Political action committees tied to Alabama Power funneled almost $100,000 into the campaigns of state lawmakers representing Mobile and Baldwin counties during the 2018 election cycle, according to campaign finance filings maintained by the Alabama Secretary of State’s office. The utility and its affiliated PACs have continued spending heavily on state officeholders through the first half of 2019, filings show.
The bulk of the money — roughly $78,000 — came from a political action committee funded by Alabama Power employees. Smaller sums flowed to local candidates from three other PACs the utility supports: the Alabama Trucking Association, MACC PAC and Alabama Works PAC.
The contributions reached nearly every state lawmaker from the two counties who holds statewide legislative office, crossing party lines in the process. Both Republican and Democratic members of the Alabama House and Senate benefited from money connected to the state’s largest electric utility.
Republican Sen. Chris Elliott of Fairhope, who won his first campaign for the seat last year, took in more money from Alabama Power-linked PACs than any other local candidate. Elliott received $17,500 in four separate contributions from the employees’ PAC during his campaign. Fellow Republican Sen. Jack Williams of Wilmer was close behind, collecting $12,500 from the same PAC. Sen. David Sessions, R-Grand Bay, brought in $10,000 from the employees’ fund.
Six local Republican state representatives received smaller in-kind or cash contributions from MACC PAC: Alan Baker of Brewton, Harry Shiver of Bay Minette, Chris Pringle of Mobile, Victor Gaston of Mobile, Chip Brown of Mobile and Matt Simpson of Daphne.
On the Democratic side, Reps. Adline Clarke and Barbara Drummond, both of Mobile, each received contributions from Alabama Works PAC, a fund Alabama Power has supported in past election cycles. Former Mobile Mayor and current state Rep. Sam Jones, a Democrat, collected $2,500 from the Alabama Power-backed Alabama Trucking Association PAC, and his combined total of $7,000 from the truckers’ fund and the employees’ PAC made him the top recipient among area Democrats. Clarke followed closely with $6,500 in combined contributions, including $2,500 from Alabama Works and $4,000 from the employees’ PAC.
The sums flowing into Mobile and Baldwin county races are a fraction of what Alabama Power and its affiliated committees have spent on candidates statewide. Between November 2017 and November 2018, the company and its PACs put more than $700,000 into statewide campaigns, filings show. Gov. Kay Ivey alone received $51,000 in cash contributions from the employees’ PAC during that stretch.
Spending has only accelerated since the start of 2019. Alabama Power and its associated PACs have reported $165,000 in contributions so far this year. The employees’ PAC has directed more than $100,000 combined to Ivey, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth and Attorney General Steve Marshall, while the utility itself has given $20,000 to Alabama Works and $35,000 to MACC PAC in 2019 alone.
Alabama Power has long ranked among the most influential political donors in the state, maintaining relationships with elected officials across the political spectrum through a network of PACs that both employees and the company itself help fund. Campaign finance records filed with the Secretary of State’s office allow the public to track individual contributions to candidates, though the full scope of a donor’s influence across multiple PACs and election cycles is not always easy to see in any single filing.