After last week’s announcement from Secretary of State John Merrill that he was getting into the 2020 U.S. Senate contest, many assumed the field was set.
Other than Merrill, U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope), former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) have also made formal announcements of a bid for the seat.
However, such a declaration of a settled field could be premature. During an appearance on Birmingham radio’s Talk 99.5, U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) indicated there was the possibility he could still run for the seat.
Host Matt Murphy asked Palmer if he had a preferred candidate among the currently announced field.
“I don’t know that everybody that is going to be in has gotten in yet,” Palmer replied.
“You’re not getting in?” Murphy asked.
“We’re praying about it,” Palmer said.
“Are you still on the fence?” Murphy followed up.
“Well, you know, my wife and I pray about everything, and our attitude is that if we feel led and clearly led to do something, we’re going to do it, whether we want to do it or not. But, what I’m trying to get across to people is that you need to look at the long-term, not the short-term. And long-term is we’ll hold the Senate. I think right now, the president will be reelected. But we have got to get the House back. The first two years of a second administration are really the only opportunity to get anything done. And if we don’t have the House, we will have wasted that.”
Later in the appearance, Palmer laid out a timeline for a candidate, which he indicated an announcement could be made as late as the end of September.
“There will be a termination point where qualifying will close, and I anticipate that will be the end of September, somewhere in that range,” Palmer said. “Certainly by the end of September you’ve got to decide. I think with primary being in March, it’s basically going to be a January to March election primarily because October, you’ll have some ads and things like that. You get into November, you start getting into the holiday season for Thanksgiving and Christmas and nobody is paying any attention.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
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