The Montgomery Advertiser newspaper's blog on all things related to Alabama politics and state government, featuring the writings of Sebastian Kitchen and Markeshia Ricks
Monday, June 14, 2010
Flap Over GOP Primary Recount Continues
Attorney General Troy King is firing back against accusations that he is attempting to block Republican candidate for governor Tim James from having a recount.
James, who came in third during the state's primary elections, has said he wants a recount, and King said the opinion he issued at the request of Secretary of State Beth Chapman doesn't stop him from getting one. He hopes that a recount will net him the votes he needs to knock Dr. Robert Bentley, who edged James out of the runoff with former two-year college Chancellor Bradley Byrne, with 167 votes out of second place.
But King issued a statement Monday, to "set the record straight."
"Tim James accused me of blocking his recount from going forward," King said in a statement. "That is simply not true. My opinion said the recount could go forward, and, it is indeed going forward tomorrow."
King said if James wants to challenge the results after the recount, he can do that, but his challenge would be before the Alabama Republican Party, not King. King also said in his statement that James, nor the party, are required to follow his opinion, it was intended for the guidance of the Chapman, who requested it.
Tim James has decided his campaign can afford to recount the votes in all 67 counties in his bid to pick up almost 170 additional votes and secure a spot in the Republican runoff for governor, according to his campaign spokesman. James, a Greenville businessman, must request the recounts by noon Thursday. He requested recounts in 40 counties on Wednesday after he finished 167 votes behind state Rep. Robert Bentley in the battle to be the second Republican in the runoff. Former state senator and two-year college system Chancellor Bradley Byrne finished ahead of the pack of seven Republicans and secured a spot in the July 13 runoff. James said Tuesday, after a count of the provisional ballots, that the campaign would ask for the most populated counties to be recounted first and would have the other counties counted if the campaign had the resources. His spokesman, Brett Hall, said Wednesday night that they believed the campaign would be able to have the votes recounted in all 67 counties for less than $200,000. "Tim is happy to have a full statewide recount," Hall said. The campaign that requests the recount, according to the secretary of state's office and the Alabama Republican Party, must pay for the recount. Hall said campaign officials will be driving throughout the state Thursday to serve petitions requesting the recount to county party officials. He said probate judges in some of the state's most populated counties including Jefferson and Mobile said the recount could be done there in a day or less. "This will not be drawn out," Hall said. The winner of the Republican runoff will face Democratic nominee Ron Sparks in the November general election.
State Rep. Robert Bentley has a clear lead over Bradley Byrne in the Republican runoff for governor, according to a poll released by Bentley's campaign on Wednesday. Dresner, Wickers and Associates LLC conducted the statewide survey on June 5 and June 6 among 400 people registered to vote in Alabama and considered likely to vote in the July 13 Republican primary runoff election. Bentley, a Tuscaloosa dermatologist, leads Byrne 45-29 among likely voters. "Despite being outspent by over 3 to 1 by Bradley Byrne, Robert Bentley is now the clear front runner in the GOP runoff election for governor of Alabama," according to the summary of the poll. "Robert Bentley holds double digit leads over Bradley Byrne among all likely voters, key media markets, and among likely Republican, Democrat, and independent voters. ... Robert Bentley is well-positioned to win the runoff and the general election for governor." Bentley was strong across all three groups with 53 percent of Democrats preferring him compared to 20 percent for Byrne. Forty-five percent of Republicans preferred Bentley compared to 31 percent for Byrne. Byrne, former chancellor of the state's two-year college system, and Bentley finished ahead of five other Republicans. Greenville businessman Tim James finished 167 votes behind Bentley and has asked for a recount. The winner of the Republican runoff will face Democratic nominee Ron Sparks in November.
Tim James will ask for a recount in the Republican race for governor after a tally of the provisional ballots failed to yield the more than 200 votes he needed to gain to move into second place and secure a spot in the runoff. After provisional ballots from across the state were counted, James finished in third. "The vote margin remains razor thin. Because of this, I have decided to move forward with a recount of the Republican gubernatorial primary vote," James said Tuesday at his Montgomery headquarters. Former two-year college system Chancellor Bradley Byrne finished ahead of James and five other Republicans to secure a spot in the July 13 runoff. State Rep. Robert Bentley of Tuscaloosa finished in second, just 167 votes ahead of James. Through the counting of the provisional ballots, James picked up about 40 votes on Bentley. Byrne finished 13,488 votes ahead of Bentley and received 137,448 votes statewide. Those totals were called in to the Alabama Republican Party from probate offices across the state, according to a release from the party. The party will certify the vote with the secretary of state's office on Friday, but the results could be amended following a recount, according to the statement from the party. James must pay for the runoff, according to the Alabama Republican Party and Secretary of State Beth Chapman. Chapman said Tuesday that an opinion from the attorney general confirmed her office issued appropriate guidelines for the runoff and counting provisional ballots. "I have said all along that the taxpayers of Alabama should not have to foot the bill for a primary recount," she said. "Today the attorney general's opinion confirmed that we are providing sound and accurate guidance in the best possible way in this unprecedented and historic election." Chapman, the state's chief election official, and other leaders have said the close three-way election is unprecedented. James, a Greenville businessman, said he is prepared to spend up to $200,000 on the recount. He said the campaign will begin requesting recounts in individual counties this morning beginning with the most populated. The candidate said the 25 most populated counties in the state account for 85 percent of the population so the campaign will have at least those counties recounted. He said the campaign might request recounts in additional counties depending on resources. A candidate has 48 hours after votes are canvassed at the county level to request a recount so James has until Thursday to make his request to counties. James said he will also petition state Rep. Mike Hubbard, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, and the secretary of state’s office requesting the recount. "The Alabama Republican Party will proceed with the certification of the vote totals for all primary races to the secretary of state by Friday at noon, as required by law," Hubbard said. "The party respects the decision of any candidate to request a recount to ensure every vote has indeed been counted, and counted correctly. Should a recount be requested, the party will follow the guidelines set forth by the secretary of state and in accordance with Alabama law. We will work through the process in an orderly and lawful manner. Once our gubernatorial nominee is selected by the voters on July 13, we look forward to working closely with the campaign to ensure victory in November." James said he had not heard about any irregularities during voting. He said he is in a virtual tie with Bentley for the second spot. Bentley has declared he is the other Republican in the runoff and is moving forward with his campaign. "Now that every vote has been counted, I am honored to declare victory and move forward with the runoff campaign," he said. "I congratulate Tim James for waging a hard fought campaign, but am ready to debate the key challenges facing Alabama with my runoff opponent." Bentley said he will reach out to the supporters of his primary opponents and earn their votes. James said he wants to see the process move forward as soon as possible, expecting it to be done by Monday or Tuesday, so the winner following the recount can campaign in the runoff. He said the runoff needs to be done cordially and with integrity to avoid animosity that could hurt the party. James said there were no disagreements about the procedure during a Monday meeting between all of those involved. With a recount, he said the accuracy should improve and reduce the margin of error. James, his father and former Gov. Fob James, his mother, wife and other family members were at his campaign headquarters in east Montgomery on Tuesday watching the numbers come in from the counting of the provisional ballots. Bentley, a dermatologist, finished 208 votes ahead of James after the initial count. He remained in the second spot after county officials looked through the provisional ballots, which were questioned because of various reasons such as the voter not having proper identification. The winner of the July 13 runoff will face state agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, the Democratic nominee.
Republican candidates for governor meet with party about runoff
State Rep. Mike Hubbard, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, met with the potential runoff candidates for governor on Monday to talk about how the process will work and to try to ensure there will be transparency. "Given the circumstances, and due to some confusion regarding the process, we felt that it was imperative to bring all of the parties involved to the table and have an open and honest discussion," Hubbard said in a statement. "The party understands that this situation must be addressed with the highest degree of transparency, out of fairness to all candidates and to the voters." "Our goal is that when the vote is finally certified, everyone will be confident that the candidates in the runoff were chosen by the voters, and not the party." Former two-year college system Chancellor Bradley Byrne secured a spot in the July 13 runoff, but the men who finished second and third are separated by 208 votes. State Rep. Robert Bentley of Tuscaloosa, who is in the second spot behind Byrne, and Greenville businessman Tim James are waiting for the results of the Board of Registrars counting provisional ballots in their respective counties, which is expected to be completed Tuesday. Secretary of State Beth Chapman also attended the Monday meeting. Hubbard and Chapman have said that protocol must be followed, according to a release from the state party. He said each of the three campaigns understood the "importance of protecting the sanctity of the electoral process, and that the party will follow the law as it relates to any recount." "We appreciate the willingness by each of the candidates to come together and agree to at least protecting the best interest of the party, and that of the electoral process," said Hubbard. "The party's role moving forward will be to ensure that any recount is carried out appropriately, and in accordance with the law." The winner of the runoff will face Democratic nominee Ron Sparks in November.
In his latest ad, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne attacks the Alabama Education Association and rival Tim James, who is among the six Republicans he will face in the June 1 primary.
The Sons of Liberty purchased more than $1 million in TV spots to air beginning this week and running up until the June 1 election. Many of the candidates were concerned they would be targeted. They thought that they would be targeted with this large media buy in the waning hours before the June 1 primary. The ad addresses the effects of gambling, alcohol and drugs, and how candidates have refused to take a stand. The commercial shows pictures of Democrats Artur Davis and Ron Sparks and Republicans Robert Bentley, Bradley Byrne and Tim James. The groups asks people to contact those candidates and ask them whether or not they support gambling in the state. The only top tier candidate who is not shown is Republican Roy Moore.
You can view the ad by going to: http://newlibertysons.com/
Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim James begins a statewide bus tour on Tuesday that will lead up to the June 1 primary, where he will face six other Republicans. He will talk to people throughout the state. James is kicking off his tour at 9 a.m. Tuesday on the Capitol steps in Montgomery. "People want their voices to be heard during these uncertain times when so many Alabamians are out of work," James said. "I want to hear from as many people as possible during my campaign."
Bradley Byrne is slamming fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim James as an insider who benefited from his father's service as governor, which his opponent alleges enabled him and partners to build a toll bridge to the beach. Byrne, one of seven Republicans running for governor, is talking about the work on the Foley Beach Express, a toll road that connects Foley with Orange Beach allowing people to skip much of the traffic. James has talked about the expressway as one of his successes as a businessman and has said no public money went to the building of the project. "Bradley Byrne continues to be wrong on the facts. This is what I've come to expect from a desperate campaign," James said in a statement on Friday. Byrne questioned if James would have been able to accomplish one of his biggest achievements without help from the state while his dad was governor. James was a partner in the Baldwin County Bridge Company L.L.C., which built the Beach Express. Brett Hall, a spokesman for James, said Byrne is confusing two different roads. He said there is the toll road and bridge built by James and his partners, and a bypass. The toll road received no government funding. Foley received about $7 million from the federal government for the bypass, which connects Alabama 59 to the expressway. Byrne said the connector makes the toll bridge viable. "You would have gone through a lot of lights and wouldn't save any time," he said. In May of 1996, then-Gov. Fob James signed legislation approved by state lawmakers that allowed city and county governments in the state to build toll roads and bridges. Tim James and Tim McInnis, according to records with the secretary of state's office, incorporated the Baldwin County Bridge Company L.L.C., in July 1996 to "build/maintain/operate toll bridge." Tim James' campaign pointed to an article in the Mobile Press-Register in April 1996 outlining other toll roads that were planned before James sought a license to build the expressway. Fob James lost the 1998 general election to Democrat Don Siegelman and left office on Jan. 18, 1999. Just days before leaving office, the state signed a contract with the city of Foley for construction of a connector to the expressway. The agreement, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation, led to the construction of a corridor from County Road 20 to Alabama 59, according to the construction agreement. Fob James signed the agreement on Jan 6, 1999. "There is nothing wrong with building a bridge in Orange Beach. Orange Beach needed a bridge," said Byrne, who lives in Baldwin County, which he represented in the state Senate. The problem, he said, is Tim James had no experience building bridges. Hall said James was already in the infrastructure business and that his partner, John McInnis, has built bridges throughout the nation. Foley, which is home to an outlet mall that is a popular stop on the way to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, can become congested. The toll road was expected to help people traveling to the beach save 15 to 45 minutes, and help with evacuations during hurricanes, according to a 2000 article on tollroadsnews.com. McInnis Corp. of Mobile, who partnered with Tim James and his brother on the project, is a "long-established bridge contractor," according to the toll road news. Hall said the genesis for the bypass started before the Foley Beach Express and that the city of Foley had received grant money for the project from the federal government. He said the state was a conduit for the money. "That was a totally separate deal and didn't have anything to do with the Baldwin County bridge," Hall said. "He's mixing it all up as if it were one." He said Fob James' signature was "basically a rubber stamp." Hall said James and his partners did not have to go through the state for most of its permits. "They didn't have to get state permits other than curb cuts and stop lights," he said. Hall said issues related to the bridge were vetted when James ran for governor in 2002. "His father did great things to avoid any appearance of impropriety on anything," he said. Hall said James has regularly talked about the expressway when discussing his qualifications as a businessman "because of the impact it had on Baldwin County both on economic development and the impact on public safety. It is an evacuation route. The county needed it and did not have the funds for it and he came up with a solution. It is a win-win for the county and landowners and all of the people of Baldwin County." James and his partners sold the bridge to a foreign company. Byrne said James is using those profits to help fund his campaign for governor. Byrne criticized James outside the studio of WMRK-107.9 FM, where he was on air on a conservative talk radio show for two hours on Friday. He said James did not want to come on Friday to talk about the expressway even though he has talked extensively about the project and his success as a businessman. James issued a challenge to Byrne on April 22 to participate in a series of debates. "It's time to bring all of the attacks and allegations out in the open. Let's take this beyond dueling press releases and talk show chatter. I call upon Bradley Byrne to debate me, face-to-face, in a public forum," he said in a release at the time. The men appeared together last week on the Leland Live program in the Birmingham market. "Basically our polling numbers show (Byrne) is falling and he's in third place and going down. It just wasn't wise or feasible at this time to go on the show," Hall said. "We had a debate on Leland Live and we were there for two hours. ... It was a thorough conversation between the two of them. They debated the issues. That was as good as it gets." James' original challenge stemmed from the first public dispute between the two men following an April 20 article in the Montgomery Advertiser, which pointed out that ads attacking Byrne were funded by a political action committee that received money from PACs that received hundreds of thousands of dollars directly and indirectly from the Alabama Education Association's PAC. Byrne has had to dedicate much of his advertising to defending ads attacking him as a liberal trial lawyer who supported Democrats. Byrne's campaign alleged, because some of the money went through PACs operated by a consultant who was hired by James to help raise funds, that his campaign was involved in the attack. James said his campaign did not conspire directly or indirectly with AEA to run the ads against Byrne. In later ads, he alleged Byrne was desperate. Hall said Byrne had dropped to third place in their polling. An independent poll released this week indicated Byrne with a narrow lead over James. Byrne said Friday that he leads a very tight race between the two candidates with others in contention including former Chief Justice Roy Moore and state Rep. Robert Bentley of Tuscaloosa. Other Republican candidates include Bill Johnson of Prattville, James Potts of Bibb County and Charles Taylor of Daphne.
Tim James, Republican candidate for governor wants to challenge fellow Republican candidate for governor, Bradley Byrne, to a series of public debates "to bring all of the attacks and allegations out in the open."
"Let’s take this beyond dueling press releases and talk show chatter," James said in a press release Thursday. "I call upon Bradley Byrne to debate me, face-to-face, in a public forum."
James said that there are key differences between him and Byrne that voters need to see. With 40 days left in the primary campaign, James said that it’s time for the people of Alabama to learn the real records of the candidates for Governor.
GOP races for governor, AG wide open, according to poll
The Republican primaries for governor and attorney general are wide open, according to an independent poll released on Monday. Bradley Byrne and Roy Moore are close in a race in the Republican primary for governor while Troy King and Luther Strange are virtually deadlocked in the race to be the state's chief law enforcement officer, according to the poll conducted by Baselice and Associates of Austin on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4. In both races, almost half of those polled were undecided. Brett Hall, a spokesman for gubernatorial candidate and Greenville businessman Tim James, said the campaign conducted a poll at the same time and disputes the numbers released on Monday. Hall agreed that the undecided voters make up more than those selecting any one candidate. He said 31 percent were undecided in their poll. The poll conducted for the James campaign has Moore with 26 percent while Byrne and James are in a "dead heat" for second. Moore is the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. In the James poll, James finished with 18 percent and Byrne with 17 percent. Byrne is a former state senator and former chancellor of the two-year college system. "What we see is a wide open race," Hall said. He said both sides have the objective of converting the undecided voters. "From other sources I am getting, this poll is way off," Hall said. For its poll, Baselice polled 1,007 likely Republican voters with a margin of error of 3.1 percent. Mike Baselice is the pollster for Texas Gov. Rick Perry and has polled for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Montgomery firm of Public Strategy Associates, a Republican consulting and marketing firm, paid for the poll. Brent Buchanan, senior partner at Public Strategy, said they decided to conduct the poll because other groups had conducted polls and not released them. He said the firm has a relationship with Baselice and decided to conduct the poll to show where the candidates stand because they did not have a candidate in the race. "We've got four months and a lot of money to be spent," Buchanan said of the GOP primaries. Public Strategy did represent state Rep. Robert Bentley, a Republican running for governor, from March through October, but no longer works with the candidate. Byrne had 20 percent of the support from those polled while Moore was at 17 percent. James had 8 percent, Bentley had 4 percent, state Treasurer Kay Ivey had 3 percent, and Bill Johnson, former director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, had 2 percent. Forty-six percent of people were undecided. When people were asked about ideology, 55 percent of those polled said they were "very conservative" with 29 percent as "somewhat conservative" and 14 percent as moderate or liberal. "It may not be this conservative if we were talking about a general election survey," Baselice said. Ninety percent of those surveyed also said they would definitely vote in the June primary. Moore had stronger support from the "very conservative" Republicans voters while Byrne was better among the "somewhat conservative" and more moderate voters. When looking at media markets across the state, Byrne finished well ahead of the pack in Mobile while Moore's numbers were consistent in each of the markets. Baselice said if a candidate for governor is persuasive "he could move into the top tier very quickly" because no one has distanced themselves from the competition. Hall said he knows the James campaign is in better shape than the numbers in the Baselice poll. "We're happy with where we are," he said. "We're where we need to be according to the poll. We have a clear strategy to win this race." In the Baselice poll, King garnered 27 percent of the vote in the Republican primary for attorney general while Strange had 24 percent. Strange is a Birmingham lawyer and lobbyist. King is the sitting attorney general. Almost half of people were undecided. "It is still wide open," Baselice said. The participants were also asked about their Republican choices for president in 2012. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee finished ahead of the pack in the state with 33 percent of the vote with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin finishing with 23 percent. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney finished with support from 12 percent of those polled while U.S. Rep. Ron Paul had 5 percent. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty had 3 percent. Twenty-four percent of the Republicans polled said they were undecided on their pick for president in 2012.
A powerful state senator said he and his Democratic colleagues will consider shutting off debate on Thursday on a bill that would use $1 billion over 10 years to improve roads and bridges. Sen. Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, said they might stop debate and try to move forward with a vote if they do not believe the Republicans are serious about moving forward on Thursday. The Senate has debated the bill for three business days, much of it slowdown tactics by Republicans, and is expected to continue debate on Thursday. If the Legislature passes the bill, people would vote on whether they wanted the program in November and the work could begin in 2011. Republicans have concerns about taking $100 million a year for 10 years from the Alabama Trust Fund, royalties the state receives from oil and gas. Some of the money is used for the General Fund budget. "I just don't think now is the time to jeopardize the trust fund or the savings account of the state of Alabama," said Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston. Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, said it makes sense to leave the money and live off of the interest. If money is pulled out, he said there are millions and millions of dollars in interest the state will never see. Sen. Larry Means, D-Attalla, plans to introduce an amendment that would place a floor at $2 billion, which would automatically halt the program if it reached that level and keep it parked until the principal climbed back above $2 billion again. Sen. Ben Brooks, R-Mobile, believes the floor should be at least $2.5 billion and took up much of Tuesday afternoon discussing his proposal. Barron, chairman of the committee that decides which bills come to the Senate floor for debate, thought they might vote on Tuesday. He said he had concerns about voting cloture, or shutting down debate, because it often creates hard feelings, which he did not want so early in the session. Barron, the Senate sponsor of the bill, said they have the 21 votes necessary to pass the bill in the Senate and he expects at least 25 votes. The House sponsor of the bill is Rep. Billy Beasley, D-Clayton. Barron, Beasley, and about a dozen other senators joined road builders for a Tuesday press conference between the State House and large equipment the builders parked along South Union Street. They called on Republicans to stop delaying. Beasley said the work would make Alabama roads and bridges safer. Barron said the bill is more important now with unemployment at 11 percent. He said about as many people are underemployed. Lee Gross of Ozark Striping Company, which he said has 125 employees, said the unemployment rate in the construction industry is 18 percent. State Sen. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, said people could already be working if Republicans did not kill the bill a year ago. Beasley and Barron said the bill would create 30,000 jobs, a number Republicans have disputed. Supporters of the bill said the job creation information is from the Federal Highway Administration. Marsh said that would equate to workers making less than $2 an hour. State Sen. Larry Dixon, R-Montgomery, said the trust fund should be "sacrosanct" and the principal of the money should not be touched because revenues are is used for corrections, public health, and public safety. "When you're having trouble funding government, you deplete one of the major sources by depleting the trust fund," he said. Dixon is concerned that the money will be discretionary and handed out to friends of Democrats. The senator said the bill is the "biggest pork project ever." He said there is language to diminish some of that discretion, but that projects will be line-itemed in the General Fund. The appropriation, according to the bill, "may be made in either the general appropriation act or a separate appropriations act." Dixon believes that puts the discretion in the hands of the General Fund budget committee. "No committee in the Legislature ought to have that discretionary money," he said. While the money will be directed to projects in cities, counties and congressional districts, Dixon said no language in the legislation states that the money will be turned over to local governments. Barron said there is not language that would make the money discretionary. He said most of it would go to the Alabama Department of Transportation or to local governments that would spend it. "They make decisions on how that is spent," Barron said. Seventy-five percent of the money would go to the Alabama Department of Transportation and 25 percent would go to cities and counties. Barron and Bedford criticized proposals by some Republicans, one by Marsh and one by gubernatorial candidate Tim James, that would allow counties to increase their gas tax and that would use bonds to fund construction, respectively. They called those terrible ideas that either increases taxes or increased the state's debt.
Greenville businessman Tim James, a Republican candidate for governor, unveiled a six-point plan on Monday that he says could help the state address its budget shortfall immediately. He suggests implementing unpaid furlough days for employees at all state government operations. James said furloughing all state employees for one day would save $6 million. The State Personnel Board passed a measure to allow furloughs, which members believed would give state agencies another option in addressing budget shortfalls besides layoffs. The Legislature blocked that policy. "We've got to put it back on the table," James said. He said part of campaigning is bringing awareness to issues. Furloughs would avoid layoffs and job cuts, James said. He also suggested an indefinite state hiring freeze, which was implemented by Gov. Bob Riley in late 2008. Riley and James have said the hiring freeze saves millions as workers leave through attrition. They also agree there should be some exceptions including corrections officers. James supports passage of legislation that would create an Office of Inspector General, who would be appointed by the governor and given authority to conduct independent audits and inspections of all state operations. The goal, he said, is to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and to "eliminate waste, fraud and abuse." James also supports random audits of state departments and agencies. The results would be published on the state's Web site. He also wants to reduce all non-essential travel and entertainment, except for economic development, law enforcement, and that related to emergencies. The other facet of his plan is independent reviews of existing and pending state contracts to determine whether they comply with state guidelines and whether there is an opportunity for additional savings through bringing those legal, accounting, engineering, architecture and computer technology services in-house. James said he did not have a total of how much his proposals would save, but that it would not be enough to fill the several hundred million-dollar-hole in the state's budgets. He said the plan helps address the decreased revenue coming into the state without a tax increase. James, who was talking on the State House steps in front of about two dozen supporters, repeatedly emphasized that the state should not rely on money from Washington to balance the budget. "You can’t budget money you don't have," he said. Riley has said the state has to anticipate money from the federal government every year in crafting a budget. The state receives hundreds of millions of dollars to use for Medicaid, transportation, and other programs. A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, a Democrat running for governor, said in a statement that several months ago the congressman released "a detailed plan to audit state government, eliminate waste and fraud and save Alabama taxpayers $664 million." "We welcome Tim James to the cause of taxpayer protection, but find it disappointing that he has introduced a plan that generates no specific savings while wrongly placing a tremendous financial burden on the backs of state employees," said spokesman Alex Goepfert. The candidates, who are among nine who have announced they are running for governor, have more information about their plans on their Web sites.
South Union Street is the blog of Montgomery Advertiser political reporters Markeshia Ricks and Sebastian Kitchen. Always check here for the latest on the Legislature, elections and other activities and players in Alabama.
