A Total Bust
Fifty to sixty people gathered at the Alabama Center for Commerce this morning to witness the contest hearing for House District 54. There looked to be about an even split between supporters of Patricia Todd and supporters of Gaynell Hendricks. Sadly, the sides were racially split as well, with just a few conspicuous black faces among the Todd group, including Charlie Williams, who ran for the nomination initially but endorsed Patricia in the runoff. Patricia’s attorney was dressed in a Matlock suit, as were several of the other lawyers.
We sat waiting for the state Democratic Party subcommittee that would hear testimony and decide if Patricia would retain her nomination. News cameras at the ready, the buzz of conversation, and a bit of sweat as the room got warmer. Patricia was holding a particularly nasty flyer from the campaign, admonishing the reader to BEWARE the lesbian candidate. How does she laugh this off? I’d be devastated by the hatred.
Finally, about half an hour after the expected start time, Patricia, Ms. Hendricks, and their representatives stepped out into the hall. We joked that they were going to fight it out or maybe flip a coin.
Around forty-five minutes into the wait, we’re all getting restless. Finally, Amy Burks, the vice-chair of the Alabama Democratic Party, sits down at the microphone, and we all think this is it. Unfortunately, we’re all wrong. Ms. Burks tells us that there was a mixup about who was supposed to be on the subcommittee, so the hearing won’t be held today. Angry audience members try to ask questions – who is supposed to be on the subcommittee, why aren’t those people here? Ms. Burks says that she is the only statutory member of the committee and that she tries to get other members from areas of the state not affected by the election at issue. The candidates had agreed to waive the time requirements and reconvene at “a convenient time”, perhaps early next week.
Angry constituents gather in the hall outside the auditorium, hoping for an explanation from the party leadership, but Ms. Burks and Alabama party Executive Director Jim Spearman are out of there as fast as they can move their feet. A Hendricks supporter lambastes Charlie Williams, telling him he’s like “a man without a country” because he supported a white candidate.
I talk to a source who does not wish to be named who says that Joe Reed, head of the legislative black caucus, was initially appointed to serve on the subcommittee. That sounds questionable, given that he strongly supported Ms. Hendricks in the runoff. It becomes even more questionable when I hear that Ms. Hendricks’ check for the contest filing fee bounced, and Mr. Reed covered it. This presented a conflict of interest (no sh*t), so he couldn’t serve on the committee, and supposedly there wasn’t enough time to replace him.
Is this Democratic incompetence or backroom game-playing? I’m guessing a bit of both, and I hope to find out more later.
Patricia says, “I wish we could get this over with. I’m ready to work, but we’ll have to wait and see.” We will. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: AP coverage
ANOTHER UPDATE: I thought I got a pretty good head count today, but other sources are reporting anywhere from 100 to 150 people in attendance at the hearing. I wonder if they’ll all come back next week.
August 15th, 2006 at 11:52 am
In the words of the immortal Will Rogers: I don’t belong to an organized political party. I’m a Democrat.
August 15th, 2006 at 4:12 pm
Thanks, Kathy. Good one.
Interesting that Joe Reed may not be serving on the subcommittee then.
August 15th, 2006 at 4:33 pm
Good Lord. “BEWARE the lesbian candidate”? I see your point, I might not be laughing if it was me, but it’s not me and it’s damned funny.
I would love to hear Mr. Williams explain, off the record, exactly why he chose to endorse Ms. Todd and not his “countrywoman.” And gosh, I hope it wasn’t just the money.
August 15th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
Del, the flyer got much uglier than that. “Lesbian” is the polite version of most of the terms used.
I don’t know Mr. Williams or Mr. Afrika, but I doubt they would sell their endorsements for what were, after all, pretty small sums. They’ve been abused badly in all this; if they didn’t believe in Patricia, they could have walked away and avoided a lot of crap.
August 15th, 2006 at 6:11 pm
Surprise! I read the blogs! Just wanted to let you know to watch out for some more news tomorrow. I am up to the fight and will not let a single person like Joe Reed overturn the election because he doesn’t like the color of my skin.
I have spent years working for civil rights and justice for all people. It is time to take our party back.
August 15th, 2006 at 6:38 pm
Kathy, great write up. Kate is steaming after I informed her of what happened today; I told her to check in here.
I feel for Mr. Williams and Mr. Afrika; they are taking the abuse from people who cannot deal with losing an election. There is no time for race-card politics; it undermines true incidents of racism when Chicken Little nonsense like this is tossed out.
Thanks for your strength, Patricia. We’re rooting for you here in NC (and over at my blog)!
August 15th, 2006 at 7:23 pm
I wish I were surprised. This sounds about right, though. Alabama politics at its best!
August 15th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
[...] Jeff, here’s my post from the hearing today. There were some unhappy people there. Leave a Reply [...]
August 16th, 2006 at 11:55 am
Will Rogers may have been right, but he could hardly have anticipated the hatred and antipathy some Democrats seem to have for anyone who doesn’t fit their narrow definition of “acceptable.” Without something, or in this case someone to hate, these troglodytes would be completely adrift.
August 16th, 2006 at 11:25 pm
I have met Mr. Afrika several times, including at a Move-On protest at the Vestavia BP gas station. He was quite clear as to why he was working to help elect Patricia Todd after he lost in the first round. In essence, he felt that Patricia was more committed to working towards the environmental solutions that he campaigned for while running.
I have to admit that Ms Hendricks is proving to be quite an embarassment. I also don’t understand the reasons that she is contesting the election as have been put forth in the press. I have not heard anything contesting the results of the vote, instead the only thing I heard was very lame nonsense of her trying to hide some supporters from public view (or something like that…) If Joe Reed was supposed to be on the committee and he was that strongly connected with her, then it would seem to me that the fix was in and the national attention it was drawing was causing second thoughts….
ahhhh democracy in action in Alabama’s Democratic Party!
August 25th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
OIA- ONLY IN ALABAMA.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
!!! It is class to itself
July 27th, 2007 at 2:55 am
[...] Associated Press has a piece on it, and Kathy at Birmingham Blues has a good write-up on it also. If you are going to read only one, I would recommend Kathy’s [...]