FULL DISCLOSURE: I like former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and I think he was/is the Trump administration’s MVP. I also think Trump should leave him alone. But I don’t think he should enter the race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.
Sessions is everything good about President Donald Trump with none of the bad.
Regardless of my feelings, Jeff Sessions is likely going to get into the Senate race. It seems to be all but certain as multiple sources indicate he is forming a campaign team.
Sessions has been calling key people in Washington, D.C. and throughout the state. Odds are he’s gotten favorable polling and has received commitments from some big-time money players.
There had been rumors of an ALFA poll showing Sessions six points behind Tuberville, which is much closer than any candidate in this race right now; that was with Tuberville in the race and spending money as Sessions did nothing.
A little bit of time and money could move those numbers into the margin of error, or even potentially give Sessions frontrunner status pretty quickly.
Club for Growth has suggested that they would back another run by Sessions for his old seat, and the money from them alone would immediately make him formidable.
Sessions also has about $2.8 million left in his campaign account, so he instantly becomes the GOP frontrunner in that category.
We had been hearing whispers for weeks, but now they are more like screams.
Most of those screams should be coming from Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope), Secretary of State John Merrill and State Representative Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs).
The reasoning is simple: Most of the voters supporting a Jeff Sessions candidacy will be coming from those guys.
Tommy Tuberville? He’s not a politician and loves Trump.
He is the anti-Sessions, so this probably won’t hurt his numbers.
Roy Moore? He is Roy Moore. He could marry a 15-year-old girl in the middle of the Gadsden Mall and his supporters wouldn’t care. Sessions’ entry doesn’t harm him one bit. Moore will be right where he wants to be right now — in the teens.
But this move could really hurt Bradley Byrne.
Byrne and Sessions have had a very close relationship for years, but by doing this, Sessions makes it very possible that Byrne does not make the runoff. Byrne campaign press secretary Lenze Morris told Yellowhammer News that he is committed to the Senate race, with or without Sessions in it.
If Sessions gets in, Byrne should probably drop down into the race for his congressional seat, which he would probably win.
The play for the Sessions crowd seems to be that he can take almost all of Byrne’s support and eek by Roy Moore, creating a Sessions-Tuberville runoff with a clear choice: A qualified statesman who knows what he’s doing and whose policies led to President Donald Trump or a football coach who sounds like a Fox News host.
This is a gamble for Jeff Sessions. Can he wipe the embarrassment of his treatment by President Trump away with a Senate win, or will he go down in defeat while the president gloats about him losing the primary?
Either way, I doubt the Twitter user at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is going to sit this one out.
Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
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