Tuberville Tops Sessions in Fundraising for the Senate Race
Glenn Stephens,
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Tommy Tuberville (Source: Alabama Daily News) and Jeff Sessions (Source: Gage Skidmore via flickr)
Former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville is leading former Sen. Jeff Sessions in fundraising in the final weeks of their Republican runoff campaign for the Senate seat Sessions once held, according to reports they filed this week with the Federal Election Commission.
The reports, covering the period of April 1 to June 24, show Tuberville took in $652,390, compared to $439,374 for Sessions. Still, Sessions had a cash balance of $500,331, compared to Tuberville’s $448,204.
Both candidates continue to aggressively raise campaign cash in the final days of the race.
Tuberville, making his first bid for public office, narrowly led a field of seven candidates in the March 3 GOP primary, but he fell short of a majority of votes cast. The two were scheduled to settle the issue in a runoff on March 31, but Gov. Kay Ivey postponed party runoffs until July 14 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The winner will try to unseat freshman Democrat Doug Jones, who defeated Roy Moore in a special election for the Senate seat in December 2017, on Nov. 3, Jones was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Sessions, who resigned from the Senate in 2017 after President Donald Trump appointed him U.S. attorney general, came into the race with $2.48 million left over from his previous campaigns for the Senate. He has raised $2.06 million during the current election cycle.
His net operating expenditures were $688,639 for the latest period and $4.44 million overall.
Tuberville has taken in $2.94 million in contributions since the campaign began, according to his FEC report. His net operating expenditures were $663,004 for the most recent reporting period and $2.74 million overall.
After a lull in campaign activity due to the coronavirus pandemic, the two have mounted aggressive ad campaigns mostly centering on one question: Who is the strongest, most loyal supporter of Trump.
Sessions was the first senator to endorse Trump for president in 2016, and the president rewarded him with the office of attorney general. But their relationship soured after Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, and Trump forced him out of office in 2018.
The president endorsed Tuberville, tweeted bitter attacks on Sessions, and told an interviewer the appointment of Sessions was the most grievous mistake of his time in the White House.
That has not stopped Sessions from claiming his loyalty to Trump and saying Alabama voters will determine the outcome.
Contributors
Jeff Sessions
Contributors of $5,000 or more.
$10,000
Common Values PAC, Alexandria, VA; Continuing Americas Strength & Security, Baton Rouge, LA; Defend America PAC, Tuscaloosa; DVA/HC PAC, Mobile; Fund for a Conservative Future PAC, Washington, DC; Honeywell International PAC, Washington, DC; JONI PAC, Des Moines, IA; Making Business Excel PAC, Cheyenne, WY; Marsha PAC, Brentwood, TN; Nebraska Sandhills PAC, Alexandria, VA; Protective Life Corp. Fed. PAC, Birmingham; Radiance Technologies Inc. PAC, Huntsville; Reclaim America PAC, Alexandria, VA; Regions Financial Corp. Federal PAC, Birmingham; Rely on Your Beliefs PAC, Washington, DC; Republican Majority Fund PAC, Alexandria, VA; Torch Technologies Inc. PAC, Huntsville.
$8,400
Brett, John M., Orange Beach; Brett, William C., Gulf Shores, AL; Bryant, Paul W., Tuscaloosa; Maisel, E. B., Mobile; Miers, Gina S., Tuscaloosa; Nelson, Deborah R., Saraland; Robinson, William T., Orange Beach; Russell, Robert J., Birmingham.
$8,100
Drinkard, Roy H., Cullman.
$7,900
Sexton, William Britt, Decatur.
$7,800
Smith, Linda J., Huntsville; Templeton, Jean Wessel, Huntsville; Thornton, Steven, Huntsville.
$7,600
Rogers, Ed, Washington, DC.
$7,500
Airbus Group PAC, Herndon, VA; Arkansas For Leadership PAC, Alexandria, VA; Dakota PAC, Bismarck, ND.
$6,600
Maisel, N. W., Mobile.
$6,234
BL Harbert Employees PAC, Birmingham.
$5,600
Almon, Robert N., Tuscaloosa; Amos, Richard W., Huntsville; Ard, Gary, Mountain Brook; Baker, Leslie M., Winston-Salem, NC; Barbour, Haley, Yazoo City, MS; Bashinsky, Joann F., Birmingham; Booth, Barry L., Spanish Fort; Brett, Thomas E., Orange Beach; Burkes, Herbie, Centreville; Collazo, Carmen A ., Huntsville; Collazo, Francisco, Birmingham; Collazo, Francisco J., Huntsville; Collazo, Francisco L., Madison; Collazo, Rosana, Scottsboro; Cooper, Charles, Bonita Springs, FL;
Cutrona, Danielle, Washington, DC; Delponte, Reggie D., Newport Beach, CA; Corum, Van, Huntsville; Doherty, Don P., Waynesboro, MS; Drummond, Segal E. Jr., Mountain Brook; Fine, Joseph Lloyd, Montgomery; Forney, Elizabeth, San Diego, CA; Forney, Scott, San Diego, CA; Fuller, Michael D., Mountain Brook; Gorrie, Miller M., Birmingham; Hammer, George S., Samson; McKibbens, Anna Laurie Bryant, Tuscaloosa; McMahon, John J. , Birmingham; McMickle, John, Washington, DC;
Methvin, Thomas J., Montgomery; Miley, O.B. II. Muscle Shoals; Otis, William, Falls Church, VA; Parker, Tim , Tuscaloosa; Pulliam, Chad B., Killen; Remington, James A., Henrico, VA; Robinson, William T., Orange Beach; Russell, June F., Mountain Brook; Scott, Isaac, Opelika; Scott, Rhonda, Opelika; Siff, Andrew M., Arlington, VA; Smith, Wayne T., Nashville, TN; Stedman, Betty Ann, Houston, TX; Stewart, Richard L., Birmingham; Strange, Luther J., Birmingham; Upton, Jason, Guntersville; Welch, Stewart H., Birmingham; Wilson, Daniel M., Huntsville; Wilson, William B., Montgomery.
$5,500
Carothers, Dr. William Russell, Winfield.
$5,300
Danley, Christopher D., Chevy Chase, MD; Hollyhand, Doug, Northport; Zell, Samuel, Chicago, IL.
Alabama Power Co. Federal PAC, Birmingham; Bailey, William C., Arab; Baron, Robert, Huntsville; Bense, Kevin, Birmingham; Blue Cross Blue Shield of AL PAC, Montgomery; Bradley Arant Boult Cummings PAC, Birmingham; Branch Banking & Trust PAC, Winston-Salem, NC; CHS PAC, Franklin, TN; Citizens For Prosperity In America Today PAC America, Alexandria, VA; Dearborn, Ricky Allen, Alexandria, VA; Durham, Joseph E., Madison; Dynetics Inc. Political Action Committee, Huntsville;
Free State PAC, Lawrence, KS; Freedom Fund PAC, Washington, DC; General Atomics PAC, San Diego, CA; Kirkpatrick, Michael A., Huntsville; Kretzschmar, Richard W., Huntsville; Lessmann, Kurt M., Madison; Let’s Get To Work PAC, Monroe, NC; Luquire, Hans, Montgomery; McCarter, Angela Gunderman, Huntsville; Miller, Don W., Huntsville; Next Century Fund PAC, Alexandria, VA; Pitts, D. Frank, Madison; Raytheon PAC, Lexington, MA; Ripps, Harold W., Birmingham; Roberts, Richard Y., Fairfax, VA; Strategy PAC, Beverly, MA; Suntrust PAC, Richmond, VA; The Travelers Companies Inc. PAC, Hartford, CT; Thornton, Steven L., Huntsville; Vulcan Materials PAC, Birmingham.
Tommy Tuberville
Contributors of $5,000 or more.
$10,000
Drummond Company Inc. Political Action Committee (Dpac), Birmingham; Bronczek, David, Memphis, TN; Lomangino, Anthony, Garden City, NY; Mcinnis, John M. III, Gulf Shores; McInnis, Shelley Freeman, Gulf Shores; Neville, Connie, Kingshill, VI; Neville, William, Kingshill, VI; Watson, Gail P, Dothan; Watson, John H., Dothan; Whatley, Steve W., Anniston.
$8,100
Woltosz, Walter, Auburn.
$7,800
Shabel, Rodger, Decatur; Shabel, Vickie, Decatur.
$7,600
Willoughby, Van, Cullman.
$7,500
Burford, Michael D., Wellington; M B Properties LLC, Wellington; Thomas, John T., Toledo, OH.
Adkinson, Clay, Defuniak Springs, FL; Aldag, Edward K. Jr., Birmingham; Alvarez, Karen, Huntsville; Alvarez, Michael, Huntsville; Andrews, James R., Gulf Breeze, FL; Andrews, Jeff, Duluth, GA; Andrews, Patricia W., Duluth, GA; Breland, Louis, Huntsville; Brooks, Jeff D., Birmingham; Burford, Todd, Birmingham; Carr, Bradley, Alexandria; Chandler, James, Huntsville; Covington, Coates, Lincoln; Davis, Jay, Atlanta, GA; Devilbiss, Edwin, La Valle, WI; Doddridge, Kaye, Three Forks, MT;
Dunlap, Robert H., Batesville, MS; Espy, Shirley, Atlanta, GA; Gaby, Barbara, Duluth, Ga; Gaby, Richard, Duluth, Ga; Govil, Sanjay, Potomac, MD; Green, Joni R. PMP, Brownsboro; Griffin, David B., Nashville, TN; Guess, Chris, Birmingham; Guess, Julie, Birmingham; Hayden, Marilyn, Barrington, IL; Henderson, Reynolds, Santa Rosa Beach, FL; Hillman, Roberta W., Aspen, CO; Isbell, Linda, Cullman; Isbell, Mike, Cullman; Kellett, Carol, Atlanta, GA; Kent, Brock, Cullman; Kent, Sarah, Cullman;
Kent, William, Midland, TX; Leone, Douglas, Los Altos Hills, CA; Martz, James Garrett, Huntsville; McDougle, Tony, Florence; McKinney, Chester Jr., Muscle Shoals; McKinney, Jenny D., Killen; Mitchell, Hugh, Mountain Brook; Perkins-Leone, Patricia, Los Altos Hills, CS; Pirnie, Leslie O’Gwyn, Pike Road; Pirnie, Robert, Pike Road; Rappuhn, Allan, Killen; Remington, James, Henrico, VA; Satter, Muneer A., Chicago, IL;
Scott, William M., Auburn; Signature Utility Services LLC, Birmingham; Spriggs, Kevin, Spanish Fort; Stephens, Warren A., Little Rock, AR; Strother, J. Barron, Santa Rosa Beach, FL; Taylor, Billy, New Market; Taylor, Catherine B., Dallas, TX; Templeton, W. M., Dallas, TX; Ward, Jennifer, Mobile; Williamson, Sallie S., Greenville; Williamson, Warren J., Greenville.
Albers, Charles E., Sarasota, FL; Allen, R.K., Talladega; Ballard, Brian D., Tallahassee, FL; Ballard, Kathryn, Tallahassee, FL; Build Political Action Committee of the National Association of Home Builders, Washington, DC; Corr, Byran A. Sr., Rosemary Beach, FL; Griffin, Roxie, Nashville, TN; Hall, John G., Dothan; Huck Pac, Little Rock, AR; Melt LLC, Atlanta, GA;
National Cotton Council of America Committee for the Advancement of Cotton, Cordova, TN; Norris, Robert G., Holly Pond; Saiia, Jody, Birmingham; Steiner, Russell, Bayou La Batre; Swaid, Christy J., Birmingham; Thompson, James Vincent, Atlanta, GA; Thorne, Larry, Auburn; Wintersteen, Jim McIlhenny, Mill Valley, CA; Wood, Bobby R., Corinth, MS; Wood, Myra Ann, Corinth, MS; Young, Lindsey Rene, Birmingham.
Mayor Randall Woodfin on Tuesday announced the pardons of more than 15,000 Birmingham residents convicted of marijuana possession, declaring that “one small mistake should not define an entire lifetime.”
The pardons — which were announced April 20, an unofficial holiday celebrating cannabis — covers residents with closed marijuana possession cases in the Birmingham Municipal Court between 1990 and 2020.
The pardons are part of Woodfin’s Pardons for Progress program, launched in November 2019, which was meant to remove employment barriers for people who had been convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession. Read more.
Major banks have backed off of financing two of the three proposed new prisons in Alabama, leaving opponents of Gov. Kay Ivey’s plan to lease the prisons from private groups hopeful that any deals related to the third site, in Brierfield, also would hit a snag.
Bloomberg News reported Monday that the sudden about-face by Barclays and Keybanc took financial traders by surprise.
The prisons in Escambia and Elmore counties are slated to be built by CoreCivic, a prison company that has contracted with the state of Alabama to build the two prisons and lease them to the state for 30 years. The third site, proposed for Brierfield in Bibb County, is to be built and owned by a consortium headed by BL Harbert. Read more.
Came across an academic article saying public officials no longer have private lives off limits from prying media and opposing political campaigns — to the detriment of public service. It was published in 1998.
Imagine how things are now with heightened divisive politics, partisan news media, uncontrolled social media and a never-ending list of politicians whose horrifying activities in their private lives demand public scrutiny.
The question of when the private lives of politicians deserve public exposure is a perpetual one for the press. It has arisen lately with the cases of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz (OK, actually zero question here) and Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, who admitted last week to marital infidelity. Read more.
MONTGOMERY — Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall warned local governments Tuesday to use incoming funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act in accordance with state law or be subject to criminal charges. Read more.
It comes with the turf when you live in the South. Tornado season typically begins in March and lasts through May. Maybe you’ve weathered multiple storms or perhaps it’s your first season. Either way, it can be difficult to keep up with the latest on how to prepare. We’ve got you covered with this guide. Read more.
Birmingham will receive just more than $5 million to combat homelessness from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s American Rescue Plan Act, it was announced Thursday. The funding is intended to help cities create affordable and supportive housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Read more.
Even during a pandemic, you can find 90-year-old Fred Gray Sr. at his law office in Tuskegee. He’s been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
“He’s still working every day,” Fred Gray Jr. said. “It is not because he has to, but it’s because it’s that fire in his belly and it’s because he still wants to help people.”
Gray Jr. and his dad are partners in their law firm. Gray Jr. said his dad just won’t slow down. In fact he’s currently working on behalf of the Macon County Commission to remove a confederate monument in the heart of downtown Tuskegee.
Gray Jr. said his dad’s drive and tenacity are only part of the reason he should be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
“His IQ and his work is right up there with men like Thurgood Marshall, Oliver Hill and Wiley Branton,” he said. Read more.
WASHINGTON — Alabama’s senators split votes last week on a bill to extend the paycheck protection program as well as on several of Biden’s nominees to top positions. The House was in recess. Read more.
After a fire destroyed their last apartment in 2019, Kenneth Tyrone King and his family recently saved up enough money to rent a new place in Birmingham.
But the relief was short-lived. Bills, mostly medical, quickly began piling up at the new address.
For King, 57, this was just the latest development in a cycle of debt. He has not had health insurance for years. He lost his most-recent job at a temp agency after having emergency open heart surgery in December. He barely has enough money for the two prescriptions that he needs each month.
“I can afford one of them, but one of them, it’s like a $60 medication,” King said. “Those types of challenges, if I had affordable health care, or a health care plan, it would have at least covered some of it.”
King falls in the coverage gap. He does not qualify for Medicaid and he cannot afford to buy a private insurance plan. If Alabama expanded Medicaid, that would mean opening up eligibility to people like him and other low-income adults who make up to 138% of the federal poverty level, which equates to less than $18,000 a year for a single adult. Read more.
Samford University’s board of trustees named a new president Wednesday. Beck A. Taylor, now president of Whitworth University, will succeed Andrew Westmoreland effective July 1. Westmoreland is retiring as president, a post he has held since 2006. Taylor will be the university’s 19th president. Read more.
After multiple delays, demolition of the long-derelict Banks High School is moving forward. The Birmingham City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the one-year extension of a loan agreement with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to tear down the building, which has sat vacant in the city’s South East Lake neighborhood since 2007. Read more.
A proposal before the federal Office of Management and Budget would reduce the number of Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Alabama from 12 to five, a move that is not welcomed by officials of the cities losing the MSA status.
A committee of federal statistical agencies has made the proposal to OMB that would leave intact MSAs with 100,000 populations in their core cities. In Alabama, that’s Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery, Huntsville and Tuscaloosa.
The remaining seven MSAs statewide would be reclassified as “micropolitan” statistical areas with core populations of 50,000 to 99,999. Those are Decatur, Dothan, Baldwin County, Auburn-Opelika, Florence-Muscle Shoals, Anniston-Oxford, and Gadsden. Read more.
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Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens said ‘I told you so’ when it came to a new waste disposal company’s roll out of service to unincorporated Jefferson County.
Since Amwaste took over April 1, customers have complained of missed pickups, undelivered garbage carts, errantly taken carts and confusion about contracting with the new company. Read more.
Nine Birmingham nonprofits will receive funding from the city’s Building Opportunities for Lasting Development grant initiative this year, despite an overall reduction in funding for the program.
The Birmingham Business Alliance, Birmingham Business Resource Center, Bronze Valley, Bush Hills Connections Inc., Community Care Development Network, Create Birmingham, TruFund Financial Services, Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham and Workshops Empowerment Inc. were selected from a group of 22 applicants, with award amounts ranging from $20,000 to $90,000.
“The top-line narrative here is us really working to do more with less, to think about how can we leverage city dollars and support in the community to maximize our investment,” Amelia Muller, civic design principal for the city’s department of innovation and economic opportunity, said in a presentation to the Birmingham City Council. Read more.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s annual population estimate of U.S. residents indicates Alabama could be pitted against New York for the possible loss of a U.S. House of Representatives seat after the decennial census is released. The estimates as they stand now would put Alabama’s population just high enough to keep its present seven representatives, with New York losing a seat, according to an analysis by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama. Read more.
Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens closed today’s commission meeting with gratitude for county employees and staff who fought their way through the “wartime” environment of the pandemic.
“It was a wartime atmosphere,” Stephens said. “We were at war with this virus. It actually changed our day-to-day lives and how we conducted business. I wanted to commend and thank our county commission and our county staff for being able to stay on top of this wartime environment and to be able to win as many battles as we have. Read more.
Tony Petelos, the only county manager Jefferson County has had, told county commissioners at their committee meeting today that he will soon retire.
“After 34 years of public service in many different jobs throughout the years and 10 years here at the county, I’m going to announce my retirement this year,” he said from his seat at the end of the board table. “I don’t have a date set, but I just want to give you a heads up that I do plan to retire this year. I’ve got a couple of projects I’m still working on and I want to get those done, but it’s been a pleasure and an honor to work with you.” Read more.
The Shady Grove Fire Department will benefit from a “fire sale” transaction between the state of Alabama and Jefferson County. During their committee meeting today, commissioners moved a resolution to the agenda of Thursday’s commission meeting to buy property from the state that is adjacent to the fire department and plan to offer $100. Read more.
The City of Birmingham has received nearly $6.3 million in federal funding to assist residents who are unable to pay rent and utilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funding comes as part of a $25 billion program from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which began allocating money to states, territories, local governments and Indian tribes last month.
Funding for the Emergency Rental Assistance program was approved by the City Council during Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting. It was initially announced last month by Mayor Randall Woodfin, who said his administration had made the funding a “priority.” Read more.
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Vestiges of segregation still thread through the systems and processes with which we engage throughout our lives, influencing Black Alabamians in large and small ways, including economic opportunities and lifetime wealth, relationship with law enforcement, health care and even projected lifespan. BirminghamWatch has an ongoing effort to analyze how these sometimes unrecognized vestiges of segregation are playing out in people’s lives today. Read stories in The Legacy of Race series.
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