Staff Report
Only one Democrat is running in a statewide judicial race in Alabama this year.
The changed political landscape of Alabama is a marvel to behold these days, giving one cause to ask, “How did this happen?”
In a remarkable reversal of fortune for the Democratic Party, only one person has qualified to carry the party’s banner in a state judicial race this year. Ten judicial races are on the ballot.
The Republican Party began asserting itself in the mid-1990s after spending 130 years in the shadow of Reconstruction. Now, all the state’s constitutional offices are filled by Republicans.
Sadly, much of the shift has occurred along racial lines. It’s almost impossible to find African-Americans in the GOP, while outside a few blue collar districts, such as the Shoals, it’s almost impossible to find white Democratic voters.
Even Democrats concede that the Republicans have done a masterful job of painting themselves as the party of the average Alabamian, touting “conservative” and “family” values as the party’s cornerstones. Never mind that Republicans say they are the pro-business and low-tax party, neither of which benefits working people or their values.
