By Bill Britt
Alabama Political Reporter
MONTGOMERY—Those who know State Representative Joe Hubbard will tell you that he is a fighter. He is currently taking that fighting spirit to his opponent for the Attorney General’s Office, Luther Strange.
Strange who has served as Attorney General for the last 3 plus years, has been relatively quiet in comparison to the full throttled, barnstorming campaign by Hubbard.
“I believe the priorities of the Attorney General’s office have been misplaced and mismanaged over the past 4 years. The reality is, we’ve had an absentee Attorney General,” said Hubbard in an exclusive interview with the Alabama Political Reporter.
Along with what Hubbard characterizes as mismanagement and misplaced priorities, he says that Strange has ignored the real purpose of the Office of Attorney General.
“Let’s be honest: the number one priority for the AG is to make the State safer,” Hubbard says, “This is not something that he [Strange] has been focused on.”
Hubbard, believes that “Big Luther,” has wasted taxpayer’s money to, “Run little old ladies out of bingo parlors,” which he says has not made Alabama safer in any way.
“The only time we see him is when he calls a press conference to announce another raid on a bingo parlor,” said Hubbard.
Hubbard is critical of Strange’s decision to divert manpower and resources from his office, “to wage a senseless, wasteful war on electronic bingo.”
According to Hubbard, Strange has spent at least $2.8 million in State tax dollars with his former law firm Bradley/Arant in his “War on Bingo,” while ignoring the rise in violent crime and other, more urgent matters.
“The current Attorney General is ignoring the real issues in Alabama, which are the rising rate of violent crime, out-of-state drug rings coming into Alabama, preying on our children. That is something I want to change” said Hubbard.
Hubbard, who is a Democrat, says that is has been criticized for not being a partisan even by some in his own party. “I’ve been criticized by people saying I’m not a good Democrat, because I work with both sides to get things done for the greater good,” said Hubbard, “Frankly, it’s a reputation I’ve built…I’m a solutions oriented collaborator. I want to bring folks together to get things done.”
If elected, Attorney General Hubbard says he will refocus the office with a priority on “cracking down on the threats to our children and grandchildren.” Hubbard, believes the current Attorney General is out of touch with the values of the State’s electorate, saying, “The priorities of the current Attorney General just have not been the priorities of the people of this State. And that’s something I want to change.”
