FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
That’s What We Like About The South
From Our Local Political Junkie We’ll Call “Cincy Dave”

It took less than one day for Gov. Robert Bentley (R-AL) to pick a replacement for former Alabama senator Jeff Sessions, the new attorney general.

For outsiders, Bentley might seem like a decisive leader who wanted to make sure his state was fully represented in the U.S. Senate. For insiders, not so much!

Here’s the back-story: Gov. Bentley had been married for 50 years when his wife discovered that he was having an affair with an aide, Rebecca Mason, who was paid with campaign funds. Bentley’s wife then divorced him, and members of the state legislature began to wonder if Bentley had used state funds to cover up the affair.

However, the attorney general, Luther Strange, asked the legislature to stop looking while he took over the case. Next thing we know, Strange is appointed to the Senate to replace Sessions. Strange, no?

Now, you might ask, who gets to appoint the new state attorney general? Why, it’s Gov. Bentley! Wednesday his choice, Steve Marshall, was sworn in. Is Marshall likely to vigorously pursue Bentley? We’ll see, but the smart money is betting against it.  After all, why would the Governor appoint anyone to that position without first making damned sure that he would make every effort to bury the whole “affair?   Absent the investigation, the choice of a state attorney general for the Senate is not unusual. Strange, who is 6′ 9″ and known as “Big Luther,” has won statewide election in Alabama twice. He has a reputation as a conservative and a straight shooter, so he is likely to win in 2018 when Sessions’ term is over and remain in the Senate for many years hence.

Some people are already comparing the situation to then-Alaska governor Frank Murkowski appointing his daughter, Lisa Murkowski, to the Senate, but a better comparison might be to former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, who tried to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder after Obama was elected president. Will Bentley survive this incident? Unless either his appointee, Marshall, or Attorney General Sessions goes after him, most likely, yes. (MORE)