Davis fires back at Sparks release

After a statement issued by the gubernatorial campaign of Ron Sparks earlier Friday, the camp of U.S. Rep. Artur Davis issued the following response:

"It's unfortunate that Commissioner Sparks, instead of getting his facts right, is repeating an inaccurate statement contained in several news reports regarding Congressman Davis' expenditures in the last quarter," campaign spokeswoman Anna Ruth Williams said. "Contrary to those reports, which wrongly assume that every expense by the Davis committee since January 1, 2009, is a governor’s race expense, Congressman Davis has just crossed the $25,000 threshold in expenses solely related to the governor's race -- in the past 48 hours, with our latest round of 2010 disbursements on April 15, 2009. Consistent with crossing that marker, the Davis campaign was already in the process of filing with the Alabama Secretary Of State's office."

"The Davis campaign is on record disclosing every dime we have spent and describing who those dollars come from. Davis has kept the promise he made on February 6—no money raised between February 6 and June 1 will be transferred to the governor's race and no in-state contributions between February 6 and June 1 will be accepted. This is more than Alabama or federal law require," Williams said.

Davis added to the statement, "This governor's race will not be about insider stories on campaign finance reports, or about the standard attacks from candidates trying to raise their profile. It will be about which candidate can reform Alabama politics, and propose the right plans for rebuilding our state's economy and refitting our schools for the 21st Century."

Davis and Sparks, the commissioner of agriculture and industries, have both announced they are running for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010.

-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen