Strange picks up Sessions endorsement and large ad buy from national GOP group

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October 27, 2014

Alabama’s incumbent Republican Attorney General Luther Strange is locked in a heated race against Democratic challenger State Rep. Joe Hubbard (D-Montgomery), but it looks like he’s about to get some help from Alabama’s most popular elected official and a national GOP group with some big money.

U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is expected to endorse Strange on Tuesday at an event in Mobile, the senator’s hometown.

Sessions is a coveted endorser for Republicans around the state — and even around the country — and the Alabama Republican Party is already utilizing him as their spokesperson in ads running statewide in hopes of driving voters to the polls in what is expected to be a low-turnout election.

Additionally, the Republican Attorneys General Association is releasing a large ad buy slamming Strange’s opponent for being both “unethical” and “liberal.”

According to a spokesperson for the GOP AG’s association, the group has reserved 800 gross ratings points in each the Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville media markets, a strong buy with just a week left until election day.

In addition to questioning Hubbard’s ethics and ideology, the ad cites Yellowhammer’s 2013 list of the “The Top 5 Tax & Spenders in the Alabama Legislature,” in which Hubbard held the unenviable distinction of being No. 1.

The Republican AG’s Association also shared with Yellowhammer the results of a poll they commissioned that shows Strange up 54-37 over Hubbard, in spite of the drama surrounding the race and the huge influx of cash ($1.5 million) Hubbard has received from The Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

With the governor’s race widely considered to be a foregone conclusion and no competitive congressional or U.S. senate races, the AG’s race has become the premier campaign battle this cycle.

The television ad can be viewed below. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4.