As U.S. Rep. Mo. Brooks (R-Huntsville) appears set to announce a campaign for U.S. Senate, a dark money group from outside of Alabama is attacking him for his opposition to then-candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary.
A shadowy group called the American Exceptionalism Institute has hired trucks emblazoned with reminders of Brooks’ 2016 criticism of Trump to drive around Huntsville in recent days as Brooks is set to announce his Senate candidacy Monday evening.
“These attacks confirm I am in the lead, which is a good thing,” Brooks told Yellowhammer News on Monday. “These groups will lie and use under-handed tactics to try to cut into my lead. It goes with the turf. They won’t succeed.”
The American Exceptionalism Institute hides its donors from the public. It was incorporated in Columbus, Ohio, in 2018.
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U.S. Senate candidate Lynda Blanchard on Saturday evening held a fundraiser for her Republican campaign at Mar-a-Lago, the storied Florida resort owned by former President Donald J. Trump.
The fundraiser was not hosted by Trump, and he was not scheduled to attend.
However, as evidenced by pictures from the event obtained by Yellowhammer News, Trump did indeed stop by. While the resort functions as a private membership club, Trump also maintains his primary residence at Mar-a-Lago.
A source who attended the event estimated that more than 50 people attended the Blanchard fundraiser, including multiple fellow former Trump ambassadors. (more…)
The special election in Alabama House District 73 is shaping up to be a competitive one, with the March 30 primary date quickly approaching.
The safely Republican seat was vacated by former Rep. Matt Fridy’s (R-Montevallo) election to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. HD-73 represents portions of Shelby County. Governor Kay Ivey set the house district’s special election to align with the special election she previously set for Senate District 14, which encompasses parts of Shelby, Bibb, Chilton, Jefferson and Hale Counties.
The HD-73 GOP primary field is comprised of Joseph Daley, George Henry, Leigh Hulsey, Kenneth Paschal and Kerri Pate. (more…)
The newly formed Defend Our Values PAC’s (DOVPAC) first foray into a federal election is already making waves.
Based in Alabama, the super PAC was recently launched with one core mission: “winning a Republican Majority in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate.”
To that end, DOVPAC on Thursday announced its endorsement of Dr. Julia Letlow for Louisiana’s Fifth Congressional District. This congressional seat was vacated upon the tragic passing of her late husband, then Congressman-elect Luke Letlow.
Billy Taylor is the founder of DOVPAC. He was one of the largest donors to U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) successful 2020 campaign and is quickly becoming a must-have supporter in Alabama politics. Now, his influence is expanding outside the state. (more…)
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Lynda Blanchard on Friday announced she is launching an initial television advertising buy in her 2022 bid to succeed retiring Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL).
Blanchard, who was appointed by then-President Donald J. Trump in 2017 to serve as the ambassador to Slovenia, said in a written press release that she will begin airing her first TV spots of the cycle next week.
The initial ad buy is said to total $100,000 and will reportedly span three weeks, beginning March 11. The ads will appear around the state during game coverage of NCAA March Madness and on Fox News Channel.
Blanchard at this time is the only announced candidate in the race. She announced a personal investment of $5 million in the race when she made her campaign announcement. (more…)
MONTGOMERY — Rep. Kirk Hatcher (D-Montgomery) on Tuesday won the special general election in Senate District 26.
Hatcher defeated Republican nominee William Green by a 78%-22% margin. Green is a former Montgomery City Council member.
According to unofficial results provided by Montgomery County Probate Judge JC Love, 5,827 votes were cast in the contest, equating to a 6.71% turnout. (more…)
Dr. Seuss is under fire on his birthday.
March 2 is the anniversary of Dr. Seuss’ birth, as well as the annual Read Across America Day.
Started by the National Educational Association in 1998 as a way to promote children’s reading, the holiday is traditionally seen as being held in conjunction with Dr. Seuss’ birthday, although the two are technically distinct events.
However, President Joe Biden on Tuesday removed any mention of Dr. Seuss from his Read Across America Day proclamation amid accusations of “racial undertones” and derogatory imagery in the classic children’s books. (more…)
MONTGOMERY — U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) on Saturday addressed the 2021 Winter Meeting of the Alabama Republican Party.
He delivered an update on his first two months in office, decrying what Democratic-control of both legislative chambers and the executive branch means for the country.
Tuberville noted that between now and when he next is able to speak to the ALGOP during their August summer meeting, “[Y]ou’re going to be shocked what’s going to happen to this country.”
“And it’s already happening,” he continued. “Folks, we’re in trouble. But I’m speaking to the choir here. I’m speaking to the group that wants God in our schools, that wants to go with the Constitution, that wants to have small government. They are just the opposite. And now we gave them the reins and they’re going to build on that like you’ve never seen.” (more…)
MONTGOMERY — Mobile County’s John Skipper on Saturday defeated State Rep. Andrew Sorrell (R-Muscle Shoals) to become senior vice chairman of the Alabama Republican Party.
The election came during ALGOP’s 2021 Winter Meeting. Skipper fills the seat vacated by John Wahl’s ascension to chairman of the state party. (more…)
Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth (R-AL) on Friday announced he will not be a candidate in Alabama’s 2022 U.S. Senate contest.
The seat is being vacated by U.S. Senator Richard Shelby’s (R-AL) decision not to seek a seventh term.
Ainsworth, who is serving his first term as lieutenant governor, is the prohibitive favorite to be the Yellowhammer State’s next governor.
“After discussions with my wife, Kendall, and prayerful consideration, I have decided that I will not be a candidate for the U.S. Senate,” he wrote in a social media post. “Because our twin boys and daughter are young and need a father who is present and deeply involved in their lives, I feel strongly that God’s plan currently calls for me to continue leading on the state, not federal, level of government.” (more…)
The 2020 election cycle in Georgia, which saw the state go for Joe Biden in the presidential election and flip two U.S. Senate seats from red to blue, has some looking across the border to the west, wondering if the same thing is possible in Alabama.
With U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa) announcing he will not seek a seventh term in the U.S. Senate, there has been full-on speculation as to who might run for the seat on the Republican side. However, there seems to have been little discussion about who might lead the Democrats on the ballot in the 2022 general election.
During an appearance Saturday on MSNBC’s “The Cross Connection,” U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) was asked about the possibility that she might seek the Democrat nod for U.S. Senate in 2022. Sewell was noncommittal on a run but acknowledged it was something she would “look very closely at.”
MONTGOMERY — Lynda Blanchard, the businesswoman who was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Slovenia, officially announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated following the 2022 election by Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL).
A Montgomery native and first-time candidate, Blanchard made her announcement in a video released online.
To open the nearly three-minute spot, she described herself as a “Christian conservative and business builder,” as well as “a mother of eight wonderful children.”
“I’m a proud member of the MAGA movement,” she said. “Like you, I am grateful for the leadership and courage of our 45th president, Donald Trump.” (more…)
Conservative media icon Rush Limbaugh passed away on Wednesday morning following a battle with Stage IV lung cancer.
The announcement was made by Limbaugh’s wife at the beginning of his namesake daily talk radio show, which is heard by about 27 million people every week.
Whether one agrees with his ideological beliefs or not, media outlets and public figures were quick to emphasize the incredible impact Limbaugh has had on the American media and political landscape over the past few decades. He will likely go down in history as one of the most influential figures of his generation. (more…)
The numbers have been crunched, and Alabama’s Fourth Congressional District supported then-President Donald J. Trump in the 2020 election more than any other district in the United States.
Daily Kos, a left leaning political website, has been conducting a calculation of the presidential election results broken down by each of the nation’s 435 congressional districts.
On Tuesday, the results were released for AL-04, showing that the rural Yellowhammer State district “gave Donald Trump both his highest percentage of the vote and widest margin of victory in the nation” in November.
Trump defeated now-President Joe Biden by an 81.23%-17.81% margin. (more…)
Last week’s announcement by U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa) not to seek reelection in 2022 was not a huge surprise to many political watchers.
However, it has triggered speculation as to who might seek to fill that vacancy. Among the names mentioned as possible candidates on the Republican side include U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville), Business Council of Alabama president and CEO Katie Boyd Britt and Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill.
During an appearance on Friday’s broadcast of Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” Merrill addressed the speculation, first by acknowledging the big role one might have in replacing Shelby.
After U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) on Monday announced he would not seek reelection to a seventh term in 2022, candidates from both parties started circling the waters in the nascent race to succeed Alabama’s longest serving senator.
However, U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), is already emphasizing that the seat will stay red. (more…)
MONTGOMERY — Legislators return to the State House on Tuesday for the fourth day of the 2021 regular session.
The third day of legislative business this past Thursday saw three major bills advance from their respective chambers of origin; HBs 170 and 192 passed the House and received a first reading in the Senate, while SB 30 passed the Senate and received a first reading in the House. (more…)
State Representative Kirk Hatcher (D-Montgomery) has introduced a bill that would allow college athletes to be paid for the use of their image, likeness and name while enrolled at any university in Alabama. This paves the way for student-athletes to receive compensation for endorsing products on social media, making public appearances, having their likeness used in video games and many other potential types of revenue.
Under Hatcher’s proposal, all student-athletes would have the choice to seek compensation for their name, image and likeness (NIL) while enrolled or choose to receive payment from a school funded annuity upon graduating.
“After all, we know many student-athletes, frankly, help generate millions of dollars for athletic programs across the country. This legislation will ensure all student-athletes will get a financial reward for playing college sports,” said Hatcher in a statement.
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Prominent Alabama leaders across the public and private sectors are reacting to U.S. Senator Richard Shelby’s (R-AL) Monday announcement that he will not seek reelection to a seventh term in 2022.
Shelby made the announcement in a written statement, which can be read here.
Reactions quickly poured in, including from the Yellowhammer State’s chief executive.
“Few people have had a more consequential impact on our state than Senator Richard Shelby,” began Governor Kay Ivey in a statement. (more…)
U.S. Senator Richard C. Shelby (R-AL) on Monday announced he will not seek reelection in 2022. His current term is set to expire on January 3, 2023.
Shelby, already Alabama’s longest-serving senator in history, continues to have an unprecedented impact on his home state. He is now serving as vice chairman of the powerful Senate Committee on Appropriations after Democrats last month seized control of the upper chamber.
“Today I announce that I will not seek a seventh term in the United State Senate in 2022. For everything, there is a season,” said Shelby in a written statement.
Following four terms in the U.S. House representing Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District and eight years in the Alabama State Legislature, Shelby was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986. (more…)
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin this week filed his 2020 year-end finance report, showing $1,003,783 raised so far with $1,000,756 cash on hand for his upcoming campaign.
Woodfin officially announced his reelection bid last week and already has a big cash advantage.
In fact, the recent donations to Woodfin are records for any Birmingham municipal race in both the total dollar amount raised and the number of contributors. In all, the incumbent mayor received more than 2,000 contributions.
The 2021 race is shaping up to be an interesting one, as Jefferson County Commission President Pro Tem Lashunda Scales and former Auburn football player Chris Woods have already announced candidacies. Additionally, former Mayor William Bell, who Woodfin beat in 2017, has indicated he will again seek the office. (more…)
MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Legislature on Tuesday began its 2021 regular session.
Both chambers gaveled in at noon to begin the third year of the current quadrennium, ahead of Governor Kay Ivey’s State of the State Address being delivered virtually at 6:30 p.m. instead of the usual fanfare inside the State Capitol.
Across the street at the State House, the COVID-19 pandemic also has made its mark; enhanced protocols are in place for both the Senate and House, and digital access to proceedings has been expanded for the session to accommodate restrictions on in-person public access relative to a normal year.
One member of the House tested positive for coronavirus ahead of entering the building on Tuesday and went home following the result. Protocols in place include temperatures being taken at every entrance. Heightened security is also present following the violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
Here’s a rundown of the day’s proceedings: (more…)
Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday evening delivered her 2021 State of the State Address.
The address was delivered virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can read Ivey’s remarks as prepared as follows: (more…)
MONTGOMERY — Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed (R-Jasper) on Tuesday submitted to the body updated Standing Committee assignments made by the Senate’s Committee on Assignments.
The changes follow the departure of former Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) from the chamber, as well as the leadership changes atop the Senate that also affected a committee chairmanship.
Reed said in a written statement, “I thank the Committee on Assignments for their work to update these committees. They did an excellent job of aligning members’ unique skill sets with their interests and put together a great line up of committee assignments.”
“There are many important issues facing our state today, and I am confident that these lawmakers will ably lead the Senate’s fifteen committees during this new legislative term to deliver results for Alabamians,” he added. (more…)