Senator Jabo Waggoner Chairing Newt Gingrich Alabama’s Campaign

By Brandon Moseley Alabama Political Reporter Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich (R) from Georgia is on a personal quest for the Presidency of the United States.  Before he can get the opportunity to face President Barack H. Obama on November 6 for the Presidency he has to win the Republican Party’s nomination. To win the nomination at the Republican Convention he must win a majority of the delegates from the state primaries and caucuses. Sen. Santorum won Iowa. Gov. Romney won New Hampshire. Speaker Gingrich won South Carolina in a landslide. Three states are done and there are 47 more states to go. In this election cycle, Alabama’s Republican Primary is on March 13 and already Speaker Gingrich has assembled much of his Alabama leadership team. Alabama State Senator Jabo Waggoner has accepted Speaker Gingrich’s invitation to serve as his Alabama State Chairman. The ‘Alabama Political Reporter’ has obtained an exclusive interview with Chairman Waggoner. The first question we asked of the Chairman is why he is backing Speaker Newt Gingrich. Sen. Waggoner’s response said that his relationship with Newt Gingrich goes back to 1984. Sen. Waggoner first met Gingrich when Newt was just a young Georgia Congressman and Waggoner himself was running for Congress against an incumbent Democrat in Alabama’s Sixth District. Then Vice President George H. Bush, former President Gerald Ford, and Rep. Newt Gingrich all came to Alabama to assist Waggoner in raising funds for that 1984 congressional race. Waggoner was ultimately unsuccessful in unseating then Democrat incumbent Benjamin Erdreich but he developed a friendship with the young congressman that has continued over the past 28 years since. Sen. Waggoner admits that he has personal reasons for backing Speaker Gingrich; but Chairman Waggoner said “the ultimate goal is to beat Obama” and he is convinced that Gingrich is the Republican with the best chance of winning the general election. Waggoner said Gingrich’s “biggest strength is his intellect and knowledge of issues and his ability to debate and express his views.” Waggoner believes that Gingrich would make the best President. Waggoner said that the Alabama Newt Gingrich team is still organizing and recruiting people to join their campaign, but the campaign released a preliminary organizational chart to the ‘Alabama Political Reporter,’ which includes people from all over the state of Alabama. Chairman Waggoner said that his goal is to eventually have a Newt 2012 Chairman in every county in Alabama. There will an announcement of the full leadership team at a press conference in the middle of February. Sen. Waggoner says that he believes they can raise enough money to launch a statewide campaign. He says that the campaign is expecting that Gingrich could come to Alabama twice before the primary. The campaign is still organizing the events and working to get them scheduled. Waggoner said that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was Gingrich’s strongest opponent for the Republican nomination. Waggoner said that Romney is very popular with people who make more than $250,000 a year and Romney had so much personal wealth that he could afford to run a campaign deep into the primary season. Waggoner said that he expects that former Senator Rick Santorum to drop out of the race and that his supporters will likely go to Speaker Gingrich. Waggoner said that Rep. Ron Paul has no chance of winning the White House but that Paul’s Libertarian supporters could tip the election to Obama if they backed a third party candidate instead of the eventual Republican nominee. Waggoner said that support from Tea Party assisted Speaker Gingrich’s win in South Carolina and believes that they will support Gingrich in Alabama as well. He said that the Tea Party recognizes that “Newt Gingrich is a real conservative” that supports small government. Waggoner said that the campaign’s numbers are growing every day and he is confident of a victory for Speaker Gingrich in Alabama. Waggoner said that Speaker Gingrich could carry Alabama and win by such a large margin that Gingrich gets all of the available Alabama delegates like he did in South Carolina. Waggoner acknowledged that Gingrich had some “baggage,” but that all of us “have sinned and fallen short” at points in our lives, whether it was recorded or not. Chairman Jabo Waggoner is an attorney. He has served in the Alabama Senate since 1990 and before that served in the Alabama House of Representatives since 1966. He is the Republican Majority Leader in the Senate and recently became Chairman of the powerful Alabama Senate Rules Committee. For more information about former Speaker Gingrich's campaign: http://www.newt.org/   Below is a preliminary organization chart of the Alabama Newt 2012 Leadership Team:   Alabama Newt 2012 Leadership Team Senator Jabo Waggoner - Alabama State Chair Newt 2012   STATE REGIONAL CHAIRS Central Alabama Chair– former State Sen. Larry Dixon South Alabama Chair– former US Congressman Sonny Callahan West Alabama Chair – Sen. Gerald Allen North East Alabama Chair – Sen. Clay Scofield East Alabama Chair – Sen. Gerald Dial North West Alabama Chair – Sen. Greg Reed South East Alabama Chair – Sen. Tom Whatley   COUNTY CHAIRS Jefferson County Chair – Rep. Jim Carns Jefferson County Vice Chair – former State Sen. Steve French North Jefferson County Chair – former State Sen. Jack Biddle Walker County Co-Chairs – former State Sen. Curt Lee & Jeff Grice Elmore County Chair – Mike Holmes Madison County Chair – Sam H. Givhan Blount County Co-Chairs – Kristi Beavers & Mike Currier Marshall & Jackson County Chair – Randy Jones Colbert County Chair – Jim Bonner Franklin County Chair – Bart Moss St. Clair County – Ren Wheeler Sumter County Chair – Billy McFarland Talladega County Chair – Steve Dean Crenshaw & Pike County Chairs – former Alabama Supreme Court Justice                Terry Butts & Suze Butts Geneva County Chair – Chris Bowden Escambia, Baldwin County Chair – Danny Joyner Tuscaloosa County Chair – Rep. John Merrill Trussville Coordinator – City Councilman Wayne Taylor City of Leeds Coordinators – Rep. Dickie Drake & Anita Drake City of Adamsville Coordinator – Mayor Pam Palmer Pinson & Clay Coordinator – former Clay Mayor Dr. Charles Hart     STATE FINANCE CHAIR Sen. Slade Blackwell   COALITIONS & OPERATIONS Communications & Campaign Coordinator – Michael Ciamarra County & Grassroots Campaign Coordinator Statewide Prayer Coordinator – Judy Carns Lawyers With Newt – Co-Chairs Matt Lembke & Johnny Amari Republican Women Co-Chairs – Margie George & Diane Zaragoza Young Republicans Co-Chairs – Brooklyn Roberts & Jim Entrekin College Republicans Co-Chairs - Cliff Sims & Jon Waggoner UAB Campus Co-Chairs – Bradley Watts & Andrew Hays Veterans with Newt – Sen. Bryan Taylor Coalition with Newt to Repeal Obamacare Chair – Rep. Jim McClendon   ALABAMA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Rep. Jack Williams, Chairman of House Republicans for Newt Rep. Jim McClendon, Springville Rep. Jim Patterson, Meridianville Rep. Wes Long, Guntersville Rep. Barry Moore, Enterprise Rep. Dickie Drake, Leeds Rep. Randy Davis, Daphne Rep. Kurt Wallace, Maplesville Rep. April Weaver, Brierfield