Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., is set to announce his candidacy on Wednesday for what arguably has been the nation’s most-watched Senate seat for the past two years.
The seat is currently held by Democrat Doug Jones, who won a circus of a special election over controversial former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, to fill the remainder of the term vacated by Jeff Sessions when Sessions became U.S. attorney general. Moore, the famous “Ten Commandments judge” twice evicted from his high court spot for ethics charges related to his defiance of federal court orders, saw his campaign hobbled by multiple allegations that he “dated” or tried to date teenagers while he was in his 30s or older.
Alabama had not elected a Democrat statewide since 2006 until Jones beat Moore, 50 percent to 48.3 percent. Down here in Alabama, it is almost impossible to find an analyst who believes Jones is likely to be re-elected. Unless Republicans nominate someone as controversial as Moore, the Republican nominee is expected to win.
If he announces on Wednesday as expected, Byrne will be the first major Republican in the race. Several other potentially major candidates reportedly have ruled out running. Right now, the only other significant state Republican thought to be seriously considering the race is State Senate President Del Marsh, a wealthy businessman. Marsh, whose name-identification statewide does not match his wealth or his sway within the state Senate, has noticeably stepped up his social media presence in recent weeks. He has not, however, said whether he will run.
Byrne was elected to Congress in a special election in 2013. It was a political comeback for him. A lawyer who was a former member of the state board of education, and state senator, and then president of the state’s two-year college system, Byrne entered the 2010 race for governor as the proven conservative reformer and the betting favorite among four major candidates. The then-powerful and notoriously left-wing Alabama Education Association spent or leveraged more than $3 million to bloody Byrne up politically, though, and Byrne lost a primary run-off to then-State Rep. Robert Bentley.
Byrne may be counting on buyer’s remorse: Bentley ended up resigning in disgrace over ethics charges stemming from actions he took to try to cover up a tawdry affair with a top aide.
Since entering Congress, Byrne has risen rapidly through the ranks. Bills he authored were chosen as the major vehicles for repealing Obamacare, for overturning burdensome regulations, for fighting poverty, and for combating sexual harassment within Congress. He was appointed by GOP leadership to the powerful Rules Committee and chosen to give the Republican national radio response to then-President Barack Obama as the 2016 campaign season hit the home stretch.
In the most recent Federal Election Commission filings at the end of 2018, Byrne listed just more than $1 million on hand for his campaign and Jones just more than $2 million, but both are known to have been assiduously raising money since then.
The seat has gone from the controversial Sessions to the placeholder Luther Strange and then to Jones after the nationally reported brouhaha over Moore’s old dating habits. This campaign, finally for a full Senate term, will surely attract major national attention. If Republicans want a candidate who can unite Tea Partiers, the business community, and Trump enthusiasts on at least somewhat common ground, Byrne is the most obvious choice right now.
