Staff Report
Robert Kennedy Jr. and former US Attorney Doug Jones have filed qualifying paperwork with the Alabama Democratic Party to run for the Democratic nomination in the 2017, US Senate Special Election called to permanently replace Sen. Jeff Sessions.
Jones is a former US Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, a post he took in 1997. He served as a US attorney until 2001. He is perhaps better known for his position as a lead prosecutor on the cold case of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham.
He led the successful prosecution of two former Ku Klux Klansmen for the murder of four young girls who died in the blast. He also led the task force that indicted and convicted fugitive Eric Rudolph, who pled guilty to terrorist bombings in Atlanta and Birmingham.
It isn’t clear who Robert Kennedy Jr. is, though. ADP Chairwoman Nancy Worley said she didn’t know who Kennedy was, but he paid the $3,480 qualifying fee to run for the nomination.
It’s unlikely that the person who qualified for the Senate election is kin to the famous Kennedy family or that he is, in fact, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of 1968 Democratic nominee Bobby Kennedy. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a vaccine skeptic who was asked to serve on a Trump vaccine task force.
It’s doubtful that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a residence in Mobile County, where the qualifying candidate listed his residence.
The final deadline to qualify for the Special Election is May 17. Ron Crumpton, who ran against Sen. Richard Shelby in 2016, has also announced his candidacy for the position. The primary is scheduled for August 15.
