I’m no expert on Alabama politics but I think we just lost our best chance to beat Senator Jeff Sessions in 2008. Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks has decided not to run for the seat. His reasoning is fairly solid and it relates to the open primary rules in the Cotton State. State Senator Vivian Figures (D-Mobile) has assured Sparks that she intends to run. Figures is an African-American woman, while Sparks is a white man. Sparks doesn’t want to divide the party along racial lines by, for example, asking African-American legislators to pick sides. In addition, Republicans and Independents can vote in the Democratic primary, and they likely will because Sessions is running unopposed. If history is a guide, the Republicans will show up to vote for Figures on the theory that she is the weaker candidate.
There is plenty of support for that theory. It’s not just Figures’ race that will be an obstacle. She will have to overcome the fact that her 24-year old son is a convicted crack dealer. From a July 19, 2006 Associated Press article.
The 23-year-old son of state Sen. Vivian Davis Figures has pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and could face 10 years to life in federal prison.
Akil Michael Figures, who was arrested in September, accepted a plea agreement Tuesday that could lower his sentence by cooperating with law enforcement in other cases. A sentencing date was not immediately set…
Akil Figures was arrested in 2002 for possession of marijuana and cocaine. He pleaded guilty to the cocaine charge in 2004, and the marijuana charge was dropped, according to court records.
In May 2005, he was shot several times in north Mobile on the day he returned home from Kilby Correctional Facility.
I feel a lot of compassion for Sen. Figures. But I can’t help but feel that this family history is a strong liability in her bid to win a state-wide race.
Ron Sparks, on the other hand, has already won and presently holds state-wide office.
In my opinion is should be possible for Sparks and Figures to run an amicable and non-racially based primary contest. As long as the candidates both pledge not to use race against each other and to enthusiastically support the eventual winner, a primary shouldn’t leave the party bitterly divided.
If Figures wins the primary she will be better primed to win the general. Primaries create a lot of free publicity.
The other concern is, of course, money. Avoiding a primary will save lots of money and Figures will have a better chance to compete with Sessions’ large war chest.
I’d like to get excited about Sen. Figures. We have very few women that are competing for the 22 available Republicans seats in 2008. But I think Ron Sparks would have a far better chance of winning.
