U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner announced on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009, that he would not be a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor of Alabama in 2010, ending months of speculation about the political plans of southwest Alabama’s congressman.
‘Now is simply not the right time’
“Over the past several months, countless people from all corners of our state have encouraged me to run for governor next year,” Bonner said in a statement, calling the encouragement and the offers of financial support both flattering and humbling.
“But after a lot of serious thought and consideration, as well as many heartfelt prayers, [my wife] Janée and I have concluded that now is simply not the right time to launch a statewide campaign,” he said.
Bonner said he could best serve south Alabama, and the state, by continuing to represent Alabama’s First District, and that he intended to seek re-election to Congress in 2010.
The calculation behind the decision
Two considerations ran through the congressman’s statement. The first was the economy. “Our country is facing some serious economic challenges, we are still fighting on two battlefields in the ‘war on terror,’ and southwest Alabama has not been immune from either of these two facts,” he said.
Bonner argued that the region had won historic economic development commitments during the six years he had worked alongside Gov. Bob Riley, and that seeing those projects through required his full attention. “I believe I can best focus my attention on fulfilling the promise of some of these projects if I am not dividing my time between being a full-time congressman and traveling through all 67 counties as a candidate for governor,” he said.
The second consideration was seniority. Bonner had recently claimed a seat on the House Appropriations Committee, the panel that writes federal spending bills — an assignment that, given his relative youth and the district’s history of long congressional tenures, pointed toward considerable influence over time. Giving that up for a statewide race that he might lose was a steep price.
The congressman also cited the burden a statewide campaign would place on his family. The Bonners had two children, a 13-year-old daughter, Lee, and a son, Robins, who was nearly 11.
Bonner noted that he was leaving the following day with a small congressional delegation traveling abroad on national security matters, and said he looked forward to thanking service members in person.
A nod to Riley
Bonner closed with an endorsement not of a candidate but of a record. “It is absolutely vital to Alabama’s future that we elect someone next year who will build on the successful foundation that has been laid by Gov. Bob Riley,” he said, calling Riley the best governor in the state’s history and expressing hope that Republicans would rally behind whoever could best continue his agenda.
The field he left behind
Bonner’s withdrawal reshaped an unsettled race. Greenville businessman Tim James, a Republican and the son of former Gov. Fob James, was the only announced candidate at that point. Other Republicans said to be weighing a bid included state Treasurer Kay Ivey, two-year college chancellor Bradley Byrne and Troy University president Jack Hawkins.
On the Democratic side, attention was concentrated on U.S. Rep. Artur Davis of Birmingham, who had all but formally announced; Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr.; and state Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks.
The 2010 race would ultimately be won by Robert Bentley, a Tuscaloosa dermatologist and state representative who was not yet part of the conversation in early 2009. Bonner, for his part, was re-elected to Congress and stayed in the House until 2013, when he resigned to take a post with the University of Alabama System. Alabama’s First District, which he represented from 2003, covers Mobile and Baldwin counties and much of the surrounding region.