Today we’re launching a new weekly feature: “Best & Worst Week in Montgomery.” Each week, we’ll recognize either who had the BEST week in Montgomery, or who had the WORST week in Montgomery. To kick things off this week, we’ll do both. If you would like to nominate someone for this feature in the future, send us an email through our contact page.

Worst Week in Montgomery: Claire Austin

Montgomery lobbyist Claire Austin’s temper has now reached legendary status after a blow up at Rep. Joe Hubbard resulted in a public reprimand by the House of Representatives. Initial speculation was that she may be banned from the State House. Even though she wasn’t, all the press coverage alone was enough to significantly impact her business. Put simply, Claire Austin had the worst week in Montgomery.

Best Week in Montgomery: Del Marsh

The Senate has seen itself get bogged down over a number of contentious issues over the last couple of weeks including a Republican on Republican filibuster over some insurance reform bills. This is not unusual as tougher issues typically come up later in the session and slow down the process. People’s feelings start getting hurt and filibustering is usually the most available mechanism through which Senators seek retribution.

But this week the Senate was humming along. In fact, the Senate got through its entire (lengthy) calendar on Thursday. For not allowing the Senate to get stuck in the constant filibustering that is typical for this point in the session, Sen. Del Marsh had the best week in Montgomery.