Republican Tom Parker raised more than twice as much as Democrat Robert Vance last week in their race for Alabama chief justice, according to reports filed Monday with the Secretary of State’s Office. Read more.
Republican Steve Marshall raised more money but Democrat Joseph Siegelman far out-spent him last week in their campaigns for attorney general. Read more.
Gov. Kay Ivey isn’t necessarily a big fan of a new state lottery, but she would not get in the way if the Legislature and Alabama voters approved an amendment to the state constitution to legalize the games. That’s the position the Republican, who’s running for election to a full term after succeeding former Gov. Robert Bentley after his resignation, expressed Tuesday to reporters before a speech to the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Birmingham. On the same day, many Alabamians were headed for Tennessee, Florida and Georgia to purchase tickets for a MegaMillions national lottery with a jackpot of more than $1.6 million, plus a Powerball jackpot on Wednesday of at least $620 million. Read more.
Republican Will Ainsworth continues to hold a lopsided lead over Democrat Will Boyd in fundraising for the lieutenant governor’s race, according to reports filed Monday with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office. Ainsworth, a member of the Alabama House of Representatives from Marshall County, reported raising $84,850 in itemized cash contributions from Oct. 10 to Oct. 19. He spent $113,764 during that period and has a cash balance of $353,100. Boyd, a Florence minister, reported $660 in contributions during the period. He spent $1,182 and has an account balance of $5,335. Read more.
With the election two weeks away, Gov. Kay Ivey continues to widen her financial advantage over Democratic challenger Walt Maddox, according to reports filed Monday with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office. Ivey, a Republican seeking her first full term as governor, reported raising $193,291 in itemized cash contributions from Oct. 13 to Oct. 19. Maddox, the mayor of Tuscaloosa, reported contributions of $104,878. The governor has raised $4.34 million since the current election cycle began last year. Maddox has collected $2.03 million. Read more. See the List of Contributors at the One Month Mark.
HUNTSVILLE — After playing defense from charges by her opponent that she was avoiding a debate, Gov. Kay Ivey and her re-election campaign have turned the tables and gone on offense. The Ivey campaign started circulating emails to the news media last week linking Democratic nominee and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox of taking money from political action committees that are funded, either in whole or in part, by billionaire financier George Soros — a bogeyman to Republican conservatives for years, well-known in political circles for contributing millions of dollars to liberal causes and campaigns. That trend continued Saturday, as Ivey mentioned Soros in two separate appearances before GOP party faithful — one as a part of her standard stump speech to the Madison County Republican Men’s Club, the other in front of a smaller group of campaign workers in the party’s county headquarters. Read more.
Attorney General Steve Marshall takes an overwhelming financial advantage into the final month of the campaign as he seeks his first full term in the office. The Republican incumbent raised $224,700 last month, bringing his total in itemized cash contributions since the campaign began last year to $2.92 million, according to reports filed this week with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office. Democrat Joseph Siegelman collected $92,673 in cash during September to raise his overall total to $445,276. Read more.
Democrat Robert Vance raised more than twice as much campaign cash as Republican Tom Parker in September and maintains a significant financial advantage as the race for chief justice of Alabama enters its final month. Vance, a Circuit Court judge in Birmingham, collected $165,425 in itemized cash contributions last month, raising his total for the campaign to $810,547, he reported this week to the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office. Parker, a member of the Alabama Supreme Court who is seeking to move into the chief justice’s chair, reported contributions of $65,200 in September. His total since the campaign began last year is $591,877. Read more.
Republican Will Ainsworth collected $141,900 in September for his campaign for lieutenant governor, far outdistancing the $11,885 raised by Democrat Will Boyd, according to reports filed this week with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office. Read more.
With the election one month away, Gov. Kay Ivey has raised more than twice as much as Democratic challenger Walt Maddox in the campaign for governor. The Republican incumbent collected $510,457 in cash contributions during September, bringing her total to $3.88 million since the campaign started last year, according to reports filed this week with the Secretary of State’s Office. She heads into the final four weeks of the campaign with an account balance of $510,888. Maddox brought in $373,016 last month, raising his total for the campaign to $1.83 million. That leaves him with a balance of $500,339, his report showed. Ivey continued to raise large amounts from political action committees, law firms and businesses. Her biggest contributors during September were the Alabama Forestry PAC, $25,000; the Balch & Bingham law firm’s PAC, $15,000; and SHR PAC, chaired by lobbyist and Republican activist Dax Swatek, $12,000. Overall, the governor’s top contributor is James W. “Jimmy” Rane of Abbeville, founder of Great Southern Wood Preserving and identified by Forbes Magazine as Alabama’s richest person. He has given Ivey a total of $300,000 during the campaign. Franklin PAC, a business-oriented committee in Montgomery, has given $125,000 and the Beasley, Allen law firm of Montgomery has contributed $105,000. Maddox’s report for activity in September showed a continued flow of money from six PACs operated by Mike Echols of Tuscaloosa. Cash, CMG, ET, Leadership, Pride II and T-Town II PACs contributed $25,000 each to the Democratic nominee; that brings their total for the campaign to $611,400. Among the other top donors for the Tuscaloosa mayor was Greenetrack, at $70,000. Read the story and lists of contributors. Read more stories about campaign financing in this year's election.
