Primary 2010: Governor (R)

While the Democrats are only fielding two candidates, the Republicans will be fielding SEVEN. As a result, the looks at each candidate will be more cursory. With so many candidates, a runoff seems likely.

The top three candidates are Bradley Byrne, Tim James, and Robert Bentley. Surprisingly, Roy Moore comes in a distant fourth, polling much lower than I would have expected him to. Long-shots Bill Johnson, Charles Taylor, and James Potts round out the field. We’ll start at the bottom and work our way up:


James Potts
Potts hasn’t run much of an active campaign at all. He’s pretty much a non-entity in the race. He tends to toe the party line on issues… against gambling, pro-gun, etc. His “positions” page contains 25 different issues and what he thinks about them. Potts is a long-shot candidate with no realistic chance to win.

You can find his website here:
http://www.pottsforgovernor.com/php/index.php



Charles Taylor
Taylor hasn’t run much of an active campaign, either. The only issue on his platform page is abortion, which he is steadfastly against. Taylor is a long-shot candidate with no realistic chance to win.

You can find his website here:
http://www.votetaylor2010.com/


Bill Johnson
Johnson seems to be running a more active campaign than Potts or Taylor, but it’s not gathering much momentum. His website seems more professional and better organized. Johnson is a long-shot candidate with no realistic chance to win.

Johnson supports a statewide vote to legalize gambling, which he views as a revenue stream that “would help close the gap on some of our funding shortages.” In my opinion, we don’t HAVE funding shortages, we have over-spending, but…

Most of his issues fall in line with his experience at ADECA, being economic, employment, and education issues. He also supports an I&R (Initiative and Referendum) law.

You can find his website here:
http://www.billjohnson.org/


Roy Moore
Moore is a former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, and has campaigned energetically throughout the state. He is campaigning with a rather catchy song, and even holds many positions that are admirable.

He wants to reduce the size of government by lowering taxes and starving it smaller, supports a two-term limit for legislators, and switching teachers to a merit pay system. He also opposes gambling and believes we should have to show a picture ID to vote.

As I said, there are many good reasons to vote for Roy Moore.

You can find his website here:
http://www.moore2010.com/


Robert Bentley
Bentley started out as a long-shot, then surged ahead rapidly. That surge has dissipated, and he is now trying to regain momentum so he can at least make a two-way runoff. He has served in the legislature (House) since 2002, and sponsored some pretty good bills. For example, he sponsored one of the several “Health Care Freedom Acts” that were introduced during the 2010 session.

Many of Bentley’s ideas on health care seem logical and sound… though not all. He has signed the “No New Taxes” pledge, for example. One of my problems with Bentley is he seems to favor big government action to “solve“ some problems. He wants a state-run insurance pool, a cabinet official to “encourage the creation and expansion of small business in Alabama,” and he voted against forming charter schools in Alabama.

Though Bentley is currently running third in polling data, the possibility remains that he could supplant James as the number two man in the runoff election that is almost inevitable.

You can find his website here:
http://www.robertbentley2010.com/


Tim James
James is currently polling second in the Republican primary for Governor, and seems willing to run his campaign on controversial stances. His most famous (infamous) is his English-only driver’s license advertisement. His theme is “common sense,” and it seems to be resonating with voters… allowing him to draw closer to Byrne.

Many of his “common sense” stances strike me as just that. For example, he claims that most new businesses come from inside the state, so out-of-state businesses should not get economic incentive denied to Alabama businesses. Other positions don’t make as much sense, such as a state-run, statewide broadband network providing Internet access. Actually, James doesn’t SAY the network should be state-run, but I don’t know how else he could realistically accomplish this goal.

I don’t see much of a limited-government candidate in James. He talks about lowering taxes, but proposes new spending programs. For example, he wants to make sure that ALL school kids will have access to a computer. In that all schools have a computer lab of some kind, they already do, so this initiative must involve more than that.

You can find his website here:
http://www.timjames2010.com/


Bradley Byrne
Byrne is the front-runner in this election, and in the likelihood that a runoff election will be held, he will run against either Tim James or Robert Bentley. He is the establishment favorite, endorsed by more of the GOP leadership than any other candidate.

Byrne opposed a constitutional convention, supporting instead a recompilation of the constitution on an article by article basis. He supports more education funding, but also wants to reform tenure and establish charter schools in the state. He pledges not to raise taxes and to “live within our means,” but doesn’t offer a strategy to do so or a plan to get the Legislature to go along. He opposes ObamaCare… but that article references Democrat leaders who are “determined to pass legislation.” This indicates that it was written prior to passage and not updated since.

You can find his website here:
http://byrneforalabama.com/


With seven candidates on the ballot, we have some good choices to make. I have not yet selected my candidate, though I am leaning towards Tim James.