By Lee Hedgepeth
Alabama Political Reporter
Yesterday, in the State House joint press room, Democrat Joe Hubbard announced his intentions to run against incumbent Republican Luther Strange for Alabama Attorney General this November.
His announcement can be viewed here.
The Montgomery native began his talk with a mention to his great-grandfather:
“As my great grandfather Senator Lister Hill used to say, public service is the highest of callings. Four years ago, I answered the call to public service…Now, more than ever, I feel that I have been called to serve not just the people of Montgomery, but all the people of Alabama. So today, I am announcing my candidacy for the Office of Attorney General.”
Hubbard, a graduate of Samford Law School, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010, being one of only about a dozen Democrats nationwide to flip a Republican district, and the only one to do so in Alabama.
After touting his legislative accomplishments, Hubbard answered questions, including on his stance on gambling in Alabama:
“On electronic gaming, I’m afraid our Attorney General is spending entirely too much of our law enforcement resources in this state chasing down industries that have a legal right to operate instead of chasing down the real criminals,” he said.
“We’ve got a widespread pandemic of crime in this state…it is causing real problems for real people. And instead of sending all of our law enforcement muscle down to try to shut down the Poarch Creek on sovereign land that we have no control over, we need to focus on sending our law enforcement officials to where the real crime is, and stopping that, because that is what is going to benefit the people of this state.
His comments on gaming can be seen here.
The legislative redistricting left Hubbard with a less favorable district, leading many to believe that to be his motivation for the bigger political move.
Hubbard faces a significant financial challenge, as current finance disclosures point to less than $100,000 in his campaign coffers, with Strange trailing $2,000,000.
