Yellowhammer reported several months ago that former Democratic State Rep. Steve Flowers was considering running for the Alabama Public Service Commission as a Republican.
This morning Flowers will make it official. He’s running for the PSC Place 2 seat currently held by embattled Commissioner Terry Dunn.
Flowers was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1982. He boasted a perfect attendance record in the legislature for four consecutive terms before deciding to not seek re-election in 1998.
He now writes a column on state politics that runs in local papers around the state. He also teaches a class on southern politics at Troy University and hosts weekly television and radio shows produced by the university.
Other Republicans challenging Dunn have been on the campaign trail for several months. However, Flowers has roughly $60,000 left in his old state campaign account to help him close the gap.
It will be worth watching to see how Flowers’ candidacy is received by conservatives. He was initially elected to the Alabama legislature as a Democrat. He then ran as a Republican in 2002 and lost. Campaign finance disclosures show he’s been periodically active since then donating to Democrats, including State Sen. Roger Bedford’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2004 and The Alabama Democratic Party in 2005. Today, he’s running again on the GOP ticket.
The PSC race is perhaps a bit more ideologically driven this year because of heightened awareness about environmental issues among conservatives. It’s the main reason Dunn is in such trouble. Flowers’ biggest challenge will be convincing the Republican base that he’s one of them — a viable conservative alternative.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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