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.
Roundup of Mike Hubbard ethics trial coverage from this week
Another week another round of hearings and motions in the long-running ethics trial of Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, we thought we’d check out coverage and provide you some links in case you missed the latest headlines and editorials. Hubbard’s lawyer has again filed for a continuance in the case – already delayed for a year and a half – this time because his attorney Mark White has had the “unprecedented privilege and honor” of being named dean of the American Academy of Trial Lawyers and is scheduled to speak to the group in Washington. Former deputy attorney general Sonny Reagan also made headlines by appearing at a pretrial hearing to help Hubbard clear his name, arguing Hubbard should not be held accountable because prosecutors had a vendetta against him. Lots going on here, as you can read on AL.com: Speechless: Lawyer wants to delay Hubbard trial again — to give a speech Hubbard prosecutors object to postponement of trial for lawyer to receive award Mike Hubbard hearings wrap up; both sides claim good week Former deputy AG questioned about conversations with Hubbard associates Prosecutor an angry blowhard? The best nuggets from rich corruption hearing Or in the Montgomery Advertiser: Hearing in Mike Hubbard case turns focus on prosecutors Hubbard hearing on prosecutorial misconduct ends Former Deputy AG: Prosecutor wanted to ‘ruin’ Hubbard Hubbard hearing on prosecutorial misconduct ends Or here on Alabama Today via the AP: Judge to hear Mike Hubbard motions to dismiss ethics case Former deputy AG testifies for Mike Hubbard defense Or on Alabama Political Reporter: Hubbard hearing concludes without fireworks Behind Closed Doors in Lee County as Hearing Concludes Statement from Deputy Attorney General Matt Hart Former Ethics Chief: Hubbard Without Ethics Protection No New Evidence Presented at Hubbard Hearing then there was this story on Yellow Hammer News: Former Alabama Deputy AG testifies that prosecutor wants to ‘ruin’ Hubbard politically We’ll continue to cover the trial as it moves forward.
Former deputy AG testifies for Mike Hubbard defense
A former deputy attorney general testified Monday that a prosecutor bragged he would ruin indicted House Speaker Mike Hubbard politically. Former Deputy Attorney General Sonny Reagan‘s testimony in Lee County Circuit Court was the start of a multi-day pretrial hearing as Hubbard looks to have the corruption case against him dropped. Hubbard faces 23 felony ethics charges accusing him of using his public positions to benefit his businesses. Hubbard has denied any wrongdoing. The Auburn Republican has alleged prejudicial prosecution and has said a 2010 ethics law that he supported is unconstitutional and being incorrectly applied in this case. Reagan spent nearly four hours testifying about the ways in which he found both prosecutor Matt Hart‘s remarks and his handling of grand jury proceedings prejudicial. During the defense’s questioning, Reagan told a judge that Hart was out to ruin Hubbard and made several threats against him during private discussions. “He said he would put a gun in his mouth with his hand on the trigger, show him the indictment and maybe he would plead guilty and resign,” Reagan said. Solicitor General Andrew Brasher suggested that Hart using gruff or suggestive language about the case with Reagan in private wasn’t necessarily an indication of bias since the two both have military backgrounds. Reagan resigned in December after he was accused of trying to undermine the investigation. Attorney General Luther Strange said Reagan communicated with people interested in stopping the probe and used as his personal attorneys two lawyers who were representing defendants. Reagan has denied those allegations. Prosecutors on Monday also presented court documents saying Reagan’s attorney sought to have the grand jury reviewing Hubbard’s case disbanded and advised him to use his Fifth Amendment right during portions of his own grand jury testimony. One of Hubbard’s defense attorneys, Mark White, said he was pleased with the first day of the hearing but declined to elaborate, citing pending testimony from additional witnesses. State prosecutors also are expected to continue questioning Reagan when the hearing resumes Tuesday. White said he also expects to call former Ethics Commission Executive Director Jim Sumner, and former Attorney General’s investigator Gene Sisson. Strange said Sisson helped Reagan secretly tape a conversation with the acting attorney general who was overseeing Hubbard’s case and later lied about losing the recorder. A state board recently upheld Sisson’s firing. The prosecutor, Hart, is also among 40 witnesses on Hubbard’s list. Judge Jacob Walker has said he will determine later whether the defense can take testimony from current Attorney General’s office employees. If so, he said that will be done via deposition. Hubbard’s case is scheduled to go to trial March 28. Prosecutors are objecting to defense efforts to delay the trial, which has already been postponed once. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
