A very ironic, interesting and inexplicable
occurrence surfaces when you study southern politics in detail. Each Deep South
state has a region and even a county that spawns an inordinate number of
governors and senators.
One of the most pronounced is Edgefield County,
South Carolina. However, the most prominent and prolific county in southern
history for producing governors is our own Barbour County. These folks have
produced six Alabama governors. If you were to count George Wallace’s four
terms, they would have elected a governor from their county nine times. Wallace
is obviously Barbour County’s most famous native son. In fact, his wife Lurleen
is one of the six governors. She was actually born and raised in Northport in
Tuscaloosa County but Barbour County claims her since she lived and voted in
Barbour County when she was elected governor.
In recent years Cullman County has had somewhat of a
run at being a prominent producer of governors. Big Jim Folsom served two terms
in the 1940s and 50s. Then, during an eight-year period from 1986-1994 they had
a governor and lieutenant governor at the same time. Guy Hunt was governor and
Jim Folsom Jr. was lieutenant governor. Then Jim Jr. became governor for a
couple of years when Hunt was removed from office.
However, today in current Alabama politics we have
two very significant counties when it comes to having native sons and daughters
in prominent elective office in the state. The County of Wilcox is interesting
and Tuscaloosa County’s current prominence is unparalleled.
Wilcox County is a small, sparsely populated Black
Belt county in the southwest corner of the state. It has only about 15,000
people and therefore probably has three times as many pine trees as it does
people. However, get this fact. One of our U.S. Senators Jeff Sessions, our
Lieutenant Governor Kay Ivey and former 1st District Congressman Jo Bonner all
grew up in Wilcox County, all about the same time and all knew each other
growing up. You can add to the mix Congressman Bonner’s sister, Judy Bonner.
She is the President of the University of Alabama.
Speaking of the University of Alabama, the Alabama
Crimson Tide has the premier college football program in America and Tuscaloosa
has also become the kingdom for Alabama politics. Tuscaloosa is the home county
of both our sitting Governor Robert Bentley and our Senior U.S. Senator Richard
Shelby. That is quite a duo. The Druid City and Capstone also illustrated some
expert political savvy during last year’s congressional reapportionment. They
lassoed in Congressman Robert Aderholt to be their congressman. Aderholt is
Alabama’s future in Congress when it comes to appropriations.
They have one of the brightest and most capable
House delegations ever assembled for a county their size. They have two of the
most outstanding freshmen in a much-heralded freshman House class--John Merrill
and Bill Poole, both already effective, and Representative Chris England, who
is one of the sharpest young legislators on Goat Hill.
They also have two outstanding State Senators. They
have a resident Senator Gerald Allen and a astute Freshman Senator they share with
Walker County named Greg Reed.
As though Tuscaloosa needed more political
prominence, their legislative influence became exponentially more significant
in recent weeks. Rep. Bill Poole was recently named Chairman of the House
Education Budget Committee.
In addition, one of the most prominent political
consultants in the state, Joe Perkins, calls Tuscaloosa home. They may as well
move the State Capitol to Tuscaloosa. Some people would argue that Richard
Shelby has brought home a good bit of the national treasury to Tuscaloosa
already.
See you next week.
About the author: Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading
political columnist. His column appears weekly in more than 70 Alabama
newspapers. Steve served 16 years in the state legislature. He may be reached
at http://www.steveflowers.us.
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