GOP primary race for Alabama Senate seat turns bitter
Alabama’s Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby has become a bitter high-dollar contest with the three strongest contenders jockeying for the nomination. The leading candidates are U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, who won — and then lost — former President Donald Trump’s backing in the race; Katie Boyd Britt, the former leader of Business Council of Alabama and Shelby’s former chief of staff; and Mike Durant, an aerospace company owner best known as the helicopter pilot whose capture during a U.S. military mission in Somalia was chronicled in the “Black Hawk Down” book and subsequent movie. Lillie Boddie, Karla M. Dupriest, and Jake Schafer are also seeking the GOP nomination. Observers say it’s hard to predict whether the nomination will be settled in Tuesday’s primary. The fractured field increases the chances that the race will go to a June 21 runoff, which is required unless one candidate captures more than 50% of Tuesday’s vote. David Mowery, an Alabama-based political consultant, said the race has an up-for-grabs feel. “It’s anybody’s guess as to who’s in first and who’s in second in the runoff,” he said. As for the barrage of negative campaign ads in the primary’s closing days, Mowery said: “The gloves have come off.” The Alabama race is one of several bitterly contested GOP primaries for open Senate seats. Retirements also sparked heated races this season in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and in Ohio. Trump further scrambled the Alabama race this spring when he rescinded his endorsement of Brooks. Both Britt and Durant have courted Trump’s nod, but he has so far stayed out of the Alabama race. “We look at this country and don’t recognize it right now. Unfortunately, under the Biden administration, every single thing in this nation is moving in the wrong direction,” Britt said during a speech to the Republican Women of East Alabama. Before leading the Business Council, Britt served as chief of staff to Shelby, one of the Senate’s most senior members and a traditional Republican known for his ability to bring home federal projects and funding to his home state. But in speeches Britt, running under a slogan of Alabama First, has leaned away from her hefty Washington resume. She said it’s important voters get to know her and the kind of senator she will be. Her experience, she said, gave her an opportunity to understand how the Senate works. “I can hit the ground running on day one. And for me, Alabama First is not just a slogan. It’s a mission,” she said. Brooks, a six-term congressman from north Alabama, is banking on his long history with Alabama voters to overcome his feud with Trump. “If you’re a conservative Republican, I would submit to you that I’m the only proven conservative in this race. With me, there is no rolling the dice to determine how I’m going to go on major public policy issues,” Brooks said, urging people to look up his ratings from the National Rifle Association, Heritage Action, and other groups. Despite losing Trump’s backing, he continues to run as “MAGA Mo,” invoking Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan, and his campaign website continues to include old video footage of Trump praising the north Alabama congressman. Trump initially endorsed Brooks last year, rewarding the conservative firebrand who whipped up a crowd of Trump supporters at the January 6, 2021 “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the U.S. Capitol insurrection. “Today is the day that American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass,” Brooks said. But Trump withdrew the endorsement in March after their relationship soured. Trump cites Brooks’ languishing performance and accused the conservative congressman of going “woke” for saying it was time to move on from the 2020 presidential outcome and focus on upcoming elections. Brooks said Trump was trying to get him to illegally rescind the election. Trump has not made a new endorsement in the race. Both Durant and Britt have maintained they are the superior choice for Trump’s backing if the race goes to a runoff. At a speech in Phenix City, a town in the shadow of the U.S. Army’s Fort Benning, Durant pitched himself as the outsider in the race. He began a speech by describing his combat service — which included not just Somalia but Desert Storm and missions in Panama — and then working in the defense industry and founding an aerospace company. “I’m not a politician,” Durant said. “That is what people are tired of. That’s why people want outsiders. That is why people want straight shooters.” Durant said his military experience separates him from those in Washington who “don’t know what they’re talking about” when discussing deploying troops. “This is serious business. We don’t deploy troops, we don’t get in skirmishes, we don’t try to do nation-building unless we truly understand the commitment that we’re about to make, not only financially, but the lives of young men and women, our national credibility, all those things that are on the line.” Durant, a helicopter pilot who was held prisoner after being shot down, is seeking the endorsement of Trump, who once disputed that Sen. John McCain was a war hero because he was held as a POW. “I like people that weren’t captured,” Trump said in 2015. Asked about that, Durant said he thought the divisions between the two were “based on politics, not based on service.” Both Britt and Brooks have criticized Durant for “dodging debates” after his campaign declined three separate dates offered by the Alabama Republican Party. Durant said he is willing to debate but could not make it fit his schedule. Outside groups have pumped more than $20 million into the race to either support or oppose one of the frontrunners. The Super PACS have been responsible for many of the attack ads in the race. Alabama Patriots PAC spent $4 million to support Durant after receiving money from America’s Project, a Virginia-based PAC associated with Jacob Harriman,
Donald Trump action scrambles Alabama Senate primary
Former President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw his endorsement of U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks has scrambled the Alabama Republican primary for Senate, leaving the two other frontrunners, Katie Boyd Britt and Mike Durant, competing for his nod. Britt is a former head of a state business group with impressive fundraising totals, while Durant is a businessman best known as the helicopter pilot who was shot down and held prisoner in the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” incident in Somalia. “The big question is what happens now,” said David Mowery, an Alabama-based political consultant. If Trump endorses one over the other, it would be a significant boost to their campaign, he said. “It puts Durant or Britt in a position to potentially win without a runoff. … So, the question for those two really is, ‘Who is going to get it?’” Mowery said. Both Britt and Durant have met with Trump recently, and both bill themselves as the natural heir to the endorsement. “Absolutely, we’d be thrilled to earn President Trump’s endorsement. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to meet with and talk with President Trump a few times about our race,” Britt said in a statement as she blasted President Joe Biden and said, “Alabamians miss President Trump’s strength and America First leadership.” Durant, in a statement, said he told Trump Monday that he is “the clear America first candidate in this race.” “Other candidates have refused to even mention President Trump, but I have proudly carried the America First banner in this race and always will. I’ve got the momentum to beat the career politicians and send another Trump conservative to Washington,” Durant said. The GOP primary in the conservative state will likely decide who succeeds GOP Sen. Richard Shelby, who’s retiring. Unless one candidate captures over 50% of the vote in the May 24 primary, the top two finishers will go to a June 21 runoff. Britt served as chief of staff to Shelby, one of the Senate’s most senior members, but has leaned away from her Washington resume in recent campaign stops. Speaking to an Anniston GOP group, she did not mention Shelby’s name, instead focusing on her roots in small-town Alabama, working in her family’s hardware store and lobbing criticisms at Biden. Britt said it is important that voters know her separate from Shelby. Durant has largely run an under-the-radar campaign with fewer media appearances. Brooks is a conservative firebrand who supports Trump’s false 2020 election fraud claims. Brooks whipped up a crowd of Trump supporters at the January 6, 2021, rally that preceded the U.S. Capitol insurrection, and voted against certifying President Joe Biden’s win. But Trump rescinded his endorsement earlier this week, citing Brooks’ languishing performance in the race and Brooks’ jeer-inducing words at an Alabama rally that it was time to “look forward” from “the voter fraud election theft in 2020” and focus on the next election cycle. Brooks has said he has not changed at all, and he accused Trump of dropping him for rebuffing the former president’s entreaties to help overturn the 2020 election. He maintains that Trump’s change of heart will not doom his Senate bid and that his chances remain “pretty good” to win the nomination. Ann Eubank, a longtime fixture in Alabama GOP politics and Brooks supporter, said Wednesday that she had been inundated with text messages from people upset about Trump’s decision to walk away from Brooks. “I think you are going to have two camps. There is going to be a camp of conservatives that are furious that Trump has abandoned the conservative in the race and then of course those who are going to vote for whatever Trump tells them to do,” Eubank of Hoover said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
GOP firebrand Mo Brooks enters Senate race
U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, a conservative firebrand and staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump who has come under fire for remarks he made preceding the attack on the U.S. Capitol, joined the Alabama GOP primary field on Monday to replace Sen. Richard Shelby. The north Alabama Republican announced his entry into the race at an event with former Trump adviser Stephen Miller. He joins former Trump ambassador Lynda Blanchard in a Republican primary field that is expected to attract a number of other hopefuls. “America’s status as the greatest nation in world history is at risk. And it’s at risk from those within our country,” Brooks told people packed into a meeting hall of a gun range in the northern city of Huntsville. Later, he added, “We are a beacon of freedom and liberty for the world, and we need to stay that way.” Miller was an influential force in pushing Trump’s efforts to curb immigration. He engineered the former president’s Muslim travel ban and was widely viewed as the driving force behind the Trump administration’s hardest-line immigration policies. “Nobody has had President Trump’s back more over the last four years than Mo Brooks. Now I need you to have his back,” Miller said as he introduced Brooks. Brooks, 66, has come under fire for telling the rally that preceded the Capitol riot that it was time to “start taking down names and kicking ass.” Brooks said the phrase was intended to fire up the crowd for the next election cycle and is being misconstrued as advocating the violence that followed. Shelby announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection in 2022, igniting what is expected to be a messy GOP primary at a time when the national Republican Party is trying to chart a direction following Trump’s departure. Brooks has served five terms in the House, where the former prosecutor joined the conservative Freedom Caucus. He serves on the Armed Services Committee and Science, Space, and Technology, two important committees for his north Alabama district. “America cannot afford senators who cower in their foxholes,” Brooks said. He added, “As President Trump can vouch, I don’t cut and run. I stand strong when the going gets tough.” Republican hopefuls in a state where Trump won 62% of the vote are expected to try to convince primary voters they are the rightful banner carriers for the Trump agenda. But some observers worry the race could crown a far-right nominee to replace one of the Senate’s most senior leaders with a deep establishment ties. Republican former Rep. Bradley Byrne of Alabama said the winner of the GOP primary will likely be whoever can convince voters they are the best heir to Trump and his “Make America Great Again” agenda. “They are going to be very conservative. They are going to be the most genuine, most effective carrier of the Trump/MAGA flame,” Byrne said. David Mowery, an Alabama-based political consultant, said support for Trump is “the table stakes” — a requirement to get in the game for Republicans seeking office in Alabama. However, Mowery said he thinks there is trepidation among establishment Republicans. While Shelby amassed a far-right conservative voting record, he never embraced the bombastic, populist style that has propelled Republicans like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. “I think people are worried that you are going to get someone that’s more concerned about throwing bombs and seeing their name in the paper then you are somebody who does what Shelby does and that is bring home the bacon and make sure Alabama is taken care of in every spending bill,” Mowery said. Others sometimes mentioned as potential candidates are Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill and Shelby’s former chief of staff, Katie Boyd Britt, who now heads an influential business lobby. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama senator Richard Shelby has indicated he won’t run again
U.S. Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the Senate’s fourth most senior member, has told confidants that he does not intend to run for reelection next year_— prompting some Republicans to urge the powerful, establishment politician to reconsider, even as potential replacements prepare to run for his seat. The senator in recent weeks told one close Alabama ally that he was not planning on running in 2022 for what would be his seventh term, according to the ally, who was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The person said some in the state were still trying to get Shelby to change his mind out of concern about losing clout and worries that the senator might be replaced by a fringe candidate who would not be as effective. Shelby spokeswoman Blair Taylor said Friday that the senator has not made a decision, “but there will likely be an announcement forthcoming in the next few weeks.” “As I previously stated, the Senator has not made a decision or an announcement regarding whether or not he plans to run in 2022. Any speculation is just that, speculation,” Taylor wrote in an email Friday. A titan of Alabama politics, the 86-year-old politician has spent 42 years in Washington, serving first in the House before the Senate. His stepping down would leave a power void for the region. It would also set off a free-for-all primary in a national party deeply divided between traditional Republicans like Shelby and those who model themselves on former President Donald Trump. Shelby was elected to the Senate in 1986 as a conservative Democrat during the party’s waning days of power in the Deep South, but he switched to the GOP in 1994. He’s spent the past two years as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee before Democrats gained control of the chamber. All along, he has used his influence to benefit the state’s interests, particularly ports and military manufacturers. He played a key role in bringing an FBI campus and the newly announced Space Command to Huntsville. “I don’t know anybody who knows how to wield power like Shelby does,” said David Mowery, an Alabama-based political consultant. “I would say that is his greatest accomplishment, to get money allocated to the state for many different projects,” former Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead said. Alabama’s political circles have long braced for a Shelby retirement. Armistead said the senator told him during his 2016 bid for reelection that it was his last campaign, but Armistead added the caveat that, “Things change.” Several months ago, Shelby told a group of business leaders at a private meeting that he would retire rather than run again, according to a person in attendance who was not authorized to discuss the event and also spoke on condition of anonymity. A list of potential GOP replacements is waiting in the wings. Possible candidates include Shelby’s former chief of staff, Katie Boyd Britt, who now heads an influential business lobby and who would likely have the senator’s backing if she decided to enter the race. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, who suspended his 2020 Senate campaign when former Attorney General Jeff Sessions jumped in the race, said he would consider a run. Rep. Mo Brooks is also expected to eye the seat. Brooks has faced criticism for his role in the Jan. 6 siege at the U.S. Capitol. At a rally before the deadly riot, he told the crowd it was time for “taking down names and kicking ass,” but has maintained since that he was talking about fighting at the ballot box. Brooks declined to comment. Britt did not immediately respond to a text message and a message on social media. Shelby could use his power to give his preferred successor a boost. The senator has gone much of his career without serious opposition and has nearly $10 million in campaign money that he could throw toward his candidate of choice. Still, the GOP primary could serve as a microcosm of the larger national tug of war over the direction of the Republican Party. While Shelby has amassed a conservative voting record, the measured Republican senator has not embraced the bombastic populist style of Trump and Trump-like candidates. “I think it would be a total free-for-all,” said Mowery. Shelby was one of the last of the “old style-Southern politicians who saw as their main job as to steer as much of the federal budget to the state, instead of jumping on the hot-button issue of the day,” Mowery said. In 2017, Shelby bucked his party when he announced that he could not support Republican Roy Moore, who faced sexual misconduct allegations, in the special election for Alabama’s other Senate seat. “You’ll have a lot of candidates that will try to be as loud or as dumb as possible because they think that is what plays to 50% or more of the Republican electorate — not realizing that’s not how you get things done in Washington,” Mowery said. Some prominent state figures are still hoping that Shelby will reconsider. “I hope he will run again. I don’t think there is anyone who has meant more to the state of Alabama in that position in my lifetime,” former Gov. Bob Riley said. ___ This story has been edited to correct that Bill Armistead is the former chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Record Democratic turnout not enough for Jones in Alabama
Alabama U.S. Sen. Doug Jones received more than 200,000 more votes this year than he did when he won the seat three years ago. But despite record Democratic turnout, it wasn’t nearly enough in the deeply red state as Republican former college football coach Tommy Tuberville racked up huge margins to handily defeat Jones and Democrats’ hopes of maintaining inroads in the Deep South state this year. Jones, who was considered the Senate’s most endangered Democrat, topped former President Barack Obama’s 2008 record for most votes for a Democratic candidate in Alabama, state Democratic Party Executive Director Wade Perry said. Yet huge GOP numbers pushed the incumbent down to just 40% of the overall vote. Tuberville made fealty to President Donald Trump the central pillar of his campaign and told voters at a campaign stop that, “God sent us and elected Donald Trump.” Boosted by GOP enthusiasm, straight-ticket voting, and fame from his coaching days at Auburn University, Tuberville won about 60% of ballots, running about two percentage points behind Trump in the state. “Alabama, welcome back to the Republican U.S. Senate,” Tuberville shouted after taking the stage to loud cheers at his election night party in downtown Montgomery. “I am going to fight like heck against Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi,” he said. “I will be guided by our shared values, conservative values and I will always vote with the majority of people in the state of Alabama.” Tuberville’s victory followed a campaign where Tuberville shunned most media outlets in favor of conservative talk radio and he declined to debate Jones. Jones, a former U.S. attorney best known for prosecuting Ku Klux Klansmen responsible for Birmingham’s infamous 1963 church bombing, became the first Alabama Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in a quarter-century when he won in 2017. His victory was aided by scandal after Republican Roy Moore, already a controversial figure in the state, faced allegations of sexual misconduct from decades earlier. Some Republicans in the state sat out that race or supported Jones. Republicans were eager to portray Jones’ 2017 win as an anomaly, and hammered at Jones over a handful of votes, including the Democrat’s decision to convict Trump during the impeachment trial. “He will be the perfect example in political science classes around this nation of how to lose a U.S. Senate seat with $15 million dollars because you ignored the will of the majority of the people. It will be a short class,” Alabama Republican Party Chairwoman Terry Lathan said of Jones. Jones, despite outspending Tuberville 4-1, lost by a wide margin. “There’s nothing else we could have done. It was a record Democratic turnout, exceeded only by a record Republican turnout,” Alabama Democratic Party Executive Director Wade Perry said Wednesday. “We’ve got two years to do a better job. We’ve got some work to do,” Perry said. “I’m proud of Alabama Democrats and very proud of our staff. We worked very hard and had a record turnout. It just wasn’t enough.” David Mowery, an Alabama-based political consultant, said “Republican DNA is hard-baked into the state” making it a difficult path for any Democrat, even a well-funded one. He said Alabama does not have the growing suburban populations that have helped turn some southern states into battlegrounds. “We’re a Republican state and the only thing that can change that is a big-league scandal and a known bad actor like Roy Moore,” Mowery said. Although he was denied a full term in the Senate, Jones said there was work to continue. “At the end of the day, my time in the Senate is going to be over, but our time is just beginning, our time to make our state so much better than what it has been, to make sure we continue the march of progress,” Jones said as he stood with his family on stage. Jones said he did not regret the votes, such as impeachment and opposing Trump’s Supreme Court nominee — which fueled conservative outrage against him — because he said those were votes he took on principle. Ahead of Tuesday, Jones had acknowledged he faced an uphill battle to keep the seat in a campaign that seemed as much about laying groundwork for the future. He helped install new leadership at the Alabama Democratic Party. The senator also lamented a political environment that has moved to partisan rancor and away from bipartisanship. “The Senate doesn’t have that kind of deliberative spirit anymore,” he said. “There’s a lot more friendliness and bipartisanship that goes on behind the scenes that folks don’t see, but it needs to be on the floor of the Senate, it needs to be in front of the cameras, it needs to be where people can see these great debates on policy, and on issues, and how you can find that common ground.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Senate race shapes up to be a contentious slugfest
After pulling off one improbable victory, Jones is not ceding his chances of another in a race setting up to be both pricey and combative.
Jeff Sessions vies for Senate comeback in race shadowed by Donald Trump
The president weighed in again Saturday on Twitter, calling Tuberville “a winner who will never let you down.”
