooting that takes place in another state around the country brings us one step closer to an active shooter attacking classrooms here, in Alabama” Ainsworth said. “Gov. Ivey’s decision to adopt a portion of my plan is a good first step, but we must empower teachers to defend their students against those who wish to do harm.” Ainsworth made his proposal in the legislative session earlier this year, and even though the bill, Ivey’s Alabama Sentry Program is very similar to the proposed bill. The bill, HB435, proposed that school administrators, principals, and teachers who met certain qualifications be allowed to carry a firearm on school campuses. It also required that those carrying must complete a 40-hour course in basic school policing in a program approved by the Alabama Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission, and pass an annual firearm re-qualification; the same test required of law enforcement officers. The Alabama Sentry Program that Ivey announced on Wednesday is “a voluntary program which will permit administrators in schools, without an SRO, to maintain a firearm on campus in a secured safe in order to be prepared to respond to an active shooter situation.” The only real difference between the two plans is Ainsworth’s provision to include teachers in the program, which he believes is crucial to the program’s success. “On the day that the Parkland, Florida school shooting occurred, I drafted legislation allowing school teachers and administrators to carry firearms if they volunteered to undergo mental health evaluations and completed thorough law enforcement training, but House Democrats and gun control advocates blocked my bill from passing,” Ainsworth said. “I am honored that Gov. Kay Ivey saw the wisdom in my school security plan and plans to arm some school administrators, but teachers should be given the option, as well. One armed administrator cannot defend an entire school, and until teachers are allowed to defend their classrooms with something more lethal than a ruler and a No. 2 pencil, our children remain at risk.”
Trump administration considers plan to bail out struggling coal, nuclear plants
The Trump administration is considering a plan to order operators of the nation’s power grid to buy electricity from struggling coal and nuclear plants to keep them open. The action by the Energy Department would represent an unprecedented intervention into U.S. energy markets. A draft memo urges federal action to “stop the further premature retirements of fuel-secure generation” from coal and nuclear plants that have struggled to compete with natural gas and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo. The plan would direct grid operators to buy power from coal and nuclear plants for two years to ensure grid reliability, “promote the national defense and maximize domestic energy supplies.” The memo was first reported by Bloomberg News. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
GOP censures candidate for ‘not a Republican’ comment
A challenger will remain on the Republican primary ballot for sheriff in a northeast Alabama county. The Gadsden Times reports that the Etowah County Republican Executive Committee declined to remove Rainbow City Police Chief Jonathon Horton from the ballot. He’s challenging incumbent Sheriff Todd Entrekin in Tuesday’s primary. No Democrat has qualified. Horton was censured for a video made at a campaign event in which he said he was “not a Republican.” The committee is requiring Horton to remove the video and retract the comments. The committee also considered divorce filings between 1991 and 1997 that include allegations that Horton physically abused his wife. Horton says Entrekin paid a company to post the documents on a website. Entrekin says he paid the company, but not for “anything negative.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
North Koreans to meet Donald Trump; deliver letter from leader
A top aide to Kim Jong Un was en route to Washington Friday to hand a letter from the North Korean leader to President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said after reporting “good progress” in talks between the two sides to revive an on-again, off-again nuclear summit. “I am confident we are moving in the right direction,” Pompeo told reporters at a news conference in New York after meeting Thursday with former North Korean military intelligence chief Kim Yong Chol. “Our two countries face a pivotal moment in our relationship, and it would be nothing short of tragic to let this opportunity go to waste.” He would not say that the summit is a definite go for Singapore on June 12 and could not say if that decision would be made after Trump reads Kim Jong Un’s letter. However, his comments were the most positive from any U.S. official since Trump abruptly canceled the meeting last week after belligerent statements from the North. The two countries, eying the first summit between the U.S. and the North after six decades of hostility, have also been holding negotiations in Singapore and the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas. Early Thursday, Trump told reporters “we are doing very well” with North Korea. He added there may even need to be a second or third summit meeting to reach a deal on North Korean denuclearization but still hedged, saying “maybe we’ll have none.” Kim Yong Chol left his hotel in New York City early Friday for the trip to Washington in a convoy of SUVs. He is the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the U.S. in 18 years, and his trip to the White House will be a highly symbolic sign of easing tensions after fears of war escalated amid North Korean nuclear and missile tests last year. Pompeo, the former CIA chief who has traveled to North Korea and met with Kim Jong Un twice in the past two months, said he believed the country’s leaders are “contemplating a path forward where they can make a strategic shift, one that their country has not been prepared to make before.” He tweeted from New York: “Good progress today during our meetings” with Kim and his team. Yet he also said at his news conference that difficult work remains including hurdles that may appear to be insurmountable as negotiations progress on the U.S. demand for North Korea’s complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization. “We will push forward to test the proposition that we can achieve that outcome,” he said. Pompeo spoke after meeting with Kim Yong Chol for a little more than two hours at the residence of the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The talks had been expected to be held in two sessions, one in the morning and one in the early afternoon, and had not been expected to conclude until 1:30 p.m. Instead, the two men wrapped up at 11:25 a.m. Pompeo said they finished everything they needed to address in the morning session. Immediately afterward, he tweeted that he had had substantive talks on the priorities for the potential summit. Pompeo was accompanied by Andrew Kim, the head of a CIA unit assigned to work on North Korea, and Mark Lambert, the head of the State Department’s Korea desk. “Our secretary of state is having very good meetings,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing on a trip to Texas. He said of the North Koreans, “I believe they will be coming down to Washington on Friday. A letter being delivered to me from Kim Jong Un. It is very important to them.” “It is all a process,” he said of arranging the summit. “Hopefully we will have a meeting on the 12th.” Despite the upbeat messaging in the United States, Kim Jong Un, in a meeting with Russia’s foreign minister on Thursday, complained about the U.S. trying to spread its influence in the region, a comment that may complicate the summit plans. “As we move to adjust to the political situation in the face of U.S. hegemonism, I am willing to exchange detailed and in-depth opinions with your leadership and hope to do so moving forward,” Kim told Sergey Lavrov. North Korea’s flurry of diplomatic activity following an increase in nuclear weapons and missile tests in 2017 suggests that Kim is eager for sanctions relief to build his economy and for the international legitimacy a summit with Trump would provide. But there are lingering doubts on whether he will ever fully relinquish his nuclear arsenal, which he may see as his only guarantee of survival in a region surrounded by enemies. Trump views a summit as a legacy-defining opportunity to make a nuclear deal, but he has left the world guessing since canceling the meeting last week in an open letter to Kim that complained of the North’s “tremendous anger and open hostility.” North Korea’s conciliatory response to that letter appears to have put the summit back on track. Kim Yong Chol is the most senior North Korean visitor to the United States since Vice Marshal Jo Myong Rok visited Washington in 2000 to meet President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. That was the last time the two sides, which are technically at war, attempted to arrange a leadership summit. It was an effort that ultimately failed as Clinton’s time in office ran out, and relations turned sour again after George W. Bush took office in early 2001 with a tough policy on the North. Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the North Korean ruling party’s central committee, was allowed into the United States despite being on a U.S. sanctions list, and North Korean officials are not normally allowed to travel outside the New York area. The North Korean mission at the United Nations did not respond to an email seeking comment Thursday, and phone calls were not answered. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Walt Maddox announces statewide GOTV rallies
Alabama voters take to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballots in for the candidate of their choice. In a final push to rally voters together, Tuscaloosa Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Walt Maddox, will be hosting several Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rallies across the state starting on Friday. Maddox will face against former Alabama Chief Justice, Sue Bell Cobb, former state legislator James Fields, Doug Smith and Chris Countryman in the Yellowhammer State’s democratic primary on June 5. Here’s Maddox’s event schedule: Friday, June 1: 6 p.m. Walt Maddox GOTV Rally Via Senior Center, Mobile 1717 Dauphin St. Saturday, June 2: 1 p.m. Walt Maddox GOTV Rally Good People Brewing, Birmingham 114 14th St S 6 p.m. Walt Maddox GOTV Rally Huntsville Rally Richard Showers Rec Center 4600 Blue Spring Road Huntsville AL Sunday, June 3: 2 p.m. Walt Maddox GOTV Rally Bloch Park, Selma 6 p.m. Walt Maddox GOTV Rally Montgomery event Hall street baptist church 700 South hall street Montgomery AL 36104 Monday, June 4: 6 p.m. Walt Maddox GOTV Rally Band of Brother’s Brewing, Tuscaloosa 1605 23rd Ave
Scott Dawson releases bus tour schedule
Alabama voters take to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballots in for the candidate of their choice. In a final push to rally grassroots conservative voters, evangelist and Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Dawson has announced a bus tour leading up to the June 5 primary. Dawson faces against incumbent governor Kay Ivey, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, and Sen. Bill Hightower in the Republican primary. Here’s the schedule for Dawson’s bus tour, and election day: Friday June 1: Cullman: 7:45 a.m., Cracker Barrel, 6020 AL Hwy 157, Cullman, Alabama 35058 Jasper: 9:45 a.m., Warehouse 319, 221 19th St W, Jasper, Alabama 35501 Guin: 11:15 a.m., Jimbo’s, 161 11th Avenue, Guin, Alabama 35563 Haleyville: 12:30 p.m., Haleyville 9-1-1 Festival, downtown Haleyville, off of Highway 13, (parking at original Guthrie’s) Decatur: 2:15 p.m., Krispy Kreme, 1648 Beltline Road SW, Decatur, Alabama 35601 Muscle Shoals: 4:00 p.m., Chick-Fil-A, 511 W Avalon Avenue, Muscle Shoals, Alabama 35661 Florence: 4:45 p.m., Florence First Friday, Downtown Florence, 104 South Court Street, Florence, Alabama Athens: 8:00 p.m., Rally at Limestone County Courthouse, 200 W Washington Street, Athens, Alabama 35611 Saturday June 2: Madison: 7:30 a.m., Hobby Lobby/Another Broken Egg, 7504 Hwy 72 W., Madison, Alabama 35758 Scottsboro: 10:15 a.m., Scottsboro Gun & Pawn, 117 N Broad Street, Scottsboro, Alabama 35768 Fort Payne: 12:00 noon, Dekalb Theatre, 306 Gault Avenue North, Fort Payne, Alabama 35967 Albertville: 2:00 p.m., Alexander Dodge, Chrysler Jeep, 6764 U.S. 431, Albertville, Alabama 35950 Attalla: 3:30 p.m., TBA. Hayden: 5:15 p.m., Phil’s Grill, 195 Smokerise Trail, Hayden, Alabama 35180 Sunday, June 3: No events scheduled, Dawson says he will be worshipping and resting. Monday, June 4: Pell City: 8:05 a.m., Pell City Coffee Co., 1605 Martin Street S, Suite 6, Pell City, Alabama 35128 Lincoln: 9:20 a.m., TBA. Rainbow City: 11:00 a.m., the old Hyundai location, 626 W. Grand Avenue, Rainbow City, Alabama 35906 Gadsden: 12:00 noon, Noccalula Falls Park, 1500 Noccalula Road, Gadsden, AL 35904 Piedmont: 1:45 p.m., Garcy Manufacturing, 1000 Garcy Blvd, Piedmont, Alabama 36272 Oxford: 3:40 p.m., Oxford Exchange, 650 Oxford Exchange Blvd., Oxford, Alabama 36203 Saks: 5:15 p.m., Saks Community Center, 473 Brightwood Ave., Anniston, Alabama 36206
U.S. allies to fight Donald Trump’s tariffs plan, warn of trade war
Countries around the world fought back Friday against President Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, announcing retaliatory countermeasures and warning that the U.S. plan will hurt U.S. consumers. French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement Friday that he told Trump in a phone call that the new U.S. tariffs on European, Mexican and Canadian goods are illegal and a “mistake.” Macron pledged the riposte would be “firm” and “proportionate” and in line with World Trade Organization rules. Germany’s Volkswagen, Europe’s largest automaker, warned that the decision could start a trade war that no side would win. The European Union and China said they will deepen ties on trade and investment as a result. “This is stupid. It’s counterproductive,” former British trade minister Francis Maude told the BBC. “Any government that embarks on a protectionist path inflicts the most damage on itself,” he added. Macron warned that “economic nationalism leads to war. This is exactly what happened in the 1930s.” Trump’s move makes good on a his campaign promise to crack down on trading partners that he claims exploit poorly negotiated trade agreements to run up big trade surpluses with the United States. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the tariffs — 25 percent on imported steel, 10 percent on aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union — take effect Friday. The import duties threaten to drive up prices for American consumers and companies and are likely to heighten uncertainty for businesses and investors around the globe. Stock prices slumped amid fears of a trade war, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling nearly 252 points, or 1 percent, to 24,415.84. Mexico complained that the tariffs will “distort international trade” and said it will penalize U.S. imports including pork, apples, grapes, cheeses and flat steel. In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that the tariffs were “totally unacceptable.” Canada announced plans to slap tariffs on $12.8 billion worth of U.S. products, ranging from steel to yogurt and toilet paper. “Canada is a secure supplier of aluminum and steel to the U.S. defense industry, putting aluminum in American planes and steel in American tanks,” Trudeau said. “That Canada could be considered a national security threat to the United States is inconceivable.” Trump had originally imposed the tariffs in March, saying a reliance on imported metals threatened national security. But he exempted Canada, Mexico and the European Union to buy time for negotiations — a reprieve that expired at midnight Thursday. Other countries, including Japan, America’s closest ally in Asia, are already paying the tariffs. “This is protectionism, pure and simple,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission. The EU earlier threatened to counterpunch by targeting U.S. products, including Kentucky bourbon, blue jeans and motorcycles. David O’Sullivan, the EU’s ambassador in Washington, said the retaliation will probably be announced in late June. Trump had campaigned for president on a promise to crack down on trading partners that he said exploited poorly negotiated trade agreements to run up big trade surpluses with the U.S. The U.S. tariffs coincide with — and could complicate — the Trump administration’s separate fight over Beijing’s strong-arm tactics to overtake U.S. technological supremacy. Ross is leaving Friday for Beijing for talks aimed at preventing a trade war with China. The world’s two biggest economies have threatened to impose tariffs on up to $200 billion worth of each other’s products. The steel and aluminum tariffs could also complicate the administration’s efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, a pact that Trump has condemned as a job-killing “disaster.” The White House released a statement from Trump Thursday night saying of NAFTA, “Earlier today, this message was conveyed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada: The United State (sic) will agree to a fair deal, or there will be no deal at all.” Trump had offered the two U.S. neighbors a permanent exemption from the steel and aluminum tariffs if they agreed to U.S. demands on NAFTA. But the NAFTA talks stalled. Ross said there was “no longer a very precise date when they may be concluded,” and that as a result, Canada and Mexico were added to the list of countries hit with tariffs. Likewise, the Trump trade team sought to use the tariff threat to pressure Europe into reducing barriers to U.S. products. But the two sides could not reach an agreement. The import duties will give a boost to American makers of steel and aluminum by making foreign metals more expensive. But companies in the U.S. that use imported steel will face higher costs. And the tariffs will allow domestic steel and aluminum producers to raise prices, squeezing companies — from automakers to can producers — that buy those metals. House Speaker Paul Ryan and several leading Republicans in Congress were critical of the administration’s tariff action. Ryan said there are better ways to help American workers and consumers and that he plans to work with Trump on “those better options.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
In U.S. district 2 race, loyalty to Donald Trump takes center stage
U.S. Rep. Martha Roby could pay a political price for her 2016 criticism of Donald Trump after recordings of him making lewd comments were released during his campaign for president. Roby said then that Trump’s behavior “makes him unacceptable as a candidate for president” and suggested he step aside to let another Republican lead the presidential ticket. Two years later, her comments have become an issue as she seeks to win the GOP primary and a fifth term representing Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, a conservative swath where loyalty to Trump has become central issue of the midterm primary. “She turned on Trump,” said Ted Roberts, a 69-year-old retired banker from New Brocton, explaining why he won’t vote for Roby. Roby faces primary challenges from Bobby Bright, who represented the district for two years as a Democrat, state Rep. Barry Moore and Rich Hobson a longtime ally of failed U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore. Roby said she wants to emphasize her record on issues important to the district, including military and veterans issues. Roby said she has a “good working relationship” with the Trump administration. “What I have done is run on my record. I’m proud of my record. I’m proud that we’ve been able to do the things and accomplish the things that I believe the people sent me to Washington to do,” Roby said. Roby on the campaign trail and in election materials, said she works well with the Trump administration, noting her support for Trump-backed policies such as the 2017 tax cut bill. A television ad touts her support for a border wall. All of Roby’s primary opponents are raising Roby’s comments in the election. Bright, the former Democratic congressman for the district who also served as mayor of Montgomery, is running a television ad with video footage of Roby saying Trump should step aside. “People are ready for a change, and we’re giving it to them,” Bright said during a campaign stop at a drug store as he wore a red hat with the slogan to make the district “Bright Again.” Bright dismissed concerns that a former Democrat will be rejected by GOP primary voters. He said his values and voting record are “more Alabama.” Alabama’s 2nd congressional district stretches from Montgomery through rural southeast Alabama. The district is heavily agrarian. A boll weevil monument in the city of Enterprise pays tribute the agricultural pest that prompted the region’s shift from cotton to peanut farming. The district’s strong military presence is often visible in the skies as planes from Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery and helicopters from the Army’s aviation program at Fort Rucker buzz overhead. “This is definitely Trump country,” said George McCleary, a retired Air Force colonel. “My wife thinks she’s doing a great job. … I don’t think she’s nearly aggressive enough,” McCleary said of Roby. McCleary said Roby’s Trump comments weren’t a concern to him, but he was more worried about issues such as border security. Both Barry Moore and Hobson said Roby’s comments helped inspire them to jump into the race. Hobson said Roby opened the door to challenges with her “disparaging remarks against Donald Trump.” “The comments were just the icing on the cake to a voting record that wasn’t that great anyway,” Moore said. Willie Furr, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, said he is voting for Roby, saying she has worked to improve health care access for veterans. He added that many women, not just Roby, took offense to Trump’s comments. “I think what matters at the end of the day is her track record, what she’s has delivered on,” Furr said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Chief Justice Lyn Stuart picks up major endorsements in primary
Six current and former Alabama Supreme Court justices have endorsed Alabama Chief Justice Lyn Stuart in a Republican primary. The current and former justices on Thursday announced their support for Stuart who faces Associate Justice Tom Parker in the June 5 GOP primary for chief justice. Justice Mike Bolin, Justice Jim Main, retired Justice Gorman Houston, retired Justice Patti Smith, retired Justice Champ Lyons, and retired Justice Bernard Harwood said they were supporting Stuart. The GOP primary pits Parker, a longtime ally of former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, against Stuart, who took over Moore’s duties when Moore was suspended from the bench. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey later appointed Stuart as Moore’s replacement. The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Bob Vance in November. Reprinted with permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama GOP steering committee disqualifies votes for Jim Bonner for PSC
Alabama Republicans say they won’t certify the votes of a statewide candidate who’s come under scrutiny for what the party calls “egregious” comments. The decision announced Thursday means Jim Bonner, who’s running for the utility-regulating Public Service Commission, won’t get the party’s nomination even if he’s the leading vote-getter in Tuesday’s primary. The two-time delegate to the Republican National Convention is trying to unseat incumbent Jeremy Oden. But he’s made comments on social media and radio that could be offensive to women, blacks, Jews and Muslims. The party censured Bonner this week, and it took a further step after a meeting by saying it won’t consider his votes in the election. Bonner says his public comments are being taken out of context, and he’s appealing the decision to the party. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
