Bentley for Governor Adds to Leadership Team

TUSCALOOSA- The Bentley for Governor campaign announced new additions to its leadership team today.

Bryan Sanders, who served as Campaign Manager for the Bentley for Governor campaign during the GOP runoff, and is based in Little Rock, AR, will resume his role with Bob Wickers at Dresner, Wickers, and Associates as General Consultant, Media Consultant, and Pollster for the Bentley campaign.

Angi Smith, who previously worked on Robert Bentley's campaign for State Senate in 1998 and was Field Director for the Bentley for Governor campaign, has been named Campaign Manager. Paul Bryant Jr., President of Bryant Bank, was named Finance Chairman.

Official Bentley for Governor campaign organization

General Consultant, Media Consultant, and Pollster - Bob Wickers and Bryan Sanders

Campaign Manager - Angi Smith

Finance Chairman - Paul Bryant Jr.

General Counsel - Al Agricola

Field Director - John Schremser

Scheduler - Heather Hannah

Personal Aide to Dr. Robert Bentley - Zach Lee

Director of Advance - Wesley Helton

Press Secretary - Rebekah Caldwell Mason

New Media Director - Adam Piper

Field Coordinator - Britney Mitchell

Young Republican Coordinator - Chip Slawson

Artur Davis praises Robert Bentley, says GOP nominee will be tough to beat

U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, praised Robert Bentley for his victory in Tuesday's runoff election and predicted the Republican Party nominee will be tough to beat in the general election.

"Robert Bentley is one of the most decent, honorable people I know in politics. I have nothing but admiration for him," Davis said Thursday. "I believe he will be a very strong candidate."

Davis finished second to Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks in the June 1 Democratic primary after a bruising campaign for the party's gubernatorial nomination.

Davis, in his concession speech, encouraged his supporters to rally behind Sparks in the general election. But he said Thursday that he'd already heard from several supporters who indicated they would cross over and vote for Bentley.

"I wish Ron Sparks well. But I think one common concern that people have -- and I share -- is that he could open the door that allows gambling interests to control Alabama," Davis said.

Sparks' campaign centers on his plan to establish a state lottery that would fund education. He has also vowed to regulate and tax the state's gambling industry.

A spokesman for Sparks did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Bentley, a state legislator from Tuscaloosa, defeated Bradley Byrne in Tuesday's runoff.

Davis said Bentley's win was impressive because he overcame opposition from his own party's leadership. Gov. Bob Riley and several members of Alabama's Republican congressional delegation bucked party tradition and openly endorsed Byrne.

In response, Davis said, Bentley went out and built strong support among independent voters. That should put him in a strong position as he heads into the general election, Davis said.

 

File photosGubernatorial candidates Dr. Robert Bentley and Ron Sparks

"November elections are decided by independent voters," Davis said. "Bentley had to reach out to independents because the establishment was supporting Bradley. It was a very effective strategy and he executed it well."

He said that Sparks, by comparison, focused his campaign on liberal Democrats, attacking Davis from the left for his vote against the health care bill. The strategy helped Sparks roll to a dominant victory -- the Fort Payne native captured 62 percent of the primary vote and won majorities in 61 of the state's 67 counties -- but Davis said it could become a liability in the general election.

"Ron Sparks was very much the candidate of activist, liberal Democratic voters. And the fact is that's a very small segment of the electorate in Alabama," he said. "That puts him very much at odds with the majority of Alabama voters, and that is a prescription for failure."

Davis said he was "very concerned" that the Alabama Democratic Party was coming under increasing control by a tight circle of individuals and special interest groups.

"The party is losing its way. We are losing ground in Alabama and we are losing it unnecessarily," he said. "We want to hide behind the excuse that the national party is unpopular right now but that's not what's causing it. The fact is we're seeing the complete domination of the party by a narrow group of insiders who are completely out of step with average Alabamians."

Davis said he disagreed with Bentley on a variety of policy issues -- naming abortion and charter schools as two examples -- but that he admired Bentley's record of reaching across party lines to work with Democrats in the state Legislature.

He said his respect for Bentley grew during their time on the campaign trail.

"Over a year and a half and 20-something debates, you get to know each other pretty well," he said. "(Bentley) was always very authentic, consistent in his positions and knew as much about state government as anybody in the race. He is running a very impressive campaign."

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Unknown Is a Nominee for Alabama Governor

By ROBBIE BROWN

ATLANTA - A relatively unknown Alabama state representative won the Republican nomination for governor on Tuesday, easily defeating a well-financed, establishment-supported opponent in a runoff election.

The representative, Dr. Robert Bentley, beat Bradley Byrne, a former state senator and college system chancellor who was endorsed by the current governor and a congressman. He won 56 percent of the vote to Mr. Byrne's 44 percent.

"No one thought we had a chance," Dr. Bentley, 67, a physician, said Tuesday evening in a celebration at the University of Alabama football stadium. "But you know, God is good."

Political experts offered several theories for Dr. Bentley's come-from-behind victory: an anti-establishment political climate, an outside group's negative advertising campaign against Mr. Byrne, and a state registration system that allows Democrats to switch over to vote in Republican primaries.

Although Dr. Bentley campaigned aggressively (his slogan: "Alabama is sick, and we need a doctor") and had been rising in the polls for weeks, he was a virtual unknown before his second-place finish in the crowded primary on June 1. In that election, he defeated two more prominent opponents: a former governor's son and a former State Supreme Court chief justice who is nationally known for trying to put a statue of the Ten Commandments in the courthouse.

"He was the outsider," said Bill Stewart, a political science professor at the University of Alabama. "He didn't represent the Tea Party, but he did represent the nonestablishment."

Based on his unlikely rise, outsider background and limited-government ideology, Dr. Bentley drew comparisons to other new Republican stars: the nominee for governor Nikki Haley in South Carolina and the Senate nominees Sharron Angle in Nevada and Rand Paul in Kentucky. But unlike those candidates, Dr. Bentley was never endorsed by the Tea Party.

With a soft-spoken, mild-mannered campaign style, Dr. Bentley played up his medical background. Campaign advertisements show him in a white doctor's coat and he legally added "Dr." to his name, hoping that it would appear on the ballot (it did not because the state refuses to include any honorifics). He promised fiscal conservatism and Christian values, but struggled in fund-raising, receiving $621,000 in contributions compared with Mr. Byrne's $2 million.

"I'm not from a political family, I'm not backed by powerful interests," Dr. Bentley says in a video advertisement. "The only special interest I'll ever serve is you, the people of Alabama."

The two candidates were ideologically similar, political experts say, but on the campaign trail Dr. Bentley tried to paint Mr. Byrne as a newcomer to the Republican Party. He noted that Mr. Byrne had voted for Bill Clinton and Michael S. Dukakis for president.

An outside group named the True Republican PAC also ran advertisements questioning whether Mr. Byrne believed the entire Bible is literally true (he says he does) and whether he opposes teaching creationism in public schools (he says he supports it).

Also, a powerful, Democratic-leaning teachers' organization, the Alabama Education Association, came out strongly against Mr. Byrne. The group has opposed Mr. Byrne ever since he carried out an overhaul as chancellor of the state's two-year college system that weakened the education association.

In the November election, Dr. Bentley will face Ron Sparks, the agriculture commissioner and Democratic nominee.