Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice and attorney general candidate Jay Mitchell is intensifying his criticism of Katherine Robertson’s campaign funding, calling a $1.1 million donation she received from an out-of-state nonprofit “an unprecedented attempt to buy an Alabama election.”
“Alabama voters deserve to know exactly who is trying to buy influence over their elected officials,” Mitchell said. “When a candidate for the state’s top law enforcement job accepts more than $1.1 million from an out-of-state shell group with no donor list, no tax filings, and no other recorded activity outside of this donation—that’s not just a side note. It’s an unprecedented attempt to buy an Alabama election. This dark money, and my opponent’s refusal to reveal its real source(s), goes to the very heart of integrity in this race. That’s why I’m sounding the alarm.”
Robertson’s campaign received the donation from First Principles Action Inc., a nonprofit tied to Peter Bisbee, former executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association. The group endorsed Robertson this month, a rare move for an organization that has only endorsed in a handful of open-seat races over nearly three decades.
Robertson has not yet publicly responded to Mitchell’s comments, but her campaign has pointed to the RAGA endorsement as evidence of her credibility with conservative legal leaders.
Alabama law allows nonprofits like First Principles Action to make political contributions without disclosing their donors, a practice critics such as Mitchell argue leaves voters in the dark about who is influencing elections.
Mitchell argued that the issue is about more than just campaign finance.
“As Attorney General, I’ll be making decisions that affect families, law enforcement, businesses, and the rights of every Alabamian,” Mitchell said. “People need to know I’m fighting for them—not some leftist billionaire or shadowy network of operators in other states. Voters are telling us they want an AG who puts Alabama first, and I intend to be that Attorney General.”
Mitchell has also criticized Robertson for accepting $150,000 from real estate investor Hugh Culverhouse Jr., who previously called for a University of Alabama boycott over the state’s abortion law, and $10,000 from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, whose casino operations he described as “big gambling.”
The former justice has cast his own fundraising as a contrast, saying nearly all of his reported $2 million came from Alabama donors, including $600,000 rolled over from his 2022 Supreme Court campaign.
With the race already breaking fundraising records, Mitchell’s latest challenge shows how the battle over money may define one of Alabama’s most closely watched political contests heading into 2026.
