“Rumors and Rumblings” is a weekly feature that runs each Wednesday. It includes short nuggets of information that we glean from conversations throughout the week. Have a tip? Send it here. All sources remain confidential.
1. For the first time ever, we’re only going to have one Rumor & Rumbling this week. I’ve decided to postpone what I was previously planning to post so we can focus on a breaking story that promises to shakeup the Alabama Republican Party.
Yellowhammer has learned that Governor Robert Bentley will publicly announce his support of current ALGOP Steering Committee member Matt Fridy for Alabama Republican Party Chairman. “This will move the Party toward a unified front for the first time since the state Party leadership shakeup after the 2010 GOP wave,” a source close to Governor Bentley told Yellowhammer.
Matt Fridy is a Montevallo attorney who had a very successful stint as Shelby County Republican Party Chairman. He previously served as staff attorney for Republican Judges Bill Thompson and Glenn Murdock and is currently 6th Congressional District Chairman for the State Party.
The support of the Governor is historically tantamount to election in state Party chairman races. It’s quickly becoming apparent that the perceived — and much talked about — rift in the Alabama Republican Party is in reality one man on an island by himself fighting for the status quo and the rest of the Party’s leadership moving forward.
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