Alabama
Opinion | The Alabama Democratic Party is exhausting
I am tired of the Alabama Democratic Party.
So tired.
I’m tired of writing about the absurd things that party leadership does. I’m tired of hearing about goofy, petty fights. I’m tired of watching grown people argue over who gets to captain a ship that sank long ago and is now burrowing into the muck at the bottom of the ocean.
I’m tired of the insane headlines. I’m tired of the ridiculous press releases. I’m tired of the never-ending stream of letters back and forth between the party and the Democratic National Convention.
Tired of it all.
The infighting within this dumpster fire of a party has been going on now for more than a decade, with the worst of it coming over the past five years. And all of it is absurd. And unhelpful. And embarrassing.
The past week has been a microcosm of the whole mess.
It started with a challenge from chairman Randy Kelley to the DNC over the selection of delegates from Alabama. It was a worthless letter, which of course contained a threat. Kelley said he would be taking a second slate of delegates to the convention next week in Chicago to “challenge” the slate selected by the Harris campaign.
I don’t know what this “challenge” would entail – maybe a Jets and Sharks street fight on the convention floor – but rest assured that the threat of it is as patently goofy as anything you’ve ever heard.
But then, that’s the way this party has been operating – as goofy as possible.
Because the leadership, with Kelley at the helm and vice chair of minority affairs Joe Reed pulling the strings, is constantly aggrieved. There is constantly a plot to undermine them. There is constantly a secret vendetta playing out, perpetrated by white people, to wrongfully wrestle control of the party away from their capable hands.
It’s ludicrous.
How far has it gone? Consider this: During a phone interview with me, Kelley called former Sen. Doug Jones a “confederate Democrat,” and then stood by it when I asked if he could repeat what he said. Then he called DNC chair Jamie Harrison “a token Black,” who is “afraid for his position,” so instead of doing the right things, Harrison instead “does what he’s told by the whites.”
Kelley said all of this after I said his claims of racism – which he made in his letter to Harrison and others at the DNC – rang a bit hollow, considering he was complaining to the Black head of the party about selections made by the campaign of a Black woman.
That’s how we got to this messy point, after all. The Biden campaign originally – and the Harris campaign since – denied several delegates put up by the state party and instead selected their own slate of Alabama delegates. To do so, the Biden/Harris campaign turned to Jones, Rep. Terri Sewell and Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin.
To hear Kelley and Reed tell it, the whole thing was a sinister plot by a bunch of white dudes to undermine the Black folks of Alabama. It’s a story that might ring true if you forget that everyone involved, except Jones – the guy who prosecuted the KKK for the Birmingham church bombing – is Black.
But the reality is much harder to take for ADP leadership. Because the reality is actions have consequences, and these are ADP’s coming home to roost.
Reed has for years now thumbed his nose at DNC brass, bucked the status quo and did what he felt was best for him and the group of people loyal to him. I get it, and on some level, it is almost admirable to watch a guy so brazenly go against the grain and pick Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in 2008 and Michael Bloomberg over Joe Biden in 2020.
But such decisions carry political consequences. As do decisions to essentially flip the middle finger to the DNC on the whole bylaws issue, while simultaneously trying to eliminate the voting rights within the party of several minority caucuses.
The consequences of doing such things means you don’t get the trust of the folks at the top of the ticket. And if they can’t trust you, they can’t trust your delegates. It’s really that simple.
But never mind all of that reality. Instead, we have to get another embarrassing show from ADP. Another chance to make headlines for all the wrong reasons. Another chance to call each other names and denigrate people who are pulling in the same direction.
In the meantime, the Democratic Party in this state does not appear to be any closer to picking up meaningful offices in this state. Which is a shame, considering there are numerous issues right now in which the party holds positions that are most favorable with large numbers of Alabama voters. We could be talking about the amazing gains ADP is making among suburban women and working-class white guys and young people.
Instead, the Alabama Democratic Party is making headlines for fighting with … other Democrats.
It. Is. Exhausting.
Alabama
Marques surges past Carl in Alabama congressional race as former congressman’s comeback bid stalls — 45% still undecided
State Rep. Rhett Marques (R-Enterprise) opened a six-point lead over former U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) in the Alabama congressional race for the First District, and Carl’s comeback bid shows no signs of catching up.
The PI Polling survey, conducted May 2 through May 4 for Alabama Daily News, puts Marques at 27% and Carl at 21% among likely Republican primary voters. Joshua McKee trailed at 4%.
The trend line tells the sharper story. Marques climbed steadily across three consecutive PI Polling surveys, rising from 19% in early April to 22% later that month to 27% now. Carl posted 23%, 20%, and 21% across the same stretch. Marques is building. Carl is treading water.
Forty-five percent of likely Republican primary voters remain undecided, meaning the Alabama congressional race will be decided by which campaign breaks through in the final two weeks.
Carl pulls 46% in Mobile County, home turf for the former county commissioner and congressman.
That advantage vanishes everywhere else. Marques leads in Baldwin County, holds a 32-to-6 edge in the Dothan media market, and dominates the district’s rural and exurban counties at 38% to Carl’s 5%.
The Alabama congressional race outside Mobile belongs to Marques.
Marques also leads Carl across every ideological group the survey tracked: very conservative voters at 29% to 21%, somewhat conservative voters at 26% to 21%, and moderates at 26% to 19%.
His favorability climbed from 24% in early April to 32% now, with just 9% unfavorable. Fifty-nine percent of voters still have no opinion of him, leaving significant room to grow as the primary closes.
Alabama requires a majority to win a party primary outright. If no candidate clears 50% on May 19, the top two finishers will advance to a runoff on June 16. With nearly half the electorate still uncommitted, a runoff remains a very real possibility.
The survey was conducted May 2 through May 4, 2026 by PI Polling for Alabama Daily News. It included 531 likely Republican primary election voters and was weighted to match likely 2026 turnout demographics. The margin of error is ±4.3% at a 95% level of confidence.
Sawyer Knowles is a capitol reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
Kalen DeBoer explains Austin Mack Alabama football A-Day snap total
Here’s what Kalen DeBoer said about Alabama quarterback Austin Mack’s A-Day performance.
While recruiting, Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer never promises anything. Ever.
And in the Crimson Tide’s quarterback room, that approach works.
It’s what kept Austin Mack, the fourth-year DeBoer disciple, and former five-star Keelon Russell in the same 2026 quarterback room, along with freshmen Jett Thomalla and Tayden-Evan Kaawa. It’s what convinced five-star Elijah Haven to join a 2027 recruiting class that already had four-star Trent Seaborn committed.
This is Alabama’s development-forward quarterback philosophy, at least for now.
“What you can show them is the past and whatever we’ve done, what it looked like for those quarterbacks,” DeBoer told The Tuscaloosa News. “Their success and production when they were in college, the growth and how that led to them going to the next level. You show them the past and then you show them what we have here at Alabama.”
It’s the story of Alabama’s 2026 room, one where the eventually-named starter — whether it’s Mack or Russell — will have waited his turn, will have watched and learned. That’s the path DeBoer wants, even if it’s not the same path other college football powers take.
In the 12-team 2025 College Football Playoff fold, seven offenses were led by a veteran transfer quarterback, including each one that ended up in the CFP national championship game.
DeBoer has had transfers. Oregon State transfer Marcus McMaryion was his quarterback at Fresno State in 2017 and 2018. Washington transfer Jake Haener was DeBoer’s quarterback at Fresno State in 2020 and 2021. Michael Penix Jr. followed DeBoer to Washington in 2022 from Indiana. And Mack followed DeBoer to Tuscaloosa.
But in terms of proven entities, in terms of rentals for one last run at a national championship, that doesn’t seem to be DeBoer’s style.
“To me, what you’d love to have is a guy who can come in and he can feel comfortable when his time comes,” DeBoer said. “Sooner than later is what they are hoping for, but (to be) so comfortable with the offense, the people around him and what it looks like leadership wise.”
This is the story of Ty Simpson, who had the respect of his teammates after seasons of work in the shadows. DeBoer knew exactly who Simpson was as a person. DeBoer understood Simpson’s strengths enough to put him in a position to succeed.
“The more knowledge they have of the offense, the easier it is to make checks and execute in the biggest moments that they are going to be in here,” DeBoer said.
That’s a part of Alabama’s recruiting pitch at quarterback, something DeBoer and company made clear to Haven. And it’s a philosophy that may not remain stagnant.
“Just because Alabama hasn’t necessarily dipped into the transfer portal a whole lot over the last, whatever, five, six years that that’s really become such a big thing, that doesn’t mean that can’t change because, certainly, you got to win and you got to win now,” The Dunham School football coach Neil Weiner said. “Sometimes those older, veteran guys are the ones that do it. I think Elijah understands that. I don’t think he’s worried about who will come in in the future.”
No promises were made in Alabama’s quarterback room. But the pitch remains clear and consistent, one players continue to buy into.
“I think it’s just making it very clear and then what happens is guys who really want to be pushed to be the best,” DeBoer said. “And (if) it’s actually who they are, they end up being attracted to that, and they want to be a part of it.”
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WBMA) — Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is asking a federal court to allow the state to use its own congressional district map ahead of the May 19 primary, arguing that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has changed the legal landscape for voting rights redistricting challenges.
Marshall filed an emergency motion with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama seeking to lift injunctions that have blocked Alabama from using the congressional map enacted by the Legislature. The request follows what Marshall described as a landmark Supreme Court ruling last week that “significantly changed the legal standards governing voting rights redistricting claims.”
In that ruling, the Supreme Court held that states have authority to draw district lines based on political and traditional geographic considerations, and that challengers must show race — not partisan politics — drove a state’s decisions. The court also held that pointing to racially polarized voting patterns alone is not enough to prove a violation without also showing the voting patterns could not be explained by party affiliation.
“The Supreme Court has confirmed that the claims that led to the injunctions against Alabama’s map are no longer viable,” Marshall said. “We are asking the court to lift those injunctions so that Alabama can conduct its congressional elections using the map its legislature lawfully enacted.”
The filing is the latest in a series of actions Marshall has taken since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. On April 30, Marshall filed emergency motions with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to vacate the congressional map injunctions and remand the cases. On May 4, he filed a separate emergency motion with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to lift injunctions involving a different set of maps — Alabama’s state Senate districts.
The motion filed today asks the original district court that issued the congressional map injunctions to stay its own orders while appeals continue.
Gov. Kay Ivey has called the Alabama Legislature into a special session this week to prepare for the possibility that elections may proceed under the state’s map. Marshall asked the court to rule no later than 3 p.m. tomorrow, May 6, saying the state needs time to make preparations before the primary.
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“Alabama deserves the same opportunity as every other state to conduct its elections in an orderly manner using a map drawn by its own legislature,” Marshall said. “I will continue to do everything in my power to make that a reality. We are confident the court will recognize that last week’s Supreme Court decision requires a fresh look at these injunctions.”
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