Purely Political News and Views - Thursday, May 10, 2012 13:12 - 0 Comments

Looking Ahead To 2014 In Alabama

On the Alabama scene, even though Gov. Robert Bentley hasn’t even completed his second year of a four-year term, Capitol-insiders are saying that several men are already measuring the drapes in the Governor’s office. Some say privately that former Governor Bob Riley would like another term, but I suspect he is making too much money as a lobbyist to take a severe pay cut. However, in the event he doesn’t run, Riley is rumored to have a full slate of candidates ready to run in 2014. That includes a hand-picked person for Governor.

Mike Hubbard, the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, is said to be the Riley choice. If he isn’t the choice, Mike is certainly acting like a candidate, having his own agenda. It’s clearly an agenda that is separate and apart from that of the Bentley Administration. It will be interesting to see how long it will be before the public figures out that Alabama doesn’t need two chief executives.

It will also be interesting to watch what happens during the rest of this year’s legislative session. I understand some legislative leaders are blaming Gov. Bentley for the state’s financial woes, which is most difficult to understand. But that may well be part and parcel of the Riley plan. Nevertheless, Gov. Bentley still enjoys a very good favorable rating around the state. He inherited a financial mess when he took office and to his credit, Gov. Bentley didn’t blame it on his predecessor. But the fact remains, the state was in terrible financial shape when Riley left office. All Alabamians are now suffering because of the resulting proration and things will get worse, starting in October, because of the badly underfunded budgets for the next fiscal year.