Alabama Governor Robert Bentley may have given into temptation again. Down south Wednesday night, Bentley gave word that State Attorney General Luther Strange would fill the recently vacated seat of Senator Jeff Sessions.
More than most appointments, the pick has raised eyebrows in Alabama and across the country. That’s because the 63-year-old executive faces impeachment charges for a sex scandal with one of his aides and, until recently, Strange was responsible for carrying out the investigation.
Now the disgraced governor is sitting pretty in Montgomery. By sending Strange to Washington, Bentley has a free hand to consolidate his power by appointing a new attorney general. As a result, whoever becomes Alabama’s next top cop will owe the governor allegiance.
That possibility inspired State Auditor Jim Ziegler to seek divine intervention. “Pray for anybody but Luther Strange,” the Republican told local reporters while Bentley was interviewing potential Sessions replacements. And without Strange holding the axe over the governor’s head, Ziegler says, “just wait to see the next two with him having his own attorney general.”
But the auditor’s prayers have gone unanswered. For better or worse, Strange is the new junior senator from Alabama.
A mountain of a man at 6-foot-9, Strange will be hard to miss while roaming Capitol Hill. And questions about his priorities will also be hard to ignore. He heads for Washington at a time when Alabama needs him most, leaving behind an unfinished investigation into potential corruption in the highest office in the state. It seems possible that Bentley took advantage of the southern giant’s ambition to get away with scandal.
Still, Strange’s predecessor and most of Alabama’s congressional delegation say his honesty is beyond reproach. Sessions praised the straight-shooter reputation of his replacement. And Alabama Rep. Gary Palmer waved away any suspicion that Strange cut a deal with the governor.
“I’ve known Luther for over twenty years and I can’t imagine he’d do that,” Palmer tells me. “It’d be completely contradictory to the character of the individual I’ve known all these years. I would hope whoever gets the appointment, that there’d be none of that.”
It’s unclear if the Alabama electorate feels the same way. But thanks to Bentley they won’t get a say until a 2018 special election. Citing cost, the governor decided not to hold a vote earlier. And by that time, voters will likely have become accustomed to their newer and much taller senator.
It’s been more than two decades since Alabama had an open senate seat, as the Washington Post’s Amber Phillips observes. And now, thanks to Bentley, it could be another two decades before another opens up.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
