Alabama Supreme Court gives go ahead for execution by nitrogen hypoxia
Ralph Chapoco, Alabama Reflector Alabama is one step closer to becoming the first state to execute someone by nitrogen hypoxia. In a 6-2 decision handed down Wednesday, the Alabama Supreme Court allowed the state to proceed with the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith, convicted of the 1988 murder of Elizabeth Sennett, under that method. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement Wednesday that Sennett’s family had “waited an unconscionable 35 years to see justice served.” “Though the wait has been far too long, I am grateful that our talented capital litigators have nearly gotten this case to the finish line,” the statement said. Chief Justice Tom Parker and Associate Justice Greg Cook dissented but gave no additional comment. Nitrogen hypoxia has never been used on a human being as a means of execution, and professional veterinary associations have discouraged its use in the euthanization of animals. Smith’s attorneys said in a statement Thursday that they were disappointed in the decision and would continue to work through the judicial process. Smith currently has an appeal pending with the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals claiming that attempting to execute him a second time violates his constitutional rights. “It is noteworthy that two justices dissented from this Order,” wrote Robert Grass, an attorney for Smith. “Like the eleven jurors who did not believe Mr. Smith should be executed, we remain hopeful that those who review this case will see that a second attempt to execute Mr. Smith – this time with an experimental, never-before-used method and with a protocol that has never been fully disclosed to him or his counsel – is unwarranted and unjust.” The order gives the Alabama Department of Corrections the authority to carry out Smith’s execution within the time frame set by Gov. Kay Ivey, which cannot happen less than 30 days from Wednesday, when the court published its decision. The Attorney General’s Office filed a motion with the Alabama Supreme Court back in August, requesting the court set a date for Smith’s execution. Smith’s attorneys requested the court reject the state’s motion in September, stating that nitrogen hypoxia has not been tested and only recently released the protocol for using that method of execution. A jury convicted Smith in 1996 in the plot to murder Sennett and voted to sentence him to life without the possibility of parole. The judge in the case overrode the jury recommendation and sentenced Smith to death. Alabama abolished judicial override in 2017, the last state in the country to do so. But the rule was not made retroactive. In May the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision that allowed him to select his method of execution, in this case is death by nitrogen hypoxia. The high court turned down the appeal by the Alabama Department of Corrections, which argued that Smith was pursuing a delaying tactic. Smith was scheduled to be executed in November following the botched executions of Joe Nathan James Jr. and Alan Miller. However, his execution was called off after ADOC staff repeatedly failed to secure a vein to carry out the execution. Smith’s attorneys wrote in a brief last January that he “continues to experience physical and emotional pain, including lingering pain in his arm, near his collarbone, back spasms, difficulty sleeping, and likely post-traumatic stress disorder” from the failed execution. Death through nitrogen hypoxia became an available method for executing people on death row after the Legislature passed a bill sponsored by Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, allowing its use. He said that the method was more humane than lethal injection. Doctors and medical ethicists have criticized those claims. “Last year, after Alabama tortured multiple people in botched executions using lethal injection, we encouraged the state to pursue an independent evaluation of its execution protocols,” said Alison Mollman, interim legal director of the ACLU of Alabama. “Governor Ivey and the Alabama Department of Corrections failed to complete an independent review and instead insisted the problem was not having enough time to kill someone. Now, at the urging of Attorney General Steve Marshall, Alabama is rushing to put a man to death with an untested, unproven, and never-before-used method of execution. As Alabama races to experiment on incarcerated people with nitrogen gas, they put the lives of correctional staff, spiritual advisers, the media, and victims at risk by potentially exposing them to an odorless and lethal gas. Using this method has no benefit on public safety. Governor Ivey and Attorney General Marshall have a responsibility to stop the execution of Mr. Smith.” The Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit that students and collects data on the death penalty, criticized Alabama’s move toward nitrogen executions in a statement on Thursday. “No state has ever used nitrogen in an execution, and there are still too many unanswered questions for Alabama officials to responsibly move forward with this protocol,” the statement said. “Mr. Smith has already endured one botched execution; he should not now face another attempt that carries this much risk and uncertainty.” Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Follow Alabama Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
Alabama describes proposed nitrogen gas execution; seeks to become first state to carry it out
Alabama’s proposed procedures to carry out executions with nitrogen gas include fitting a mask over the inmate’s face and replacing their breathing air with nitrogen until their heart stops. The state described the procedures for the proposed new execution method in a redacted court filing. Alabama is seeking to become the first state to execute a prisoner using nitrogen. Nitrogen hypoxia has been authorized as an execution method in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi, but no state has used the method to carry out a death sentence. Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air inhaled by humans and is harmless when inhaled with proper levels of oxygen. Under the proposed execution method of nitrogen hypoxia, an inmate would be forced to breathe only nitrogen, depriving them of oxygen needed to maintain bodily functions and causing them to die. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on Friday asked the Alabama Supreme Court to set an execution date for Kenneth Smith, 58, using nitrogen hypoxia as the method of execution. The attorney general’s office included a redacted copy of the protocol in a court filing asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Smith. Smith, in seeking to block the state’s second attempt to execute him by lethal injection, had argued that nitrogen should be available. According to the protocol, the inmate would be escorted into the execution chamber, now used for lethal injections, placed on the gurney, and have a mask fitted over their face. The warden would then read the death warrant and give the inmate a chance to give a final statement up to two minutes long. Execution team members would then make a final inspection of the mask. The warden, from another room, would then “activate the nitrogen hypoxia system.” “After the nitrogen gas is introduced, it will be administered for 15 minutes or five minutes following a flatline indication on the EKG, whichever is longer,” the procedures stated. If Alabama carries out an execution by nitrogen, it will be the first new execution method since lethal injection was introduced in the 1970s. Deborah Denno, a death penalty expert at Fordham Law School, said that unlike lethal injection and electrocution, which have been used for decades, “experts could only speculate about how a state might conduct a nitrogen hypoxia execution.” She said the filed Alabama protocol does not provide answers because of its vagueness and heavy redactions. “This is a vague, sloppy, dangerous, and unjustifiably deficient protocol made all the more incomprehensible by heavy redaction in the most important places,” Denno wrote in an email. John Palombi, an attorney representing several death row inmates, said, “It will be difficult to fully analyze this protocol until a far less redacted version is made available.” “This is a complex procedure, and we have every right to be concerned when the Department of Corrections is not transparent about it, particularly when they have had such a bad track record recently,” Palombi wrote in an email. Alabama attempted to execute Smith by lethal injection last year, but called off the execution because of problems inserting an IV into his veins. It was the state’s second such instance within two months of being unable to put an inmate to death and its third since 2018. The day after Smith’s aborted execution, Gov. Kay Ivey announced a pause on executions to conduct an internal review of lethal injection procedures. The state resumed lethal injections last month. Alabama lawmakers approved nitrogen hypoxia as an alternate execution method in 2018 as death penalty states faced difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs and ongoing litigation challenging the humaneness of lethal injection. “It’s readily available. It’s 78% of the air we breathe, and it will be a lot more humane to carry out a death sentence,” Trip Pittman, the former Alabama state senator who proposed the new execution method, said. Pittman said the inmate will pass out — similar to how aircraft passengers pass out when a plane depressurizes — and then die. Pittman disputed criticism that the method is experimental. He said that while no state has carried out a death sentence with nitrogen, people have died by breathing nitrogen during industrial accidents and suicide attempts, so the effects are known. Smith was one of two men convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett. The other man convicted in the killing was executed in 2010. Charles Sennett, the victim’s husband and a Church of Christ pastor, killed himself when the investigation began to focus on him as a possible suspect, according to court documents. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Alabama wants executions by nitrogen hypoxia: What is it?
Alabama told a federal judge that it could soon be ready to use a new, untried execution method called nitrogen hypoxia to carry out a death sentence. The disclosure came Monday at a court hearing over inmate Alan Miller’s request to block his scheduled September 22 execution by lethal injection. Miller maintains that prison staff lost paperwork he returned in 2018 requesting nitrogen hypoxia, an execution method that the state has authorized but never used. U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker Jr. asked whether Alabama was ready to carry out executions by nitrogen hypoxia. James Houts, a deputy state attorney general, said the method could be available as soon as next week. He said, however, that a final decision on when to use the new method would be up to Corrections Commissioner John Hamm. The Alabama Department of Corrections did not respond to an email seeking comment about the status of the proposed new execution method. Here is what is known about nitrogen hypoxia: WHAT IS NITROGEN HYPOXIA? Nitrogen hypoxia is a proposed execution method in which death would be caused by forcing the inmate to breathe only nitrogen, thereby depriving him or her of the oxygen needed to maintain bodily functions. HAS IT EVER BEEN USED? No. No state has used nitrogen hypoxia to carry out a death sentence. In 2018 Alabama became the third state — along with Oklahoma and Mississippi — to authorize the untested use of nitrogen gas to execute prisoners. However, lethal injection remains the state’s primary execution method. HOW IS IT SUPPOSED TO WORK? Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air inhaled by humans and is harmless when inhaled with oxygen. The theory behind the execution method is that changing the composition of the air to 100% nitrogen would cause the inmate to pass out and then die from lack of oxygen. WHY DID STATES PROPOSE THE NEW METHOD? States began proposing nitrogen hypoxia as an alternate execution method because of difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs and ongoing litigation over the humaneness of lethal injection. Proponents have theorized that nitrogen hypoxia would be a simpler and more humane execution method. Then-Sen. Trip Pittman, a Republican lawmaker who sponsored the 2018 legislation, theorized it would be similar to how aircraft passengers pass out when a plane depressurizes. WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS? Critics have likened the untested method to human experimentation. “It is completely untested,” said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. No state has publicly released a protocol describing how it would work. While proponents have theorized it would be quick and painless, Dunham noted that states once said the same thing about the electric chair. The American Veterinary Medical Association’s euthanasia guidelines say inert gas hypoxia is acceptable, under certain conditions, for the euthanasia of chickens, turkeys, and pigs but is not recommended for other mammals such as rats. HOW WOULD ALABAMA CARRY OUT AN EXECUTION BY NITROGEN HYPOXIA? Unknown. The state has released little information about the proposed method. Most of the available information has come from court proceedings. The Alabama Department of Corrections told a federal judge last year that it had completed a “system” to use nitrogen gas but did not describe it. During a September 11 court hearing, a lawyer for the state said they asked Miller if he would agree to be fitted with a mask, an indication that the state may intend to place a face mask over the inmates’ nose and mouth. WHAT’S HAPPENING IN OTHER STATES? Oklahoma, which in 2015 was the first state to approve the use of nitrogen gas for use in executions, has not finalized plans to use it. The state has resumed lethal injections. Department of Corrections emails obtained by The Associated Press show the agency’s former deputy chief of operations reached out to a manufacturer of reduced oxygen breathing units used to help train pilots on the signs and symptoms of hypoxia. The president of the company responded that she didn’t believe executions would be an appropriate use of the product and that she had concerns about potential liability. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Alabama is working on finalizing a protocol for using nitrogen hypoxia, Houts told the judge. The steps must be added to the existing state protocol that describes the procedures for an execution using the electric chair or lethal injection. He said Alabama’s prison commissioner has the final decision on when to allow its use. Litigation is expected if the state decides to go forward with the method. Lethal injection will remain the primary execution method in Alabama. However, when Alabama authorized nitrogen hypoxia in 2018, state law gave inmates a brief window to select it as their preferred execution method. A number of inmates selected nitrogen. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Lethal injection or gas? Alabama’s death row gets to choose
Some say inhaling nitrogen gas would be like dying on a plane that depressurizes in flight, swiftly killing all aboard. Now more than a quarter of Alabama’s death row inmates have signed statements saying they would prefer that gas over lethal injection or the electric chair when facing execution. No inmate in the U.S. has been put to death with nitrogen gas before, and critics suspect at least some inmates are simply hoping to delay a date with the death chamber through the inevitable legal challenges ahead. State corrections officials say 51 of Alabama’s 180 inmates have chosen nitrogen hypoxia, allowed a choice after Alabama lawmakers voted this year to authorize that alternative execution method. With difficulties obtaining execution drugs and litigation arising over claims of botched and horribly painful chemical injections this decade, Alabama is not alone as it joins Oklahoma and Mississippi in exploring that as a potential alternative. John Palombi, an attorney with the Federal Defenders Program, said his group advised inmates to request the uncertainties of nitrogen gas over what he called the known “torture” of Alabama’s three-drug cocktail. They had a June 30 deadline to make a choice. “Our decision to have our clients opt into use of nitrogen hypoxia was based on our belief that a three drug lethal injection protocol … is torturous and has tortured our clients,” Palombi wrote in an email, citing last year’s execution of Torrey McNabb and Ronald Smith Jr.’s the year before. While being sedated in the death chamber for the 1994 killing of a convenience store clerk, Smith coughed and heaved repeatedly for 13 minutes. His attorneys witnessed the execution and said his movements showed he was “not anesthetized at any point during the agonizingly long procedure.” Lawyers for McNabb said his final moments were inhumanely painful as he rolled his head back and forth while being executed for a police officer’s 1997 slaying. State officials disputed that anything went wrong either time. Bob Horton of the Alabama Department of Corrections gave no time estimate for when the alternative method would be ready. But the spokesman assured in an email that the department “will have a protocol in place before the state carries out executions by nitrogen.” Republican state Sen. Trip Pittman, sponsor of Alabama’s legislation, believes nitrogen will prove more humane. He spoke of how aircraft passengers have passed out and died from a sudden plane depressurization. While nitrogen gas isn’t itself poisonous, anyone breathing it without breathing oxygen will lose consciousness and die from lack of oxygen. “The person will pass out and ultimately pass,” said Pittman. Much of what is known about death by nitrogen comes from research, industrial accidents and suicides. It’s not even clear how nitrogen would be delivered, whether via some type of mask or breathing apparatus. “This is entirely experimental,” said Randall Marshall, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama. “It is the epitome of cruel and usual punish because it is experimenting on human beings.” State Sen. Cam Ward said he thinks some inmates signed for nitrogen gas because lengthy challenges are foreseen. “Some of them, not all of them, are probably litigating this to avoid the death penalty,” said Ward, who chairs Alabama’s legislative committee that oversees state prisons. But he added other inmates probably believe inhaling nitrogen gas could be a better way to die: “I think they’ve seen stories of where the three-drug cocktail lethal injection has failed and there’s that fear of it being a botched process as opposed to nitrogen.” In neighboring Mississippi, officials have authorized nitrogen hypoxia for executions in the event lethal injection is held unconstitutional or becomes “unavailable.” No actual plans to begin using gas have been announced, however, and the state hasn’t executed anyone since 2012, partly because a legal challenge to its lethal injection procedure continues. Elsewhere, Oklahoma officials announced in March that the state will develop protocols to use nitrogen gas to execute inmates because of the problems obtaining lethal injection drugs. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said at the time that, “we can no longer sit on the sidelines and wait on the drugs.” Litigation over Alabama’s lethal injection method ended as the inmates opted for nitrogen. Alabama last month agreed to dismiss a lawsuit challenging lethal injection as cruel and unusual punishment because the eight inmate plaintiffs in the case had opted for nitrogen gas. The claims challenging the state’s lethal injection process as inhumane are now moot, “because their executions will be carried out at the appropriate time by nitrogen hypoxia,” attorneys wrote in a motion to the court. However, Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said he expects litigation over the use of nitrogen gas. He said Oklahoma’s execution process is currently subject to a federal court order. He noted that Alabama prisoners who selected nitrogen didn’t relinquish rights to challenge nitrogen gas or any other execution method. “Execution by nitrogen hypoxia has never been tried before and there are different potential dangers … I think it is highly likely that there will be challenges,” Dunham said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
State House passes school security funding bill
A bill that would allow Alabama schools to use reserve money from an education savings fund for school security passed the State House on Thursday. Lawmakers voted 96-4 in favor of SB323 sponsored by Montrose-Republican state Sen. Trip Pittman. which specifically would amend the Education Trust Fund Rolling Reserve Act to allow funds in the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund to be used to cover the costs of school security. The legislation returns to the Senate with amendments, if passed it expected to be signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey who announced her support for the bill earlier this month. “Ensuring safety in our schools is a bipartisan issue, and we must do all we can to prevent violence and be sure we are ready to respond in the event such violence does occur,” Ivey said.
State Senate votes against term limits for lawmakers
According to a poll commissioned by the organization and conducted by McLaughlin and Associates 84% of Alabamians want term limits placed on Members of Congress, but only nine state senators voted to bring a term limits bill to the floor for debate on Wednesday. State Sens. Bill Hightower, Trip Pittman, Paul Sanford, Bill Holtzclaw, Greg Reed, Larry Stutts, Phil Williams, Rusty Glover and Arthur Orr voted in favor of bringing SB127 to the floor for debate. But the bill failed a procedural motion, 9-15, to do so. “Today’s decision by Montgomery Insiders to vote against legislative term limits legislation epitomizes why Alabama voters are so frustrated with their state government,” said the bill’s sponsor, Mobile-Republican state Senator, and candidate for Governor, Bill Hightower. “More than four in five Alabama voters believe we need term limits, but career politicians understand this is a threat to their personal ambition and power. This morning the Montgomery Insiders put cronyism and smoke-filled backroom deals above the people they are supposed to represent.” SB127 would have proposed an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama that would provide that no person may be elected to either house of the state Legislature for more than three consecutive four-year terms. Currently, most other constitutional offices in Alabama have term or age limits. Hightower’s term limits legislation is a key component of his gubernatorial platform — the Alabama First Agenda, which is focused on reforming the way Montgomery operates. “We will not stop until we end the old boys network that is stopping real change!,” Hightower continued. “We will never change Montgomery if we continue to elect the same insiders, and that is why I am running for Governor, to shake up the establishment and bring positive change to Alabama. As Governor, we will continue to push for term limits and many other reforms that the career politicians know will end their grip on power,” concluded Hightower. Most all of the senators who voted in favor of bringing SB127 up for debate, are all self-term limited: Sen. Bill Hightower: self term limited after 2 terms Sen. Trip Pittman: self term limited after 3 terms Sen. Paul Sanford: self term limited after 3 terms Sen. Bill Holtzclaw: self term limited after 2 terms Sen. Phil Williams: self term limited after 2 terms Sen. Rusty Glover: self term limited after 3 terms
Alabama Senate approves General Fund budget, prison funding boost
The Alabama Senate on Tuesday passed a $2 billion FY19 General Fund budget. Senators voted 26 to 2 for the budget that appropriates funds for functions of government, debt service, and capital outlay for fiscal year ending September 30, 2019. Answering Gov. Kay Ivey‘s January request, the budget allocates a $3.2 million increase to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) to fund a new class of 30 state troopers. It also provides an $8 million increase for the Department of Mental Health, as well a a $4.7 million increase for the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA). “This budget protects the taxpayers of Alabama, while ensuring that the core functions of state government are adequately funded,” said Montrose-Republican and the bill’s sponsor, State Senator Trip Pittman, Chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation Budget Committee. “We have prioritized targeted increases for state troopers, prisons, and the Department of Public Health, and level-funded nearly every other state department and agency.” The spending plan also sends an additional $51 million to the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC). The allocation of funds follow U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruling last year to a federal lawsuit, which declared Alabama’s prison system has failed to provide mental health care to the state’s prison population and is in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. “Given the severity and urgency of the need for mental-health care explained in this opinion, the proposed relief must be both immediate and long term,”U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson wrote in his 302-page decision. Anniston-Republican and Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh said it’s a good budget that lives within Alabama’s fiscal means without raising taxes. “This is a good general fund budget, we were able to fully fund state agencies, hire new state troopers, provide much needed money to address mental health in our prisons, and pay back debt to the Alabama Trust Fund,” said Marsh. “Although the past few budgets have been lean, through conservative fiscal practices and living within our means we have been able to come out of those years and pass a robust budget without having ever raised new taxes on hard working Alabamians.” The bill now moves to the state House of Representatives for consideration.
Tripp Pittman introduces Kay Ivey’s General Fund budget in Ala. Senate
On Tuesday, Montrose-Republican and Finance and Taxation General Fund Chairman, State Sen. Trip Pittman introduced Governor Kay Ivey’s proposed General Fund budget in the Senate. SB178, otherwise known as the proposed budget, appropriates funds for functions of government, debt service, and capital outlay for fiscal year ending September 30, 2019. According to the Governor’s office, the it does so “sensibly” and “funds state government with prudence and care.” Ivey applauded Pittman’s introduction of the budget. “I am pleased to learn that my budget was introduced today by Senator Pittman,” Ivey said. “My proposed budget is a strong, manageable budget, and is highlighted by the bright spot of a lower than expected Medicaid appropriation. Improving Medicaid delivery and controlling costs is central to my budget; that is why I instructed Commissioner Stephanie Azar in October 2017, to begin working on implementing work requirements and increased copays for Medicaid recipients. That process has been ongoing, and I look forward to future implementation of those policies.” Recent changes by the Trump Administration, have enabled states, like Alabama, to seek Medicaid work requirements. After instructing Commissioner Azar to implement work requirements and increased copays for applicable Medicaid recipients, the governor notified Pittman of the new policies shortly thereafter. The governor’s instructions are aimed at continuing to increase efficiency and decrease costs related to Medicaid, all in an effort to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. “Since my meeting with Governor Ivey in October, we have been working hard to prepare for this change and ensure our recipients will continue to receive an adequate level of care,” said Commissioner Azar. “Last week, during my testimony to the General Fund Budget Committee, I illustrated how the work requirements and the copay increases will benefit the Alabama Medicaid Agency. Thanks to the improved economy and continued efforts to seek efficiency and decrease cost in the program, Medicaid is requesting less money than expected. We are certainly moving in the right direction to take care of the Alabamians that depend on our services.” The General Fund Budget is expected to start making its way through the legislative process, beginning in the Senate Committee on Finance and Taxation General Fund this week.
Steve Flowers: The only poll that counts
Folks we are getting down to the proverbial lick log in the much-anticipated vote for the open U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions. After 20 years in the U.S. Senate as our junior U.S. Senator, Sessions left to become Donald Trump’s Attorney General. He probably regrets this decision. When the race began it looked like a Roy Moore versus Luther Strange race. However, the third outside horse emerged about a month ago. Tennessee Valley Congressman, Mo Brooks, got a $2 million bump from the shooting he endured while a member of the Republican baseball team. He seized the moment and Mo’s momentum gave him the “Big Mo.” About three weeks ago it looked like a three man race between Moore, Strange and Brooks. However, the Washington beltway consultants, pollsters, and media experts supporting Strange poured a ton of money into stopping Mo’s momentum with negative ads designed to thwart his catching Luther and ousting him from the runoff. Recent polls indicate that it has worked. The latest polls indicate a one-two finish between Moore and Strange. Strange’s Washington pollsters tout that he may finish in first place ahead of Moore. Money talks and it is the mother’s milk of politics. State Senator Trip Pittman will do better than some experts expect. Watch for him to get a good hometown vote in Mobile and Baldwin counties. Moore’s support has never diminished. It consistently hovers around 30 percent, even with his inability to raise or spend much money. On the other hand, Luther Strange’s supporters have spent $3 – $5 million. The Bentley appointment has been a tremendous albatross for Luther. Turnout is critical. Luther Strange would benefit from a large turnout among upscale Jefferson/Shelby metro voters. Mo Brooks hopes may ride on a large turnout in the Tennessee Valley. Strange’s and Moore’s odds are enhanced by the short window that the race was run. Strange’s chances have been boosted by the endorsement of Alfa. This conservative group’s endorsement carries a lot of weight. When Luther took the tainted nomination from Robert Bentley six months ago, he was told that he would have two years before he would run. Under that scenario, his bet that a ton of money would be all he would need to keep the seat was a good bet. However, when Governor Kay Ivey changed that election to this year the scenario changed dramatically. If Luther were running in 2018 there would be 60 races on the ballot with a record 300 names to choose from. The average voter, who could not care less who the junior U.S. Senator is anyway, will also be voting for State Senator, State Representative, Sheriff, Probate Judge, Circuit Judge, District Judge, five seats on the state Supreme Court, along with a spirited Chief Justice contest, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Agriculture Commissioner, an open contested Attorney General race, an open contested Lt. Governor’s race, and one of the most crowded Governor’s races in state history that may well attract 10 viable candidates. The millions spent to elect Luther Strange would have been overwhelming. Folks would have walked into the booth and voted for the only name they knew. However, this is the only race in town. The people who show up to vote will know the score. With the election being Aug. 15 and it being the only race, there will be a low turnout. Also, any money spent on negative attacks will generally drive down the voter turnout. All indications point to a low voter turnout, which helps Moore. He began with 30 percent and they have not gone anywhere. His 30 percent will vote and the lower the turnout, the higher percentage that 30 percent becomes. Moore’s folks will not be at the lake or beach or deterred by the August heat. They are ardent and they will vote. Remember a poll is a picture of the total electorate. The final poll and the one that counts is the count of votes of those who actually show up to vote Tuesday. We will see. ___ 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.
Senate Leadership Fund email slams Mo Brooks for Tuesday radio interview
It looks like Senate candidate and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks isn’t being ignored by his Republican Primary opponents just yet. A super PAC controlled by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell again attacked Brooks in a Tuesday email, just one week before Alabamians are set to vote on the GOP nominee to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the senate. “Career Congressman Mo Brooks has been in the Washington swamp for so long that he’s looking down at Alabamans (sic) as ignorant rubes,” the Senate Leadership Fund email said. “Brooks called Alabama voters ‘relatively uninformed’ and ‘easy to deceive’ this morning on The Dale Jackson Show. “ The email continued along similar lines that the political committee and its preferred candidate, sitting Sen. Luther Strange, have leveled against the CD 5 Republican for weeks: He isn’t supportive enough of President Donald Trump. “Was Brooks trying to target ‘easy to deceive’ Alabama voters when he tried passing a check written to the Alabama GOP as a check written to Donald Trump? Did he think Alabama voters were ‘relatively uninformed’ when he claimed to support Donald Trump’s border wall despite originally opposing it and taking free trips to China funded by NYC pro-amnesty groups? Is that why he tried telling Alabama voters he voted with Trump on ‘every single’ bill despite having the 10th lowest percentage of voting with President Trump of any Republican Member of Congress?” The email then links to a recording of Brooks radio appearance on YouTube. During the segment, Brooks and host Dale Jackson discussed the “never Trump” attacks on his senate campaign, to which Jackson said, “I don’t understand why that attack seems to be making sense.” “While a lot of people are relatively uninformed, they don’t know the truth, they’re easy to deceive, the party regulars — people who have been through this before — who take a little bit more time to get beyond the 30-second ad and actually do the research to try to determine who’s telling the truth and who’s not, they’re not being deceived at all,” Brooks responded. Brooks and Strange are running in a crowded special Republican Primary for Sessions’ old seat, with former Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore rounding out the top tier of candidates. Strange and Moore are jockeying for the top spot in the nine-way race, with a recent poll showing Moore with 31-29 lead over Strage. The same poll showed Brooks with 18 percent support, followed by state Sen. Trip Pittman with 8 percent and Alabama Christian Coalition president Randy Brinson with 2 percent. Eleven percent were undecided. Unless one of the candidates can secure a majority of the vote in the Aug. 15 primary, Alabamians will have to decide between the top two vote getters in a Sept. 26 runoff. The general election is slated for December 12.
Mo Brooks gets ‘worst sign of all’ in Senate primary – ignored by opponents
As Oscar Wilde once said, “There’s only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” Struggling for relevance in next week’s Alabama GOP Senate primary, Congressman Mo Brooks is beginning to appreciate what Wilde was saying. After a month of battling criticism from supporters of sitting Sen. Luther Strange, the Huntsville Republican is receiving what POLITICO reporter Daniel Strauss calls the “worst sign of all” … attacks against him are beginning to slow down. Strange and the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC connected to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are now turning most of their negative advertising to attack former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in advance of Tuesday’s primary. It is a clear sign that Brooks’ “outspent, insurgent campaign” may have stalled against candidates with better name recognition. “I’ve seen a number of polls, and every poll I’ve seen has Luther leading Roy Moore by between 3 and 5 points. Mo at one time was up to about 20 [percent],” Perry Hooper, former co-chairman of the Alabama Trump campaign (and a Strange supporter) told POLITICO. “The last I’ve seen has him at 15, 16 [percent]. I guess anything can happen, but the trend looks like people like what Luther has been doing.” Indeed, the Montgomery Advertiser reported Friday on a most recent poll of 426 likely Republican voters, with Moore hanging onto a narrow lead over Strange, 31 percent to 29 percent. The race for first place was within the poll’s 5 percent margin of error. Brooks came in third at 18 percent; state Sen. Trip Pittman of Baldwin County received 8 percent, and Alabama Christian Coalition president Randy Brinson took 2 percent. Eleven percent are undecided. Other Republican candidates on the ballot include Dr. James Beretta, Joseph Breault, Mary Maxwell and Bryan Peeples. The race will most likely result in a Sept. 26 runoff between the two top vote-getters, since it appears that neither Strange nor Moore will receive a majority. The last day for Alabama voters to apply for an absentee ballot for the primary is Thursday.
Mo Brooks hits back on Luther Strange’s ‘deceptive attacks’ in Senate primary
Mo Brooks is hitting back on the recent wave of “deceptive attacks” from opponents in the Alabama’s U.S. Senate race. Brooks’ new ad is the latest push on Sen. Luther Strange over who is the true Donald Trump supporter in the increasingly heated midsummer Alabama Senate primary to serve the rest of Attorney General Jeff Session’s term. The 30-second “Support Trump,” which launched Tuesday, reaffirms his “strong support” of Trump’s agenda, touting he voted with the president “95 percent of the time in Congress.” Strange — who has enjoyed support from the Senate Leadership Fund, linked to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — has leveled waves of negative hits on Brooks, trying to paint the four-term Huntsville Republican congressman as a tepid (at best) Trump supporter and even a “closet liberal.” “There’s only one ‘Never Trumper’ in this race: Luther Strange,” said Brooks, a member of the House Freedom Caucus. “I supported President Trump in 2016 and wrote a $2,500 check to help him win. Luther never endorsed Trump, never donated and is now helping Mitch McConnell block the America First Agenda in the Senate.” “So, who are you going to believe: Mitch McConnell and Luther Strange?” he asks. With a “proven conservative” record, Brooks finishes his ad with a list of endorsements from leading “conservative thought leaders” such as Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and Ann Coulter. Strange and Brooks are locked in a contentious primary battle, part of a nine-person GOP field that includes former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. All three are running for a place in the race’s staunch conservative lane in a state that overwhelmingly supported Trump in 2016. Other Republican candidates in the race include Dr. James Beretta, Joseph Breault, Alabama Christian Coalition president Randy Brinson, Mary Maxwell, Bryan Peeples and state Sen. Trip Pittman of Baldwin County. As for who will ultimately represent Alabama, voters have less than two weeks to decide before the Aug. 15 Republican and Democratic primaries. The last day to apply for an absentee ballot is Aug. 10. If there is no primary winner — with 50 percent plus one — a runoff is Sept. 26; the general election is Dec. 12. “Support Trump” is now available on YouTube.
