This week’s “Rumors & Rumblings” are coming to you a day late because we were digging around for a little more info on a couple of rumors. Have a tip? Send it here.
1. The Mobile Bay area is buzzing with the idea of Republican State Representative Randy Davis running for Mayor of Daphne. Davis is currently serving his third term in the Alabama House of Representatives but many Daphne residents are hoping he will take a shot at the Mayor’s office.
Longtime city councilman Bailey Yelding was selected by the Daphne city council in Oct. 2011 to finish out the term of Mayor Fred Small who resigned in a surprise move last year. City Councilmen Derek Boulware and John Lake are also seeking the seat and current Mayor Bailey Yelding says he is considering running as the incumbent even though he said when he was selected last year that he would not run. Municipal elections are August 28 but candidate filing deadlines are still over a month away.
2. Rumors have been flying around for months that a Republican governmental affairs firm was working behind the scenes with the AEA to kill the GOP’s charter schools legislation. This week the rumors reached a boiling point as multiple GOP Senators began connecting the dots from the firm to the teachers union. One insider summed up the feelings of many of the legislators and staffers involved when he said, “Pick a side. I don’t care which one. But it can’t be both.”
3. Many insiders believe Democrat State Representative Richard Lindsey will be elected the next ALFA President when Jerry Newby steps down from the post in December. Lindsay has been a member of the House since 1983. While Lindsey is the odds-on favorite against four other candidates, some insiders remain surprised that ALFA isn’t angling toward a President with closer ties to the new Republican leadership.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.