Alabama: campaign contributions drying up because of GOP suit
Steve Flowers writes in the Brewton Standard: An issue that looms over all of next year's legislative races has finally been set in motion. The GOP has threatened for more than a year to file a federal lawsuit similar to Georgia in hopes of overturning the legislative district lines approved in 2000.
The suit was filed in Mobile Federal Court which is seen as a Republican friendly venue. At issue is the Republican allegation that a democratically controlled Alabama Legislature packed voters with GOP leanings into a few districts. Indeed most Republican districts are overpopulated while most Democratic districts are under populated. The fact is clear but the question is whether a federal court will order new districts drawn in 2006, six years after the fact and only a few years away from the next redistricting. The Republicans won their case in Georgia based on similar facts causing the Legislature to go from majority Democrat to a Republican majority.
The case will be watched very closely by incumbent legislators of both parties, but the lobbyists and major campaign contributors will be watching even more closely. It has already shut down most campaign contributions because the case could linger throughout 2006 and you could have an election in 2006 and again in 2007.
A good many Montgomery special interests believe there is a good chance this scenario will occur. This cloud will hover over all Legislative and Senate races next year. Speaking of clouds, Don Siegelman has not let the threat of Federal indictment in Montgomery deter his campaign plans. As I have stated previously, the only way that Don Siegelman will not run for governor next year is if he is in jail or dead. -- The Brewton Standard - Opinion
Disclosure: I repesent the Speaker of the House, who has moved to intervene as a defendant.