Steve Flowers: Marshall County and Enterprise emerging as Alabama political breeding grounds
Over the years, certain counties in Alabama have bred an inordinate number of governors and state political leaders. The three most prominent enclaves historically have been Tuscaloosa, Barbour, and Cullman. In the earlier years of statehood, Tuscaloosa was the most heralded county. They have continued, intermittently, throughout the years. The most prominent senator in Alabama history, Richard Shelby, who retired after 36 years in the Senate, calls Tuscaloosa home. Indeed, the state capital was in Tuscaloosa one time in the early years. They have had a fairly recent governor in Dr. Robert Bentley. Barbour County is called the “Home of Governors,” and for a good reason. They have had more governors than any county in state history. This sparsely populated Black Belt county has had six governors hail from there. George Wallace is, of course, the most prominent Barbour County Governor, but they also have Chauncy Sparks, John Gill Shorter, William Jelks, Braxton Bragg Comer, and Jere Beasley. Barbour County and Tuscaloosa both claim Lurleen Wallace. She was born and raised in Northport in Tuscaloosa County but married George Wallace and moved to Barbour County. This split county claim of governors also applies to legendary Governor James “Big Jim” Folsom. Big Jim was born and raised in Coffee County near Elba but moved to Cullman as a young man. So, Cullman gets bragging rights since he lived in Cullman when he was first elected in 1946. Cullman has indeed come on strong in the past few decades. They have had two governors in recent years, Jim Folsom Jr. and Guy Hunt. Today, we have two counties emerging as hotbeds for breeding state political leaders. Coffee County is percolating with political success. More particularly the growing City of Enterprise. Our new U.S. Senator, Katie Boyd Britt, was born and raised in Enterprise. She is only 40. The Congressman from the second district, Barry Moore, is from Enterprise although Dothan, Montgomery, and Elmore County have more population in that Congressional District. Moore is only 56. A rising popular star in the State House of Representatives, Rhett Marquis, 48, is from the Boll Weevil City. Enterprise is the home of the new state senator from that southeast Alabama hub. Josh Carnley just took the seat of retiring legend Jimmy Holley, thus keeping that seat in Coffee County. Carnley is a Coffee County farmer and insurance broker. Enterprise has a very good Mayor in William “Bill” Cooper. He has been in city politics for a good while. Coffee County also dominates all the judicial posts in this circuit. All three circuit judges hail from Coffee County in Enterprise. Sonny Reagan, Jeff Kelley, and Shannon Clark are all relatively young. The new District Attorney, James Tarbox, is very young. Jimmy Baker, who is Chancellor of the Alabama Community College System, hails from Coffee County and lives in Enterprise. Enterprise has always laid claim to Ft. Rucker, which has been the impetus of their growth, but they are emerging as a political powerhouse. The other county that is set to be called an Alabama political spawning ground powerhouse is Marshall County. They currently have a cadre of the state’s most powerful and promising Alabama leaders. The most prominent is 41-year-old Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth, who may be our next governor. State Senator Clay Scofield of Marshall County is only 42 and is Majority Leader of the State Senate. Attorney General Steve Marshall, 57, is in his second term as Attorney General. It is rare that two of the state’s highest-ranking officials, Will Ainsworth and Steve Marshall, are both from the same county. There are two rising stars in the Alabama House of Representatives from Marshall County. Young Wes Kitchens, an emerging leader in the House, is from Marshall. Also, the youngest member of the House of Representatives, Brock Colvin, has just been elected at the ripe old age of 26 and is catching people’s eyes on Goat Hill. Enterprise and Marshall County are emerging as new political breeding grounds for Alabama politicians. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Governor Kay Ivey, second governor from Wilcox County
Kay Ivey is doing a good job as governor. She is a strong and decisive leader who has done more than steady the ship of state. She is getting things done. She is making her mark as a good governor. She did a good day’s work when she got Jo Bonner to be her Chief of Staff. They make quite a team. This duo from Wilcox County are cut out to be leaders. Kay Ivey is only the second governor to hail from Wilcox County. Benjamin M. Miller was the first. The Black Belt region of Alabama has spawned an inordinate number of governors and legislative giants. The Bonner family has deep roots of leadership in Wilcox County. Bonner served in Congress with distinction for over a decade. His sister, Judy, was president of the University of Alabama. His father was Probate Judge of Wilcox County. He was related to the late, great State Senator, Roland Cooper, who was referred to as the “Wiley Fox from Wilcox.” Bonner’s grandfather practiced law with Governor Benjamin Miller, and they were related by marriage. Benjamin M. Miller was probably one of the most conservative men to ever be Governor of Alabama. Miller served as governor during the worst years of the Great Depression (1931-1935). He was a large, bespectacled, dignified man who had a long legal career before and after his term as Governor. B.M. Miller epitomized the governors of that era. From 1901 through 1946, Alabama’s governors were wealthy men. They were rich Birmingham corporate lawyers or businessmen, or Black Belt planter lawyers like Miller. Some would say that the Big Mules of Birmingham and the Black Belt planters would meet in a board room in Birmingham at either a big bank or U.S. Steel’s offices and get together and decide who they were going to back for governor. They would select someone at that meeting and pool their money and pay for their man’s race. Many times, the man selected was so wealthy that he could self-finance their own race. In some cases, they would buy off some rabble-rouser who wanted to run against their anointed candidate. They would pay him to get out of the race. It would actually save them money to practice this theory. They were wise, smart, prudent businessmen. Two of the Bourbon Governors of this era, Braxton Bragg Comer (1907-1911) and Charles Henderson (1915-1919), were concurrently also the richest men in the State while they were governor. Comer owned most of the textile mills in the state, and Henderson owned a good many corporations, banks, and a utility. Most of these governors, as well as Miller, were anti-Ku Klux Klanners. Miller’s opposition to the Klan, like that of other wealthy white supremacists, had very little to do with racial liberalism but more to do with maintaining political power. This planter-industrialist coalition of which Miller belonged rejected the Klan because it represented a threat to their power over poorer whites who were members of the Klan. These Bourbon planter-industrialists governors were vehemently anti-union, as might be expected. Governor B.M. Miller was also similar to wealthy men of that era. They were very frugal, even miserly as some would say, and they felt the State government should be frugal like them. Miller would actually campaign on his personal frugality as a virtue. He was not embarrassed at all when it became known that he still used oil lamps to save money instead of electricity on his Wilcox County plantation. Governor Miller’s parsimony became one of the hallmark aspects of his administration. His inaugural parade featured only two automobiles in order to conserve gasoline, and he brought his favorite cow to the Capitol from Wilcox County to provide the governor’s mansion with milk and butter. Since he was governor during the Great Depression, he accordingly cut State government spending dramatically. Miller eliminated hundreds of state jobs, as well as the use of state automobiles. Governor Miller was indeed a very conservative, Bourbon, Black Belt governor. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Historically black school renames hall honoring KKK leader
A historically black university in Alabama has renamed a dormitory that honored a one-time governor who also led a Ku Klux Klan chapter nearly a century ago. Workers at Alabama State University removed the name “Bibb Graves” from a residence hall on Wednesday. The building had carried Graves’ name since 1928, when he served as the head of a state government that constitutionally mandated white supremacy. At least two other state schools also have renamed campus buildings that honored Graves, who was known as a pro-education, progressive governor despite leading a KKK chapter in the capital city. Klan membership was so large at the time that politicians used connections in the racist terror group to win votes. Alabama State President Quinton T. Ross Jr. said the idea of replacing the building’s name had been discussed at least as far back as when he was a student at the school, located a few miles from the Alabama Capitol. “Many of our alumni have asked for this to happen,” he said in a statement. Alabama State trustees voted to rename the building earlier this year during the national discussion generated by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The school has yet to decide on a new name for the residence hall. Troy University has renamed its Bibb Graves Hall for the late Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights icon who grew up near campus and died earlier this year. The University of Montevallo, near Birmingham, voted to rename buildings honoring Graves and Braxton Bragg Comer, who worked to maintain remnants of the old plantation system as governor. Graves served two four-year terms as governor beginning in 1927 and 1935. He resigned from the Klan and denounced its violence in the late 1920s, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
