Campaign Finance Report Shows Stability in Key Races

A recent campaign finance report revealed that there hasn’t been much change in the major races within the state. Leading candidates for the Republican nominations are still in the running, while lesser-known participants seem to depend largely on their personal finances.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who quickly rallied support for this year’s governor’s race, pulled in under $700,000 in August. His campaign expenses hit $333,359.32, mainly for fundraising, management services, and consultancy fees.

On the Democratic side, both of the governor’s candidates, Chad “Chig” Martin and Will Boyd, reported modest fundraising. Martin managed to gather just over $3,000 throughout the month, with nearly $1,000 spent on various campaign needs.

Boyd contributed $5,914.95 in cash during July, with his most significant single donation being $420. Additionally, he noted $16,500 in physical contributions and a $6,000 contribution from David Person Media, LLC.

Interestingly, the three candidates vying for the position of agricultural commissioner have all reported significant funds in hand. All are Republicans and have strong ties to the state’s farming community.

The State Agriculture Commissioner oversees an extensive range of food safety programs and other regulations critical to the agricultural sector.

State Sen. Jack Williams made headlines by donating over $200,000 earlier this year and loaning another $250,000 at the end of July. As owner of J Bar W Farm, he ended August with a balance exceeding $500,000.

Christine Woerner McGinnis, described on her campaign site as hailing from “five generations of farmers from Baldwin County,” lent $275,000 to her campaign at August’s end, having previously loaned $50,000 in February and receiving contributions of $25,000 and $20,000 from McInnis Construction, LLC and a George Woerner, respectively. However, her finance report for August wasn’t available at the time of writing.

The third candidate, Corey Hill, also a farmer, contributed $40,000 to his campaign in May and closed August with just under $125,000 after spending more than $2,000 on fundraising-relatedexpenses, according to the latest finance report.

Incumbent Agricultural Commissioner Rick Patty is currently seeking the Republican nomination, competing with Secretary of State Wes Allen. Unfortunately, he can’t run for another term as AG Commissioner due to term limits in Alabama.

In the lieutenant governor’s race, Patty, one of the main candidates, raised nearly $30,000 in August while spending almost $10,000. This included a $2,500 sponsorship from the Alabama Institute of Policy Research, a conservative think tank.

Allen attracted attention with a straw poll released in June by the Alabama Republican Federation, which notably suppressed Patty’s numbers. He raised over $100,000 and spent more than $15,000 primarily on services from the PR firm Virtus Solutions.

For the three minor candidates, Nicol Wadsworth, Dean Odol, and Patrick Bishop, the reports indicated either negligible funding or submissions to the fair campaign practices law reporting system were still pending at the time of writing.

Additionally, it was reported that in the Secretary of State race, two major candidates hold a significant amount of campaign funds. Former Congressional candidate Karolene Dobson has pulled ahead of state auditor Andrew Sorrell in August fundraising efforts.