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By Brian LymanMontgomery Advertiser (TNS)

They were hesitant at first. But some prominent Alabama House Democrats are thinking about entering this year's U.S. Senate race.

Winning the contest will be a tall order for a state party that last elected a Democrat to the Senate in 1992; hasn't won any statewide election since 2008 and faces internal divisions. But some members of the party last week expressed hope that voter disgust with scandals that enveloped Republican leadership will make their primary more than a side show to the GOP's big show.

"The timing may be right," said Sheila Gilbert, co-chair of the Alabama Democratic Reform Caucus. "There are enough people who are disgruntled. "There are enough grassroots groups coming out of the woodwork to crack the code and make some changes."

Reps. Elaine Beech, D-Chatom; Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa and Craig Ford, D-Gadsden said last week they were thinking about entering the race. Medical marijuana advocate Ron Crumpton is the only declared candidate for the Democrats so far.

Independent streaks

England a three-term representative, attorney for the city of Tuscaloosa and member of a prominent family in the city, said Thursday he was "seriously considering" a bid for the office. Attempts to speak to him at greater length about his plans this week were unsuccessful.

Beech, a pharmacist by trade, said in an email Friday evening she was considering entering the race, weighing family needs and her current position in the House against it.

"I need to discuss it more with my children and see if I have any support in the state for such a big move," she wrote. "I love the position I have and don't want to jeopardize my seniority in the House."

Ford, an insurance company owner who served as House Minority Leader for more than six years, said Friday he wanted to see more polling data and where fundraising might be available.

Ford also floated the possibility of running as an independent, saying Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez's comments that Democrats running for office should share the "Democratic Party's position on women's fundamental rights" angered him.

"You've got Perez coming on a national level saying what he's saying," said Ford, who is anti-abortion. "That ostracizes the Democratic Party even more. You don't want to be the Tea Party where you're against everything and for nothing."

Ford added that he supports the Affordable Care Act and the expansion of Medicaid, long a goal of Alabama Democrats. But Ford has been sharply critical of the current leadership of the Alabama Democratic Party, and said Friday Democrats won't win statewide office unless Nancy Worley, the current chairwoman of the party, and Joe Reed, long a Democratic power broker, step away from the party.

Worley said Friday Ford had not contacted her about his criticisms and suggested Ford was trying to "out-Trump Trump" based on the November election results in his district.

"A person who's just criticizing for the sake of criticizing has not done anything to help the party," she said. "I really don't think their criticism is genuine. It may just be for the sake of getting attention."

Ballot access as an independent would be far more difficult than as a nominee of a major party, but Ford said he believed he could do it.

"We have polled and it's showing that people prefer a third option, and they prefer to vote for the person, not the parties," he said. "Parties are what's disrupted the state government and the federal government."

Worley said Ford running as an independent could violate party rules about supporting Democratic candidates, which she said could lead to a challenge in his House district if he opts to run again.

"If he runs as an independent and tries to run as a Democrat, obviously he has not been supportive of the Democratic nominee on the ticket, and he could be subject to challenge," she said. "I'm not saying it would happen. I'm saying it could happen."

Other candidates say they're still out. Former Alabama Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb said Friday she would make a decision about the 2018 governor's race soon, but ruled out the Senate race. Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said in an email Friday his duties were his focus.

"We are preparing for our fourth term, and that is where I am directing my focus," he wrote. "The future will take care of itself, and I have no announcements planned at this time."

Democrats have plenty of other challenges.

Wanted: Perfect storm

The party has held its own in Birmingham, Montgomery, and the Black Belt, but withered in many other counties. Democrats contested fewer than half of the seats in the Alabama House of Representatives in 2014. And while Donald Trump's presidency has fired up the Democratic base nationwide, it might take gallons of gasoline to erase the GOP edge in Alabama, a state the Republican president won by 28 points last November.

Money is also a problem. The party for years pumped the Alabama Education Association (AEA) and the Alabama Trial Lawyers' Association (now the Alabama Association for Justice) for funding, but those wells are dry. Other sources of money aren't clear. Gambling magnate Milton McGregor has supported Democrats in the past, and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians largely bankrolled Democratic Attorney General nominee Joe Hubbard's 2014 campaign.

But Democrats' best hopes for the seat might lay with Roy Moore. The former chief justice, who entered the Republican field for U.S. Senate last week, commands a strong following in the GOP for his outspoken positions on religion and against LGBT rights, and high name recognition with three three other Republicans already in the race -- and others likely to follow -- Moore has a good chance of making the Sept. 26 runoff.

Yet the former chief justice remains a divisive figure in the GOP. The business community never forgave Moore for two opinions he penned opposing arbitration, and a Moore win could give Democrats an opening.

Despite starting late in the 2012 race, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Bob Vance, a Democrat, managed to raise money and run a strong campaign that brought him within four points of beating Moore for chief justice, the best showing by a Democrat in a statewide race since 2008. Vance raised over $1.1 million in a little over two months, and also benefited from the Republican-leaning Business Council of Alabama sitting out the race.

It may take an even more perfect confluence of factors to elevate an Alabama Democrat to the U.S. Senate.

"It's going to take someone well-known, who has lots of money and great internal and external polling," Gilbert said. "Someone who's done great things in the past, not newcomers. We've got to have support from the state party."

Link:
Alabama House Democrats look at U.S. Senate runs - Gadsden Times