“Rumors and Rumblings” is a weekly feature that runs each Wednesday. It includes short nuggets of information that we glean from conversations throughout the week. Have a tip? Send it here. All sources remain confidential.
1. Marc Keahey in the crosshairs again
Senator Marc Keahey (D-Grove Hill) survived the Republican onslaught in 2010 by fighting off Republican Tea Party candidate Danny Joyner in Senate District 22. Keahey outspent Joyner roughly 8 to 1, and garnered 55% of the vote in a Democrat-leaning district. But after 2010’s redistricting, the district now leans Republican, and Joyner is said to be teeing up another run.
District 22 is the largest Senate district in the state and includes portions of Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe and Washington counties.
2. Taking on the old guard
Senator Harri Anne Smith has represented the Dothan area in the State Senate since 1998. She survived a tumultuous election cycle in 2010 that included indictments, getting kicked off the Republican ballot, and a challenge from one of the area’s most respected businessmen.
Heading toward 2014, rumblings around the State House are that Smith has not completely made up her mind about seeking reelection in 2014. But if she does run, Dothan Young Republicans Chairman Brandon Shoupe is said to be considering challenging her. Shoupe is the owner and founder of Strategy6, an web design, SEO, and internet marketing firm in Dothan.
3. Democrat Party still paying off decade-old debts
Did former ADP chairman Mark Kennedy take all the donors with him to his new organization, the Alabama Democratic Majority, and leave Joe Reed with all the Party debt and no way to pay it? Apparently so, according to sources familiar with the Democrat Party’s financial woes. How long as this debt existed? Talk around the State House this week is that some of the Party’s debt is leftover from former Governor Don Siegelman’s lottery campaign that took place well over a decade ago.
4. Bills Still in Play
As the legislature winds down, there are still some major pieces of legislation yet to be passed by both chambers. A “fix” to the Accountability Act and the General Fund and ETF budgets are three examples of the major hurdles left to clear. Significant differences still exist between House and Senate versions of these bills. How much of a pay raise will teachers get? Will the state pay for teachers’ liability insurance? How much will pre-k funding be increased? Will the gun bill compromise pass? Those are a few things to lookout for.
Lobbyists are watching closely this week to see how wrangling over the above issues will effect their bills.
What else is going on?
1. FDA makes morning-after pill available over the counter to 15-year-olds
2. Sessions Signs Letter Seeking to Defund Common Core
3. Alabama Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Program Leads Nation in Quality Once Again
4. Inside Baseball: How Roger Bedford almost turned the legislative session on its head
5. Compromise reached on gun bill
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