Alabama State Rep. Harry Shiver (R-Bay Minette) easily beat back a primary challenger on Tuesday, winning 60 percent of the vote to all but assure himself of himself a third term in the Legislature.
Upon getting news of his victory, Shiver lashed out at some of the conservatives who opposed him during the election.
“That old boy, he didn’t do nothing against me,” Shiver said of his opponent, James Hall. “The tea party did. The tea party was my nemesis. They’re not getting nothing from me for the next four years. I am going to be vicious on them for the next four years… It’s going to be a bleak four years for them.”
Shiver unsuccessfully ran for the House as a Democrat in 1990, but won his current seat as a Republican in 2006. Hall recently ran for Congress in Alabama’s 1st District as an independent, but ran against Shiver as a Republican.
Today, local tea party groups penned a letter demanding Schriver’s resignation and asking the Speaker of the House to take disciplinary action against him. They cited House Rule 50 as the basis for their complaint, although it appears the rule may only apply to members speaking on the floor of the House. The rule states that members of the House “shall refrain from making personal, insensitive, derogatory, contemptuous, or disrespectful comments regarding the ethnicity, economic status, race, or social characteristics or demographics of the constituents of a member’s district.”
Zan Green, Founder of the Rainy Day Patriots and a constituent of Shiver’s, said she believes “there should be no place in civil politics for threats of viciousness towards any one group of individuals. Attacking members of the tea party, a grassroots organization established to protect the civil liberties and rights of individuals, should be seen as no different than attacking a group of individuals based on their race, religion or other common characteristics.”
“Representative Shiver has disgraced our district, the republican party and the Alabama State House with his threats and efforts to bully his own constituents. On behalf of those almost 40% he will be promising a ‘bleak four years’ to, I call for his resignation.”
The leaders of 12 other Tea Party groups joined Green in signing the letter.
A request for comment from Shiver and Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard was not immediately returned.
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