Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange drew a packed crowd to Westminster Presbyterian Church in Mobile on Monday night, delivering one of his first campaign-style addresses since announcing plans to seek the U.S. Senate seat held by Jeff Sessions. The event, hosted by the Mobile County Republican Executive Committee, doubled as an early test of local support for Strange and offered a preview of what could become a crowded Republican field.
Sessions has been nominated for U.S. Attorney General under President-elect Donald Trump, and his confirmation would trigger a vacancy in Alabama’s Senate delegation. Governor Robert Bentley has said he will name a temporary replacement once Sessions is confirmed, with a special election to follow in 2018 rather than being held immediately.
Strange used the appearance to make the case that he is best positioned to hold the seat long term, pointing to both his record as attorney general and the financial support his campaign has already built. “I have already announced that I’m running for the Senate … and I’m really encouraged by the support we’ve got,” Strange told the crowd. “I’ve raised over $700,000 from all across the state … I’d be honored to be selected [by Bentley] but ultimately the people of the state are going to decide who’s going to be their senator. I’m prepared to run because I feel like, based on my record and experience, I’m the best person to take Jeff Sessions’ place.”
Notably, Strange’s audience Monday night included at least two men who could end up competing against him for the same seat. State Senators Trip Pittman of Baldwin County and Bill Hightower have each interviewed with Bentley as potential temporary appointees to the seat, putting all three men in the unusual position of being simultaneously allies within the state Republican Party and potential rivals in a future statewide race.
Pittman, who chairs oversight of the state’s general fund budget, addressed the crowd about his own interview with the governor, framing his candidacy around his background as a husband, father, businessman and military veteran. “We had a very good interview,” Pittman said, with Strange standing nearby. “I think I made a point of who I am, what I stand for as a husband, father, a businessman. I’ve served in the military. I’m prepared to offer myself for this important position, to try to follow the footsteps of Jeff Sessions, who’s a great senator.”
Pittman added that his political plans hinge on Bentley’s eventual pick. “Now we’re going to see who the governor appoints, and then I’m going to evaluate that, and then, you know, I’m considering running for the seat, depending on what happens there,” he said. “I think the people of Alabama need to decide who’s going to be their next U.S. Senator.”
Hightower, who represents portions of Mobile and Baldwin counties in the state Senate, was also present at the Westminster Presbyterian Church gathering as speculation continues over whether he too will seek the seat, whether through a gubernatorial appointment or the ballot box in 2018.
For now, the timeline remains in Bentley’s hands. The governor has said he will not name a permanent successor until Sessions is formally confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and that any special election for Alabama voters to fill the seat on a long-term basis will not take place before 2018. That leaves Strange, Pittman, Hightower and any other prospective candidates in a holding pattern, working to shore up support among local party organizations like the Mobile County Republican Executive Committee in the meantime.
Monday’s meeting offered an early glimpse of how that competition might unfold within south Alabama’s Republican ranks, as the state’s political class waits on developments in Washington that will ultimately set the race in motion.