Alabama Democrat Party: Chaos has returned
The Alabama Democrat Party has had its share of turmoil in the past several years. Now the most recent event is happening just before this year’s mid-term Election Day. In August, Randy Kelley was elected chair of the Alabama Democratic Party in a victory for longtime powerbroker Joe Reed, who lost a battle over control three years ago. Kelley won with 104 votes out of the 202 cast by members of the state Democratic Executive Committee. Kelley is a former vice-chair of the party but lost the position during the 2019 power struggle when the Democratic National Committee ordered new elections. The change of power is not going as smoothly as planned. Randy Kelly sent out a letter expressing frustration with Vice-Chair Tabitha Isner and her refusal to recognize the results of the election. Isner has been public about her disapproval of the way Kelley is working, or not working. This follows the return of what many call the “old guard” of the party. This ongoing struggle has split the party’s executive committee into two factions. On one side is a reform group whose actions have been approved by the Democratic National Committee. On the other side are members aligned with the former chair, the late Nancy Worley and Joe Reed. Reed loyalists claimed victory winning control of the party with Kelley. Chaos has ensued. Scott Buttram wrote on Twitter, “Just when you thought the Alabama Democrats couldn’t possibly be any more dysfunctional, they rise to the occasion. Watching the @aldemocrats operate is like watching a dead body stab itself.” Even progressive AL.com columnist Kyle Whitmire wrote a column mocking the sad state of affairs. Whitmire wrote, “This is a column about the Alabama Democratic Party not holding Republicans accountable. Nor doing much of anything else. Zilch. Diddly squat.” It is worth noting, that the Alabama Democrat Party, in the 32 days since that story was published, has managed to update its website. We will follow the internal conflict of the party.
Steve Flowers: Buck’s Pocket
For decades, losing political candidates in Alabama have been exiled to “Buck’s Pocket.” It is uncertain when or how the colloquialism began, but political insiders have used this terminology for at least 60 years. Alabama author the late Winston Groom, wrote a colorful allegorical novel about Alabama politics in the 1960s and referred to a defeated gubernatorial candidate having to go to Buck’s Pocket. Most observers credit Big Jim Folsom with creating the term. He would refer to the pilgrimage and ultimate arrival of his opponents to the political purgatory reserved for losing gubernatorial candidates. Which brings me to another contention surrounding Buck’s Pocket. Many argue that Buck’s Pocket is reserved for losing candidates in the governor’s race. Others say Buck’s Pocket is the proverbial graveyard for all losing candidates in Alabama. One thing that Winston Groom clarified is that once you are sent to Buck’s Pocket, you eat poke salad for every meal. It is not certain whether Big Jim or Groom began the poke salad myth. Once you are sent to Buck’s Pocket, Groom suggested you were relegated to the rural resting place forever. However, history has proven that a good many defeated Alabama politicians have risen from the grave and left Buck’s Pocket to live another day. Most folks do not know that there really is a Buck’s Pocket. Big Jim was the first gubernatorial aspirant to hail from North Alabama in the twentieth century. He was the first one to campaign extensively in rural North Alabama, often one-on-one on county roads. One day while stumping in the remote Sand Mountain area of Dekalb County, he wound up in an area he referred to as Buck’s Pocket. It was a beautiful and pristine area, but it was sure enough back in the woods. Big Jim, who loved the country and loved country folks, was said to say, “I love the country, but I sure wouldn’t want to be sent to Buck’s Pocket to live.” Buck’s Pocket is no longer a mythical place. If you are traveling up the interstate past Gadsden on the way to Chattanooga, you will see it. There is a Buck’s Pocket State Park in Dekalb County, thanks to Big Jim. So next time you hear an old timer refer to a defeated candidate as going to Buck’s Pocket, you will know what they are talking about. After the primary runoffs, Auburn City Councilman Jay Hovey was declared the winner of the State Senate District 27 race. He won the senate seat by one vote. Folks, the old saying that one vote makes a difference is not just an adage. It is nearly impossible to defeat an incumbent state senator, especially one who has served two terms and amassed an enormous war chest. Jay Hovey was outspent by the incumbent Tom Whatley $1.2 million to $96,000 – an unbelievable more than 12-1 advantage. The district includes Lee, Tallapoosa, and Russell counties. However, most of the votes are in Lee County. Hovey ran like a scalded dog through Auburn and Lee County. Obviously, he and his wife, Anna, are well thought of in Auburn, Opelika, and Lee County. Home folks know you best. He will make a good senator for that important part of the state. Elmore County Circuit Judge Bill Lewis is a bright star on the judicial political horizon. Judge Lewis has been on the bench for six years. His Circuit includes Elmore, Autauga, and Chilton counties. Judge Bill Lewis could wind up on the State Supreme Court one day if he had not plucked earlier for a federal district judge spot by a Republican president. He is 43 and sharp. The state Democratic Party has elected Randy Kelley, a Huntsville minister, as Chairman, and Tabitha Isner, a Montgomery political activist, as Vice-Chairman. They were the choices of the five-decade king of Democratic politics, Joe Reed. The Alabama Republican Party right-wing hierarchy has passed a resolution asking the legislature to have a closed private primary. It is doubtful that the legislature will give credence to the group’s wishes. It would disenfranchise over half of the Republican-leaning voters in the state and shoot the Republican Party in the foot. It would also discriminate against black voters in the state and, if passed, would never withstand Justice Department approval under the Voting Rights Act. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. Steve served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Randy Kelley elected chair of Alabama Democratic Party
Randy Kelley was elected chair of the Alabama Democratic Party on Saturday in a victory for longtime powerbroker Joe Reed, who lost a battle over control three years ago. Kelley won with 104 votes out of the 202 cast by members of the state Democratic Executive Committee. Kelley is a former vice-chair of the party but lost the position during the 2019 power struggle when the Democratic National Committee ordered new elections. “I personally know we are more in line with what Jesus stood for. He was for the least of these, and our opposition is for the most wealthy of these,” Kelley, a minister from Huntsville, told the gathered Democrats after winning the election. Kelley narrowly escaped a runoff that would have been required if no candidate captured more than 50% of the vote. Kelley defeated former congressional candidate Tabitha Isner and Josh Coleman, the president of Alabama Young Democrats. Coleman received 56 votes. Isner received 42 votes. Isner was later elected vice-chair of the party. State Rep. Chris England, who had served as party chair since the 2019 power struggle, did not seek another term as chair. Kelley’s election was a victory for Reed, who had supported former chair Nancy Worley and Kelley in the 2019 power struggle. Reed, chairman of the Alabama Democratic Conference, the state’s oldest Black political organization, had backed lawsuits that challenged bylaw changes that led to England’s election. Both of the state’s two major political parties met over the weekend. The governing body of the Alabama Republican Party passed a resolution urging the Alabama Legislature to approve closed primaries that require voters to register with a political party in order to vote in that party’s primary. Currently, Alabama has open primaries. The GOP also passed a resolution condemning the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s residence as harassment and a federal overreach. The FBI recovered “top secret” and even more sensitive documents from Trump’s home, according to court papers released Friday. Republished with the permissionof The Associated Press.
Judge Greg Griffin won’t recuse in Alabama Democratic Party dispute
An judge on Thursday refused to step aside in a lawsuit over who is in control of the Alabama Democratic Party as one side of the dispute pushed for the case to be dismissed. Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin said he won’t recuse in the lawsuit brought by longtime chair Nancy Worley. Defendants had asked Griffin to step aside because of longstanding ties to party officer Joe Reed, who supports Worley. Griffin did not elaborate on his reasons in the one-page order. Both Worley and state Rep. Chris England say they are the properly elected party chair. Worley and Vice-Chair Randy Kelley had filed the lawsuit to try to block the Nov. 2 meeting where England was elected. They argue his election is illegitimate. Barry Ragsdale, an attorney representing England and other defendants, said the issue of control has been settled since England and new vice-chair Patricia Todd have been elected. National party officials recognize their election, he said. “Worley and Kelley desperately want to ignore those overwhelming decisions by the ADP and cling to the twilight of their days in power,” attorneys for defendants in the case wrote. The Democratic National Committee has certified England and Todd as the new state party leaders, according to the motion to dismiss the lawsuit. DNC Chairman Tom Perez sent England and Todd a letter congratulating them on their elections. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Representative Chris England elected new Alabama Democratic chair; infighting continues
An Alabama state representative was elected chair of the Alabama Democratic Party on Saturday after months of in-house bickering about the party’s leadership. But the election may not settle the ongoing battle between two factions of the party over governance and leadership, as the previously elected chair said she would not step down. Rep. Christopher England, of Tuscaloosa, received 104 of 171 ballots cast at the meeting of the State Democratic Executive Committee, the state party’s governing body, The Montgomery Advertiser reported. “Elected officials had to stand in the gap and create the platform the party did not have,” England said before the vote. “You’ve seen me stand for the issues that matter to us.” The vote came after the approximately 175 members of the SDEC voted 172 to 0 to remove Chair Nancy Worley and Vice-Chair Randy Kelley. After the vote, Worley said she was reelected in 2018 and she intends to continue leading the party. “The true SDEC members did not elect two new officers in our places today,” Worley said in a statement. “Randy and I look forward to continuing our leadership roles.” But the meeting represented a win for a group of Democrats opposed to Worley, who has chaired the state Democratic Party since 2013, and the Democratic National Committee, which ordered the state party in February to hold new elections and revise its bylaws to provide greater diversity on the SDEC. England, 43, a city attorney for Tuscaloosa, has served in the Alabama Legislature since 2006. He has been at the forefront of attempts to change the leadership and direction of the party and pledged before the vote to work to “leave no stone unturned” in rebuilding the party. He promised to rebuild local county organizations and staff up the state party. “As we kick the old folks out, the new folks are coming in,” he said. “We want to seize on that energy. We’re going to raise money, money like you’ve never seen.” Former Rep. Patricia Todd, Democrat-Birmingham, was elected vice-chair. Worley has previously accused the DNC of sending contradictory instructions and of trying to dilute the strength of African American voters in the party. The DNC said Worley missed deadlines and was nonresponsive to instructions. Without the orders implemented, the DNC refused to ratify the state’s delegate selection plan and warned that inaction by the state party could prevent Alabama from being seated at next year’s Democratic National Convention. That would effectively invalidate votes cast in next March’s Democratic presidential primary. A group of SDEC members, backed by U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, drafted a new set of bylaws that were approved by the DNC in September. The members then got a majority of the SDEC to vote to hold a meeting to ratify those bylaws on Oct. 5. At that meeting, the members set leadership elections for Nov. 2. Worley proceeded with her own meeting on Oct. 12, which ratified a second set of bylaws — not approved by the DNC — and set elections for Nov. 16. On Wednesday, Worley and Kelly sued to stop the meeting of the Democrats. Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin blocked the meeting in a decision late Friday, ruling that it would cause “chaos and confusion.” But the Alabama Supreme Court stayed the order about two hours later, allowing the gathering to proceed. The new party bylaws preserve the Minority Caucus to nominate African Americans to the SDEC. But they also create new caucuses to nominate Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, LGBTQ individuals, youth and those with disabilities. Approximately 68 people were seated from the youth, Hispanic, Native American and Asian/Pacific Islander caucuses on Saturday. Information from: Montgomery Advertiser, http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama Democratic Party faces new election deadline
The Alabama Democratic Party faces an October deadline to hold new leadership elections and update bylaws as some members push to get the state organization back into compliance with the national party. The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee on Friday approved proposed bylaws submitted by several members of the state party’s executive committee, including Democratic legislative leaders. The group made the submission on their own in an attempt to break through a stalemate that threatens Alabama Democrats’ ability to participate in next year’s DNC convention. National party officials wrote in a Saturday letter that the state party’s executive committee has until Oct. 5 to approve the bylaws and until Oct. 19 to hold internal elections. “It is essential that new bylaws and elections occur immediately to resolve this long ongoing problem as we head into key elections in 2020 and a time when all Democrats and all state parties need to be fully integrated and involved in what we need to do to win,” national party officials wrote. The deadline is the latest twist in the ongoing dispute between Alabama and national party officials. In February, the Democratic National Committee ordered the Alabama party to hold new elections for party leaders and to revise bylaws to provide representation of more minorities — not just African Americans — in the party. National party officials found multiple procedural irregularities with the election of Chair Nancy Worley and Vice Chair Randy Kelley. Last month, Worley and Kelley were stripped of their seats on the DNC because of missed deadlines to hold the new elections and get new bylaws approved. Worley did not immediately return text messages seeking comment. A DNC panel said previously that it won’t approve the state’s delegate selection plan until the state party holds new leadership elections under properly approved bylaws. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Nancy Worley could lose DNC credential after missed deadlines
Alabama Democratic party leaders will lose their seats on the Democratic National Committee after the state party twice missed deadlines for new leadership elections, under a recommendation made Thursday. The DNC’s credentials committee recommended revoking the credentials of Alabama Chairwoman Nancy Worley and Vice-Chair Randy Kelley. The full DNC will have to approve the recommendation on Saturday, but typically accepts the recommendations. Worley and Kelley would stay in their state roles, but won’t have a seat on the DNC. National party officials in February ordered new elections after finding procedural irregularities with Worley’s and Kelley’s election last year. Party officials also ordered the state party to develop an affirmative action plan and revise bylaws to provide representation of more minorities — not just African Americans. Committee member Harold Ickes, who helped lead the negotiations between the state and DNC, said the state party has “stalled this process.” “This has been sort of a textbook example of delay, delay, delay, delay. We’re mystified by it,” Ickes said. Worley said the challenge was filed by people unhappy with her election and suggested it was an effort to minimize the influence of African Americans. Worley said there is a “special circle in hell that is going to be as hot as it can be” for people who try to strip black voters of their voting rights, and told members they will need water, “cause you are going to be burning in hell for taking away people’s voting rights.” A committee member responded that the party takes its commitment to diversity seriously and that this came about because of the “flagrant irregularities” in Worley’s election last year. There have been calls for new party leadership after internal disagreement over management and decisions. Democrats for a decade have lost all statewide elections in Alabama with the exception of the 2017 election of U.S. Sen. Doug Jones. He is the only Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama.
DNC orders Alabama Democratic Party to hold new election for chair, vice chair
The Alabama Democratic Party has 90 days to hold an election for its chairman and vice chairman positions. That’s according to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which has vacated the state party’s 2018 officer elections following a vote by the credentials committee on Thursday afternoon. Current Party Chair Nancy Worley and her Vice Chair Randy Kelley will also be allowed to continue serving in their respective roles until the election, which will be overseen by the DNC, takes places. The DNC’s decisions follows an evidentiary hearing held Monday regarding two complaints lodged against the 2018 officer elections. “With (Worley) and (Kelley) presiding over the meeting,” one complaint read. “The elections were conducted in a sloppy and haphazard manner that was easily susceptible to manipulation. The elections were deliberately manipulated in order to favor Worley, Kelley and all other incumbent SDEC officers.” Worley had won re-election in August by a narrow margin of 101-89 against a challenger who was backed by U.S. Sen. Doug Jones. According to the AP, one challenge alleges that, while these 190 votes were recorded only 142 state committee members signed in to the meeting.
