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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

GOP, Constitution Party candidates square off in House District 105 election

Today's Alabama House District 105 election has drawn little attention from across the state, and the Democratic Party isn't even competing in it.
But the race has been far from sleepy, with primary and general election contenders combining to raise more than $100,000, sharp criticism flying between the candidates and each side accusing the other of false advertisements in the campaign's closing days.
The bitterly contested fight between Republican nominee David Sessions and Constitution Party candidate Bill Atkinson will be settled today, as voters in the south Mobile County district head to the polls for the general election.
Sessions reported taking in more than $38,400 in his latest campaign finance report. Atkinson garnered more than $23,200, including $4,000 in personal loans, his report indicated.
Constitution Party candidate holds own
Though Sessions maintained a significant fundraising advantage, Atkinson's campaign war chest was sizable for a third-party candidate and easily exceeded the amounts raised by the two Republicans beaten by Sessions in the March primary election.
Atkinson's biggest contributors were S.A. McInnis of Fairhope, a $5,500 contributor whom Atkinson identified as a retired businessman and personal friend, and an organization listed as the "Ala. Leg. Leadership Init. PAC," which contributed $5,000.
The Press-Register was unable to find any political action committee by that name in state government records, but Atkinson said the PAC is tied to the conservative group Allied Women.
Sessions' biggest contributor was, once again, FARM PAC, which donated more than $6,000-worth of goods and services to the campaign. The Alabama Farmers Federation's PAC made more than $10,000 in contributions to Sessions during the primary.
The GOP nominee has taken criticism for the donations, as the Farmers Federation's insurance wing, Alfa Mutual Group, is the state's second-largest homeowners insurance company and a frequent opponent of legislative proposals to overhaul state insurance law.
The availability and affordability of insurance is a major concern in the coastal district, which includes Bayou La Batre, Dauphin Island, Irvington and Theodore.
Sessions has maintained that his contributions came strictly from the Farmers Federation and not from its insurance wing. He has advocated enacting strict rules for insurers, including possible limits on how much they can charge for policies.
Atkinson supporters chastised Sessions over the FARM PAC contributions and in a mailer released in recent days made efforts to associate him with Democratic political figures.
In a telephone interview, Sessions said the mailer's allegations were "totally false" and objected particularly to the claim that his campaign has received assistance from Democrats.
The Sessions campaign hit Atkinson, in turn, with recorded telephone calls from former state Rep. Spencer Collier, the Irvington Republican who represented the district until joining Gov. Robert Bentley's cabinet.
In a recording of the call provided by the Atkinson campaign, Collier endorsed Sessions and offered a warning about Atkinson.
"This is an important election and one where we cannot risk our community's future with an unknown third party whose platform includes the abolishment of public schools, Medicare and Social Security," he said in the call.
On its website, the Constitution Party's national organization calls for radical changes to such programs, including "phasing out the entire Social Security program." But Atkinson said he doesn't subscribe to the national organization's platform and accused the Sessions campaign of "terrorizing senior citizens" to win an election.
"My mother's on Social Security and Medicare," Atkinson said. "What cruel son would desire ... to destroy Social Security and Medicare for his own mother?"
Collier acknowledged recording the calls at the Sessions campaign's request and emphasized that he did so as a private citizen and not on the governor's behalf.
Sessions said that by running as a Constitution Party candidate, Atkinson endorsed such views and must answer for them.
"He could have run as a Republican, but he chose not to," Sessions said. "That's his party's platform.

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