When two-term Republican state Rep. Robert Bentley, a Tuscaloosa physician, kicked off his campaign for governor last May with a rally at Capitol Park and a two-day bus tour of the state, it may have seemed quixotic to many, especially those not living in West Alabama.

It's Bentley's first statewide race. Although he's been a diligent, hard-working member of the Alabama House of Representatives and shown a willingness to work across party lines, he was never one to grandstand or seek the limelight on hot issues that may have made him better known in Alabama.

But during Thursday's "Tuscaloosa Day" - one of 11 such days in which he plans intensive, all-day campaigning in towns, cities, counties and enclaves where there are high concentrations of Republican voters likely to go to the polls for the June 1 primary - Bentley seemed convinced that he is making headway in a wide-open field of mostly better-known GOP candidates.

 Of the five main contenders seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination, Bentley is the only one who has not run for or held a statewide public office. He said he has work to do with only 28 percent of Alabamians recognizing his name in a recent poll. 

He also trails three of the Republicans. Those candidates are businessman and former gubernatorial candidate Tim James, former Chancellor of the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education Bradley Byrne, and State Treasurer Kay Ivey - in campaign funds to spend during the next three months leading up to the primary. 

Byrne said he has about $90,000 in "cash on hand," while state campaign records as of Jan. 31 showed James had $2.61 million to spend. Byrne had $1.82 million and Ivey $1.56 million. Of the top-tier candidates, only former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was badly beaten in his bid to unseat outgoing Gov. Bob Riley in the 2006 Republican primary, reported less money in his coffers than Bentley, with just $145,000 cash on hand. 

Bentley points out that Moore, who earned national recognition when he was stripped of his seat on Alabama's highest court after refusing federal court orders to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments from the State Judicial Building, is by far the best known Republican in the race. 

"He has a name recognition of 91 percent and leads in just about every poll I've seen, based simply on the fact that people know who he is," Bentley said. "That is bound to change in the weeks to come as the voters of Alabama get to know all of us better, and I am convinced I will be among the top finishers." 

That remains to be seen, but a runoff in the GOP primary is likely. If Bentley continues his hard work, our hometown candidate could make a surprising showing. 

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