We all knew that this 2026 election year was going to be a big year in Alabama politics. This year’s biggest race will be for the U.S. Senate Seat of Coach Tuberville.
The key to winning this seat like any open U.S. Senate Seat is having or garnering campaign money. Having your own money is always paramount to winning a coveted senate seat anywhere in America. That is why it is referred to as the “Millionaire’s Club.” Although, in today’s world, it more accurately could be called the “Billionaire’s Club.” Over the course of history, it has seen the names of Kennedy, Rockefeller, Danforth, and Kohler.
Another advantage for rich candidates is that the big Washington special interest lobbyists – big dollar contributors – have an unwritten rule that they do not contribute to primaries in wide-open, non-incumbent, senate races. Instead, they wait for the general election. The problem with this for candidates from totally Republican states like ours is that our GOP primary is our election. Therefore, a well-heeled candidate with their own money is in the catbird’s seat.
The two apparent front runners for our open U.S. Senate Seat are Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and First District Congressman Barry Moore. A third candidate is Navy SEAL Jared Hudson. He has movie star good looks and if someone could drop $10 million into his race he would sell. Both Barry Moore and Steve Marshall are very conservative candidates. However, they are both of modest means financially.
Marshall has nothing to lose by running for the senate. He has served his two-term limit as Alabama’s Attorney General. Thus, he simply is striving to move up the political ladder. Whereas if Congressman Barry Moore loses his seat in the U.S. Congress, he is out. Congressmen run every two years, so it is a big political gamble to run for a senate seat. Thus, the old adage – the political graveyard is full of congressmen, who have tried to move to the senate.
The winner of this race will be the one who can tap the Washington spigots of right-wing, fringe, dark money that plays on the Potomac. The biggest player in the right-wing Washington clandestine money pot is the now renowned Club for Growth. They are the Daddy Warbucks of the extreme right wing and are THE players in open U.S. Senate races in conservative Republican states. In fact, they only play in Republican primaries in Republican states. They are hidden deep pocketed donors, who believe in no government.
Ironically, the congressmen who are owned by the Club for Growth come from districts that are the most dependent on military, thus big government spending. The prime example was Alabama’s former Congressman Mo Brooks from Huntsville, who routinely voted against his district’s needs in favor of the Club for Growth. This group is not only anti-government, but anti-Trump. Trump hates them and does not like them owning Republican seats.
Club for Growth congressmen belong to the Freedom Caucus within the Republican ranks and these right-wing clones proudly display their Freedom Caucus membership. Washington insiders and mainstream Republicans recognize them as nuts. The Republican leadership relegates them to the back benches and does not allow them any plum committee assignments. However, these Freedom Caucus Club for Growth extremists do not care because they do not want to get anything done for their districts or state anyway. They thrive on being ineffective. All they want to do is sit on their back bench pews, bark at the moon, and throw reactionary bombs. They adamantly believe it is not their responsibility to help or bring home the bacon for their districts.
The Club for Growth owned two of our congressmen before Brooks left the House to get beaten for the Senate. They now own one. Congressman Barry Moore is their boy. The Club for Growth was doing extensive polling to determine if they could elect him, which is why Moore was late entering the race. This Club is the reason Barry Moore upset Jerry Carl in the new First District two years ago. Carl was blindsided by the Club’s big bucks, sophisticated polling, and ability to hide their money.
The Club for Growth would love to own five or six Republican senate seats. There is no telling what they will spend to buy this Senate seat for their boy Barry Moore. Poor Steve Marshall cannot imagine what is going to hit him. This race will not be decided in Alabama. It will be decided by deep, dark money in Washington.
See you next week.
Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at [email protected].
