Battle Lines Are Drawn in Alabama’s U.S. Senate Race

A fierce battle erupted this week in Alabama’s U.S. Senate race and the cannon fire is echoing nationwide.

On one side is the U.S. Senate Republican’s campaign arm, the NRSC, and its close ally, Super PAC Senate Leadership Fund, both working to keep Luther Strange in the U.S. Senate. On the other side is the Republican President Pro Tem of the Alabama Senate, Del Marsh, who’s contemplating a run against Strange this summer.

A quick background: this winter, when Jeff Sessions left the U.S. Senate to become the country’s Attorney General, former Governor Robert Bentley appointed Strange to fill the vacant seat. Before long, Bentley resigned and Governor Kay Ivey set a special election for the seat on August 17. When other Republicans, like Marsh, said they might run against Strange, lines were quickly drawn in the sand.

The first shot across the bow was from the NRSC, who made it clear that any campaign consultant who works for anyone but Strange will be blackballed.

Marsh traveled to D.C. this week to have a face-to-face with the NRSC in hopes of changing their mind. As he told the Montgomery Advertiser: “All I would ask is that they let Alabama choose its senator…They said ‘Well, we protect our incumbents.’ I said ‘Well, I don’t consider Gov. Bentley’s hand-chosen senator to be the incumbent. I think the people will choose that in an election cycle.”

Clearly, the NRSC didn’t change its mind, and this whole debate is about whether or not Strange’s appointment to the Senate entitles him to be treated as the incumbent.

The facts are, Strange is the sitting U.S. Senator who was appointed by the Governor, as the law prescribes. Strange was also Alabama’s Attorney General at the time of his appointment and he was investigating the Governor who appointed him. Moreover, about three months before his appointment, Strange asked the House Judiciary Committee to suspend its impeachment investigation of Bentley. Strange said the reason for this request was so the House investigation wouldn’t compromise his own investigation. In a letter to the House Committee handling the impeachment he wrote, “I respectfully request that the Committee cease active interviews and investigation until I am able to report to you that the necessary related work of my office has been completed.” For this reason, Strange dismisses any connection between the investigation and the appointment.

Although Marsh wasn’t investigating the Governor considering the appointment, the NRSC says it doesn’t matter: his claims that Strange shouldn’t be treated as the incumbent aren’t valid. They point out that Marsh was also close to Bentley and if Marsh had gotten the appointment, he’d want to be viewed as the incumbent too. As Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) spokesman Chris Pack put it, “A lot of people in glass houses are throwing stones in Alabama, and they will quickly realize that this won’t be going unanswered.”

Giving teeth to his warning, the Senate Leadership Fund has asked Governor Ivey for a record of all correspondence between Marsh and Bentley. Clearly, if Marsh plans to use Bentley against Strange, the D.C. PACs will likewise attempt to use Bentley against Marsh, and their opposition research is underway.

“This request is for records and information relating to correspondence, records of meetings… telephone calls…and any other records and information relating to communications between Alabama Governor Robert Bentley and Senator Del Marsh,” SLF lawyer Steve Saxe, stated in his request to Ivey.

Making this issue even more interesting is the fact that Marsh hasn’t even declared his candidacy to run against Strange. Other Republicans who have announced include State Representative Ed Henry and former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Roy Moore. However, Marsh is an influential figure backed by considerable business-community wealth, so it’s apparent that Strange’s campaign perceives Marsh as their biggest threat.

As Republican strategist Austin Barbour told Politico: “Look, Del Marsh is a serious human being. He’s accomplished a lot of things. I’m sure there are a lot of people in the business community as well as Washington who are making decisions between Luther Strange and Del Marsh.”

Clearly, Marsh’s influence back home hasn’t given pause to the NRSC or the Senate Leadership Fund. As NRSC’s communications director Katie Martin said: “We have made it very clear from the beginning that Sen. Luther Strange would be treated as an incumbent.”

On that point, there is no longer any doubt. As Marsh said, “I’ve been told pretty straightforward that a lot of money will be spent by Washington to ensure Luther Strange stays as Gov. Bentley’s picked senator.”

In three and a half months, this war will be over when the voters get their chance to speak. In the meantime, bullets will fly in a race that will take untold millions to win, and this week’s cannon fire is an early skirmish that will pale in comparison to the fever-pitch battles the long, hot summer is likely to bring.