An Inside Look at the Race for Chief Justice

Candidates:

Chuck Malone:
– Current Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court
– Former Chief of Staff to Gov. Robert Bentley
– Circuit Judge from 2000-2010
– Adjunct professor at the University of Alabama Law School for 6 years
– Practiced law for 20 years before being elected to the bench
– Money Raised as of Jan. 5: $269,515

Judge Malone is well-known on campus at UA as one of the most popular professors during his time at the University. He was also well-liked behind the scenes as Governor Bentley’s chief of staff and top advisor.

Charles Graddick:
– Circuit Judge in Mobile County 2004-Present
– Alabama Attorney General 1978-1986
– Unsuccessfully ran for Governor in 1986
– Extensive private practice experience
– Money Raised as of Jan. 5: $346,519

Judge Graddick has been a staple in Alabama politics for decades. In the 1980’s, Graddick won the Democratic primary for Governor only to be stripped of his victory by the party on the grounds that he encouraged Republicans to crossover and vote in the Democratic primary. The ensuing chaos led to Guy Hunt becoming the first Republican Alabama governor since reconstruction.

After spending time in private practice and short stints as Montgomery County’s District Attorney, he was appointed by Governor Riley to be a Circuit Judge in Mobile County after Judge William McDermott died in May 2004

Roy Moore:
– Chief Justice of Alabama Supreme Court 2001-2003
– Circuit Judge, Sixteenth Judicial Circuit 1992-2000
– Unsuccessfully ran for Governor in 2006 & 2010
– Briefly formed an exploratory committee to run for President of the United States in 2011
– Money Raised as of Jan. 5: $78,000

Judge Moore’s name recognition reached ubiquitous levels in 2003 after he defied a federal judge’s order to remove the 10 commandments from the state courthouse. He’s a hero among many in the evangelical base of the GOP. If you’ve never had the opportunity to see Judge Moore stumping on the campaign trail, it’s worth dropping by one of his events to watch. One second he’s quoting Thomas Jefferson’s memoirs and obscure parts of the Constitution, the next thing you know he’s quoting entire chapters of the bible verbatim — all from memory.

Here’s the rundown and a some info that’s not floating around publicly:

In 2010, Alabama’s Supreme Court race was the second most expensive in the country — and that was no outlier. Alabama court races led the nation in spending between 2000 and 2009 as business interests and trial lawyers duked it out. In a reflection of larger economic trends, fundraising is down considerably this year.

I learned last week that a poll taken within the last month showed Judge Moore leading the way at around 40%, Judge Graddick at just under 30% and Judge Malone down around 10%. Although the poll was never released publicly, donors who have traditionally been major players in judicial races expressed to me that the poll has been the subject of many conversations behind the scenes.

Judge Malone has the most work to do on building name ID. He probably should have gotten on TV a long time ago — even if it was just on Fox. He just hasn’t. This could turn out to be a huge strategic error. With the early primary less than 8 weeks out, he has a LONG way to go.

Malone received the Alabama Civil Justice Reform Committee (tort-reform) endorsement — which is normally the biggest pre-election prize for judicial candidates. However, many insiders are questioning whether or not the ACJRC has as much money to pump into races as they have in the past. The economic downturn has really hit fundraising and courts aren’t viewed with quite the same amount of urgency in the business community right now. So, how much of a boost is he going to get from being the ACJRC candidate? There are 11 judicial races on the ballot and money is tight — so probably not as much as usual.

The wild card for Malone is Governor Bentley. Will he step in and pump resources into his former chief of staff’s campaign? And an even deeper question: was Bentley able to build a sustainable organization in a way that Malone would be able to tap into it — or was he just riding the 2010 Republican wave?

Roy Moore has massive name ID and will likely be in the runoff should one materialize. He’s been laying low to this point. When is he going to seize the spotlight like he’s tried to do in past campaigns? I’m curious to see if there is any noticeable overlap between Moore supporters and Tea Party folks. I haven’t seen much to this point and the Tea Party hasn’t spent their time protesting social issues. Much of his money support has always come from out of state. He’s typically a weak fundraiser inside Alabama.

Judge Graddick’s name recognition is solid and he’s leading the pack in fundraising right now. He has Steve Windom raising money for him which is a huge boost, particularly in the business community. Windom, who is a former Lt. Governor and State Senator, has been a major player in Alabama politics for decades and has an extensive network.

Another interesting side-note is that Graddick’s campaign is being run by Bryan Sanders. Sanders is Mike Huckabee’s son-in-law and ran Bentley’s campaign for governor in 2010.

Keep an eye on the Business Council of Alabama. The BCA is holding a meeting Monday to decide who, if anyone, they will endorse. ACJRC and the BCA have frequently endorsed the same candidates over the years because of ideological similarities. BCA’s PAC now has much deeper pockets than ACJRC. Although they would probably be fine with either Malone or Graddick as the nominee, I would not be surprised if the BCA steps out and endorses Graddick because of his strong position in the polls.

While the AL-06 congressional race will dominate headlines for the next couple of months, this is in my opinion the marquee race to watch.