Election 2020 Archives - BirminghamWatch
Donate About Subscribe

Election 2020

Mt Brook Donations to Britt for Senate Signal Views from the GOP’s Business Wing

Residents of Mountain Brook may be relatively few in number, but they sent a message about their views on the Republican Party in campaign finance reports filed last week by candidates running to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby. Although Mountain Brook’s population is just more than 20,000, people who live in the affluent Birmingham suburb contributed far more than any other municipality in the state to Katie Boyd Britt. Donations from residents of Mountain Brook signal support for Britt from the traditional, business-oriented wing of the Republican Party. Read more. Also read: Britt Leads Rivals in Fundraising for GOP U.S. Senate Nomination

by Glenn Stephens

Absentee Voting Bills Pass First Vote

MONTGOMERY — Legislation dealing with absentee voting in Alabama overcame the first legislative hurdle Wednesday as the bills passed through the House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee. A bill that would allow for more sites to be opened in a county to accept in-person absentee ballots was debated and approved, as was a bill to require absentee applications be submitted earlier. Read more. More from the Legislature: Committee-Approved $7.6B Education Budget Includes Multiple Pay Raises Riot, Voter Bill Taken Up in Legislature Read complete legislative coverage

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Alabama Congress Members Caught Off Guard by Violence at the Capitol

At a Wednesday morning rally near the White House, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, told the pro-Trump crowd that “today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.” Brooks is the leader of a group of representatives challenging the Electoral College votes of three states President-elect Joe Biden won in the November election. A few hours later, he was among hundreds of legislators hunkering down and then fleeing as Trump supporters broke through police lines and stormed into the Capitol building, leading to a lockdown that stalled certification of November’s vote. One woman was shot in the chest and died, and several law enforcement officers were injured in the melee, the District of Columbia mayor said in a press conference. “DOORS LOCKED! CAPITOL COMPLEX BREACHED! CHAMBER DOORS LOCKED. SPEAKER LEAVES!” Brooks first tweeted while detailing his experience in the Capitol. He later tweeted that the police evacuation of the House of Representatives was “hurried but otherwise orderly” and said he “heard loud shouting echoing down Capitol halls during evacuation.” Read more.

by Sam Prickett and Virginia Martin

Maria Fortune, 2020 election

Jefferson County District Court, Place 2 Maria Fortune Democrat Hometown: Vestavia Hills Political experience: Appointed to the Jefferson County District Court bench after Judge Shanta Owens left for the Circuit Court bench; currently presides over Drug Court in the Criminal Division. Professional experience: Started her career as a deputy public defender in Colorado before joining the Denver

by BirminghamWatch

Gary Palmer, 2020 general election

U.S. House of Representatives, AL District 6 Gary Palmer Party: Republican Age: 66 Residence: Hoover Political experience: Member, U.S. House of Representatives, Alabama District 6, 2015-present; member, Gov. Robert Bentley’s Task Force to Strengthen Alabama Families; member, Alabama Commission on Improving State Government; advisor, Gov. Fob James’ Aerospace, Science, and Technology Task Force; member, Welfare

by Glenn Stephens

Absentee Ballot Season Gets Underway

Absentee ballots started showing up in county offices and going out in the mail Wednesday, which was the deadline for absentee election managers to be provided with absentee ballots and supplies. Usually, Alabama voters must fit into narrowly defined categories to be able to vote by absentee. But for the general election, Secretary of State John Merrill has approved absentee voting for any voter who has concerns about the coronavirus. Read more about voting in the general election and voting by absentee.

by BirminghamWatch

Push for No-Excuse Absentee Voting Likely Going Nowhere

The Alabama Senate approved Tuesday a resolution that says it’s “imperative to the democratic process to propose and adopt” no-excuse absentee voting, but the passage of actual legislation to loosen restrictions on the ballots seems unlikely in the Republican-controlled body. Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, filed a bill Monday that would authorize no-excuse absentee voting. Smitherman’s Senate Bill 335 strikes out the list of excuses that qualify a voter for an absentee ballot and deletes a section of state law that says a voter must have one of those excuses to apply for an absentee ballot. Some cities have been pushing for no-excuse absentee voting in recent weeks. Read more.

by Sara MacNei, for Alabama Daily News

New Poll Shows Tuberville Leading Sessions in Alabama Senate Race

MONTGOMERY — A new poll shows former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville with a double-digit lead over former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate. A survey conducted by Cygnal showed that if the March 31 runoff election were held today, 51.5% of voters would choose Tuberville, while 39.5% would choose Sessions. Nine percent of voters remained undecided. Read more.

by Todd Stacy, Alabama Daily News

Where Democratic Presidential Candidates Stand on Major Issues

Alabama voters who choose a Democratic ballot for the March 3 party primaries will see a crowded slate of 14 presidential candidates, but nine of those have withdrawn from the race. The remaining five active candidates are Joseph R. Biden, Michael R. Bloomberg, Tulsi Gabbard, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. The nine candidates who dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination are Michael Bennet, Cory Booker, Julian Castro, John K. Delaney, Marianne Williamson and Andrew Yang, along with Tom Steyer, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, who withdrew from the race after disappointing results in Saturday's primary in South Carolina. According to a recent Gallup Poll, Democratic candidates selected the following topics as the top five issues in the party’s presidential primary: health care, climate change, gun policy, education and the distribution of wealth and income. Read about their stances.

by Scott Morris
1 2