Hot on the heels of Jim Folsom’s announcement that he’ll run for another term as Lt. Gov., term-limited Ag Comm’r Ron Sparks looks like he’ll be running for the open governor’s seat:
State Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks said Wednesday he plans to hold a series of press conferences that will conclude in Fort Payne on Friday to announce his campaign plans for 2010. …
Sparks indicated Wednesday afternoon his plans are to run against Congressman Artur Davis for governor. Davis is the only Democrat who has declared a run for the top state seat so far.
“I will not run against Jim Folsom,” said Sparks, who would not elaborate on his statement.
Assuming Sparks does take the plunge (as looks likely), this sets up what could be a very contentious primary with Rep. Artur Davis. One of the reasons Sparks sat out a race against Sen. Jeff Sessions last cycle was to avoid precisely this kind of internecine battle – state Sen. Vivian Figures insisted on making what turned out to be a rather quixotic run. So I’m not sure why he’d want to get into the mix now, especially with a much more formidable opponent.
Sparks lives in AL-03, and as a several folks have suggested, it could be fertile territory for another Democratic challenge. But seeing as Sparks is holding four different press conferences around the state to announce his next move, that’s not in the cards.
in the primary against Davis. Obama beat Clinton 56-42 in 2008 in Alabama.
Hopefully he wins the primary. Davis has no chance in a general. Sadly I Davis winning the primary.
So he wouldn’t run against Figures, a weak candidate who barely campaigned and had not announced but he will run against Davis, a strong candidate who’s been running hard?
Davis will win, Sparks is on a suicide mission. Don’t do this Ron, run for AL-03.
and who also has great DC connections. Davis is going to outfundraise him by a mile, I’d guess, and has a big block of primary voters.
Suppose a racially-polarized electorate. Do white Democrats outnumber black Democrats in a primary? As someone upthread mentioned, the fact that Obama carried Alabama against H. Clinton by 14 points suggests that the white vote might well be smaller than the black vote. Depends on how many white liberals were in Obama’s corner that time, but might be in Sparks’ corner this time.
I’m talking out my ass, can anyone who knows Alabama please arrive?
No offense to Artur Davis, but he would be an underdog against a decent Republican candidate. Let's be honest the he did not want a primary battle in 2008 was just an excuse. I think he knew he could not beat Sessions, so he did not run, plus I think he prefers staying in state government. I think he can win the primary, but yes Davis will be hard. In the 2008 Presidential primary, blacks made up 51% of the vote, whites 44%(www.usaelectionpolls.com), so yes if it breaks down to race Davis has an advantage. Keep in mind though, Alabama has an open primary, so there are ways to change the turnout model.
I should have learned by now, but how do you put a link on here?
only 11% of Alabama voters identified themselves as white Democrats. Sparks really has his work cut out for him if he’s running against Davis.
Why isn’t he running against Mike Rogers in AL-03?
What great news. I am behind Sparks and really hope he wins.
As much as i like Ron Sparks i like Davis for governor. Not only do i think it would make some history I think Davis is a better step in the right direction for Alabama.
I think that saying the black vote will automatically go to the black candidate no matter what the circumstances or the issue positions is racist in and of itself. Just like when one says that women will vote for the candidate that is a woman (or gag the hottest guy rolls eyes). Here’s the thing-if you work to earn folks’ trust and confidence, they’ll vote for you no matter who or what you or they are. I understand that certain voting blocks tend to have certain characteristics, but let’s not take that so far that we forget we’re dealing with actual people, much less sound like a bunch of condescending asses trying to figure out what the black people are going to do.
That said, there’s another dynamic to this besides race. Sparks is a huge populist. Davis is more the corporate/DLC type. Those philosophies are going to collide in this primary, just wait and see.