By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Monday, former Morgan County Commissioner Stacy George (R) announced that he was dropping out of the Alabama governor’s race and was endorsing Gov. Kay Ivey. George says that he is dropping out of public life. He will complete his book.
“I, Stacy Lee George am leaving the 2018 Governor’s race. I am endorsing Kay Ivey for Governor. Over the last couple of months while finishing my book I have realized that Governor Ivey has been able to steady the ship in Alabama,” George said in a statement.
“Governor Ivey has been in the political eye as State Treasurer two terms and has been elected to Lt. Governor twice,” George said. “She has never to my knowledge had any ethical issues while serving in political office. She followed the law by calling for a special election quickly in the US Senate special election. She removed several cabinet members from the former Governor Bentley administration. This took a lot of courage. I think Governor Ivey deserves to be elected to a full term.”
“As for me, I will continue to work on my book ‘Corruption in the Heart of Dixie’ and I am adding a few chapters on how to win a countywide race with little money. I am going to let people know as much as possible hoping to inspire people to seek public office. I am going to assume I will never seek public office in the future. I have spent 20 years dealing with politics and I have learned a lot about it. I would like to thank each person who has helped along the span of 20 years and I am thankful for the friendships I have made. I entered politics through hate and I will leave it with love; the love of my life Karen and my wonderful children. May God Bless each and every one of you,” George wrote regarding his future plans.
George ran for governor in the 2014 Republican primary against incumbent Robert Bentley (R). Bentley easily defeated George, but George filed a number of ethics complaints against the governor. Those complaints, combined with a complaint by State Auditor Jim Zeigler (R), led to the Alabama Ethics Commission finding that Gov. Bentley may have violated state campaign finance and ethics laws and forwarded their findings to the Montgomery District Attorney’s office. Bentley pleaded guilty to two counts of the campaign finance violations and resigned five days later after the House Judiciary Committee began impeachment hearings. Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey then rose to the office of governor.
Gov. Kay Ivey is seeking her own term as governor. Huntstville Mayor Tommy Battle, evangelist Scott Dawson and Huntsville Sen. Bill Hightower, R-Mobile, are the remained Republican candidates for governor.
The major party primaries will be on June 5, 2018.
