“Rumors and Rumblings” is a weekly feature that runs each Wednesday. It includes short nuggets of information that we glean from conversations throughout the week. Have a tip? Send it here.

1. Democrat Senator Jerry Fielding (11th District — Calhoun, Coosa, Elmore, Talladega) will likely be switching parties to become a Republican ahead of the 2013 session, if not sooner.

2. Rep. Randy Davis (R – Daphne) has decided to pass on running for Mayor of Daphne. “I was humbled by folks wanting me to run,” Davis said, “but there is a lot left that I’d like to do in the legislature and I feel like we’re making headway.” He’s staying neutral in the race for now.

3. Governor Bentley’s favorability in the polls remains steady in the low to mid 60s among all registered voters and even higher among Republicans. We’ll have more interesting numbers for you to chew on soon.

4. The Forestry Association and Alabama Policy Institute recently came out against the proposed constitutional amendment coming up for a vote Sept. 18. The nursing home lobby took issue with their position and commenced a heated exchange with debate raging over the ramifications of the CA’s passage or failure. Debate over the CA’s merit had been surprisingly cool inside the association community to this point, things may be getting ready to heat up.

5. As we mentioned in May, ALFA President Jerry Newby is stepping down from his post in December. The race to replace him has been between a crowded field of five candidates but that number has now dropped to four after ALFA’s Baldwin County chapter president David Bitto dropped out. The remaining candidates are State Rep. Richard Lindsey, Steve Dunn, president of the Conecuh County ALFA chapter; Jimmy Parnell, president of the Chilton County ALFA chapter; and ALFA VP Ricky Wiggins. There is no reliable vote count on the race but insiders currently seem to think Lindsey and Wiggins are the favorites.