By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Friday, November 13, former Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine told the Alabama Political Reporter that he is considering a run for the US Congress representing Alabama’s First Congressional District.
Commissioner Nodine said that he has a lot of support and he has received a lot of positive reaction to his campaign. Nodine said that he likes Congressman Bradley Byrne (R); but would like to push Byrne to run for Governor in 2018 where Nodine says there is a lack of leadership in the prospective field. Nodine said that Byrne’s Republican Primary challenger, former Roy Moore aide: Dean Young, is too extreme to be an effective Congressman and would not represent moderate Republicans, independents, or Democrats.
The Democratic Party does not have a candidate on the ballot; so the Byrne versus Young Republican Primary will decide the Congressman, unless an independent such as Nodine or a minor party candidate qualifies for the ballot. Alabama is a very difficult state to get ballot access in; but Nodine expressed confidence that if he gets in this race that he can gather enough signature from registered First Congressional District voters to qualify for ballot access.
Nodine listed his accomplishments as head of the three member Mobile County Commission as; successful recovery from hurricanes and the recruitment of Thuysenkrupp, Airbus, and Austal to the region. Commissioner Nodine said that he has many friends across the region, especially in Mobile and Baldwin Counties.
Commissioner Nodine had announced plans to run for the office in 2013 when then incumbent Representative Jo Bonner (R-Mobile) announced that he was leaving the Congress to pursue a career opportunity with the University of Alabama System. Then Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead announced that the party would not allow the longtime Republican to run on its ticket because of his federal conviction for gun possession while using an illegal drug (marijuana) and a state conviction for perjury for filing a fraudulent legal aid request.
Nodine made national headlines for his murder trial, when he was accused of murdering his girlfriend, Angel Downs. The first trial ended in a hung jury. When potentially exculpatory evidence was discovered, prosecutors agreed to drop the murder charges (Nodine contends that Downs death was a suicide) in exchange for a guilty plea on the perjury charge. This avoided a costly second trial but the convictions mean that, under state law, Nodine can not run for an office such as County Commissioner or school board ever again. The requirements to run for federal office are set by the Constitution and states do not have the authority to add or subtract from those requirement. To run for the House, you must be at least 25; must be a US Citizen for at least seven years; and you must actually live in the state that you are running to represent.
Nodine said that while he has a good relationship with current Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan he thinks that the party still would not allow him to run as a Republican. This means running as an independent is his only option for getting on the ballot.
Nodine blames prosecutorial misconduct for his being prosecuted in the first place, when the first investigators on the scene believed Downs’s death was a suicide. That information was not made available to the defense in the first trial. Nodine said that his trial ordeal was very humbling. It has made it difficult for him to find a job or to return to his life of public service. Nodine said that his experience with the criminal justice system has gained him some level of sympathy and support from the Black community that could help him in the general election.
The Republican Primary is on March 1. If Nodine qualifies for the ballot, he would face the winner of the Republican Primary next November.
