As mentioned last week, the race for Alabama lieutenant governor will be one of the best on the ballot next year. It will pit two very popular constitutional officeholders striving to capture another secondary constitutional office.
Secretary of State Wes Allen and Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate will be the two horses in this contest. It is so close that it is difficult to say which is the favorite.
One of the factors that will play out is if one of them can do a better job than the other in fundraising. Money is the mother’s milk of politics. It could separate the two if one excels in this important chore. Folks in the political world know who they are, however, today as the race begins, neither would have over 20 percent name identification, and name I.D. is a primary factor in down-ballot races and money buys name ID.
An advantage Allen has is that he is first on the ballot. Contestants are listed on the ballot alphabetically. It is hard to get ahead of A, “Allen.”
An advantage that Pate has is that his current position of Agriculture Commissioner is the best steppingstone. People, especially Alabamians, overwhelmingly admire and like farmers. Pate should make his ads say Agriculture Commissioner, folks may think they are voting for him again for that job. They have elected him twice to that office and probably would like to elect him to a third term. While we are on the topic of agriculture, the Alabama Farmer’s Federation endorsement in this race will be pivotal.
Wes Allen has a unique background in Alabama politics. He was born and raised in Tuscaloosa and spent the first 23 years of his life in Tuscaloosa County. He graduated high school there and stayed home to go to college at the University of Alabama. He was actually a walk-on End for the Crimson Tide. He was there under the tutelage of Gene Stallings and Dabo Swinney.
Wes’s father is popular Tuscaloosa State Senator Gerald Allen. Gerald has been a House member and Senator from Tuscaloosa for four decades.
Wes moved to Troy in his early 20’s. The Probate Judge office in Pike County came open. Wes was appointed by Gov. Bob Riley to the job. He did an outstanding job as Probate Judge of Pike County and became very popular in the county. He moved to the House Seat from Pike/Dale counties for four years, then was elected statewide as Secretary of State.
I tell you this scenario about Wes Allen because I believe it becomes a factor in the race. I have suggested for over two decades in this column that Alabama has a distinct “friends and neighbors” political affinity when electing our state officeholders. It has existed over 100 years and I contend it still exists today. What “friends and neighbors” means is that people will vote for someone from their neck of the woods in state races. Wes Allen has two home area neck of the woods. He will get a homegrown vote in vote-rich Tuscaloosa County and a hometown boy vote in the Wiregrass. They both will claim him, and he will claim both. He’s already doing it. I’ve seen him at all events in the Druid City in the Tuscaloosa News.
The Bible of Southern Politics is V.O. Key’s Southern Politics in State and Nation. Key espouses the importance of “friends and neighbors” politics in southern states and especially in Alabama. His book is over 80 years old. His primary illustration of the importance of “friends and neighbors” is the 1946 Alabama Governor’s race.
“Big Jim” Folsom won that 1946 race because he had two home areas. He was born and raised in Elba in Coffee County in the Wiregrass, then moved to Cullman as a young man to sell insurance for his Uncle Ross Clark’s Mutual Aid Life Insurance Company. Big Jim got over 80 percent of the vote in Cullman and surrounding counties, and he also got over 80 percent of the vote in all the Wiregrass counties. It was enough to win.
By the way, the first major road he built was the Circle around Dothan. He named it for his Uncle Ross Clark.
See you next week.
