Comprehensive Breakdown of the AL-06 GOP Primary

Alabama’s 6th Congressional District:

• R + 29 according to the Partisan Voting Index (Tied with TX-13 for the most GOP friendly district in the country)
• Last Presidential Election: John McCain: 75.91%, Barack Obama: 23.28%

Demographics:

• Population: 635,300
• Median Income: $46,946
• Ethnicity: 88.8% White, 7.7% Black, 0.9% Asian, 1.6% Hispanic, 0.3% Native American, 0.7% other
• Occupation: 22.1% blue collar, 67.7% white collar, 10.2% gray collar

Spencer Bachus

• 10-Term Congressman
• Ubiquitous name recognition in the 6th Congressional District
• About $1,000,000 cash on hand
• Every financial institution in the country will be pitching in to help the House Finance Committee Chairman hold on to his seat

The 10-term Congressman from Vestavia Hills is gearing up for his first significant opposition in about 20 years. Bachus has flatly denied the insider-trading allegations that got widespread attention after a 60 Minutes feature on corruption in Congress.

Is there any truth in the allegations? No one can say for sure. There are mistakes in Peter Schweizer’ book, Throw Them All Out, on which many of the allegations are based — but there are also some eyebrow raising facts.

To try to gain some perspective, I asked a long-time GOP insider what he thought about Congressman Bachus. He told me, “I’ve known Spencer for almost 30 years. I have seen him do a lot to build the party and he’s helped a lot of folks when he didn’t have to. I would vote for him in just about any race.”

Bachus’ conservative voting record is frequently rated as about middle-of-the-pack in the House GOP. A couple of his opponents told me they plan on focusing on his voting record — but if it was so egregious to the people of the 6th District, would he have lasted this long? However, this will be the first time the Congressman has opposition with the platform and resources to shine a light into every crevice of his record.

Here’s the bottom line: the people of the 6th district will decide whether or not they think he’s still trustworthy and will vote accordingly.

Scott Beason

• 2-term State Representative turned 2-term State Senator
• Enjoys intense support from anti-illegal immigration segment of the GOP base
• Staunch conservative voting record in the state legislature

Over the past year, Senator Scott Beason has been hands-down the most polarizing figure in Alabama politics. I would call him the “least likely candidate to get a single Democrat vote in an election.” Fortunately for him, this is a GOP primary in one of the country’s most conservative districts.

His biggest weakness is his fundraising ability. Historically, he has not been a strong fundraiser and he’s going to be competing with Congressman Bachus and Tuscaloosa businessman Stan Pate who will likely spend millions between each other.

However, the short primary levels the playing field a lot and allows Sen. Beason the opportunity to capitalize on his name recognition. If he can raise between $350k and $400k, things will get really interesting.

I asked a GOP lobbyist what he thought about Beason. “I like Scott personally and I think his conservative voting record is very strong,” he said. “But professionally, I’d love to see him win the U.S. House seat. Personal ambition isn’t necessarily a bad thing but sometimes you need to be a team player to get things done. Scott’s not a team player in the state Senate.”

I also asked a GOP State Representative what he thought about the racially charged comments made by Sen. Beason that came out during the bingo trial. He told me, “I don’t think Scott is racist. I’ve known him a long time and he’s never said something like that when I was around. I believe his apology was sincere.”

Stan Pate

• Millionaire real estate developer
• Called for Gov. Riley’s impeachment for his involvement in shutting down bingo facilities

Multi-millionaire developer Stan Pate’s entrance into the race essentially guaranteed a bloodbath will ensue. As for what his presence in the race means for the other candidates, I tend to agree with The Press-Register’s George Talbot:

@TheDaleJackson Pate will kick up dust but draw few votes. Bad combo for Bachus. Last thing he wants is more attention.

— George Talbot (@georgetalbot) January 14, 2012

If Pate fully commits and spends the kind of money he’s cable of, the race becomes extremely unpredictable. If nothing else, Pate is sure to supply us with some unvarnished opinions and creative stunts.

Pate gained notoriety in 2010 for hiring a plane to fly around over the Rose Bowl pulling a sign that read, “Impeach Corrupt Alabama Governor Bob Riley.” He was also convicted later that year in Tuscaloosa Municipal Court of menacing and was ordered to spend 30 days in jail and 150 days on supervised probation. The developer was charged after brandishing a 12-gauge shotgun during a dispute at one of his properties.

David Standridge

• Bount County Probate Judge
• Former Captain of the Blount County Sheriff’s Department
• Former member of the Bount County School Board

Judge Standridge joined Senator Beason in jumping into the race just before qualifying closed on the 13th.

Although Judge Standridge didn’t respond to my request to speak with him, his website cites his grandchildren’s future as his main reason for jumping in the race.

His site lays out the case for why he believes he’s the strongest candidate to get the U.S. fiscal house in order. “As Chairman of the Blount County Commission we paid off all of the county’s long term debt,” He says in his bio. “Blount County’s Debt was paid in FULL! We did this without ever raising taxes. With your help I will take these same principles to Washington.”

With big names like Bachus, Beason and Pate in the race, he’s going to have a tough time expanding his footprint beyond Blount County.

Al Mickle

• Marine Veteran
• Tea Party Activist
• Ran as a write-in candidate in 2010

I had an opportunity this week to speak with Mr. Mickle and get a feel for where he sees himself fitting in in this crowded race.

“I’m tired of watching lifelong politicians ignore the constitution,” he told me Monday morning. “I took an oath in 1988 when I joined the military to defend the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. I just never thought I’d see the day when the domestic enemies were more dangerous than the foreign.”

The interesting point here that I haven’t heard many people mention is that, as a career politician, Sen. Beason is not a typical “Tea Party Candidate.”

Mr. Mickle believes Congressman Bachus is counting on an uninformed electorate when he tauts his voting record. He believes the Congressman voted contrary to the wishes of over 90% of his constituents when he voted for TARP and for raising the debt sealing.

He declined to give specific fundraising goals, but he told me he fully expects to be in a run-off should there be one.

It’ll be tough slogging as a newcomer in a race that includes multiple candidates with high name ID and lots of money.