Staff Report
Birmingham, AL – Below is a statement by Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead regarding the resignation of Mark Kennedy as Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party:
“It appears that Alabama Democrat Conference Chairman Joe Reed has completed his “takeover” of the Alabama Democratic Party as former Supreme Court Justice Mark Kennedy exits as their embittered Chairman. Mark and I have had our policy differences, but you have to hand it to him, he never hesitated to state his admiration and support for Barack Obama. Mark was an early supporter of Obama’s Presidential campaign while his chief rival within the Alabama Democratic Party, Joe Reed, was an early and passionate supporter of Hillary Clinton in 2008. That was just the beginning of their feuding. Mark was even supportive of bringing Louis Farrakhan to Huntsville for a fundraiser for the Democrat party and never raised any objection when the delegates to the Democratic National Convention last year voted to take God out of their platform.
“It should now be crystal clear to Alabamians who is in control of the Alabama Democrat Party – and that is Joe Reed. Anyone who has followed politics in Alabama knew that it was just a matter of time until Joe Reed pushed Mark Kennedy out of his position as Chairman. If Alabama voters had any doubts as to the direction the Alabama Democrat Party was going that question has now been answered. The Alabama Democrat Party may not only be financially bankrupt, but now they are also philosophically bankrupt with no fresh ideas on how to govern.
“As long as the leadership of the Democratic Party in Alabama is Joe Reed and their national leader is Barack Obama I believe that we will continue to see a mass exodus of Democrats, both voters and elected officials, here in Alabama. Alabama voters can’t stomach their liberal policies. As I have said since I became chairman of the Alabama Republican Party over two years ago, if voters and elected officials agree with our conservative philosophy, we welcome them into our party. Last year over 50 Democrat elected officials repudiated the Democrat Party and joined the Republican Party, and the trend continues this year.
“We have our welcome mat out for anyone who shares our values, but if they want to become a Republican just to win the next election, they need not apply. They will have difficulty gaining ballot access and even if they do, they will be outed as pretenders. We will not allow our conservative Republican Party to be hijacked by Democrats claiming to be Republicans. They will be much more at home with Joe Reed’s Democratic Party”.
