By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Former Attorney General Troy King qualified for a return trip to Montgomery for a second term as Alabama’s attorney general on Thursday.
King qualified in his hometown of Elba, Alabama. King signed his qualification papers in front of crowd of approximately 100 supporters.
Referring to the culture of corruption that has clouded state government recently, King said that, “The last eight years have been filled with politicians putting their own interests ahead of ours. We watched as politicians passed a new ethics law which they thought nobody would notice when they turned around and broke it.”
King has attended more than fifty parole hearings since going into private practice. The former attorney general noted that he has been there to object to the release of violent criminals but the current Attorney General has not attended except on one occasion.
“I have been there to stand with victims of crime over and over before the Board of Pardons and Paroles,” King said. “I have stood against the release of some of our state’s most brutal and heinous criminals. The District Attorneys have been there as well. The Attorney General has not been there.”
King said that his campaign will focus on his intent to work closely with law enforcement officials to prosecute violent criminals and to restore integrity and respect to the state of Alabama.
“We have been the butt of embarrassing jokes for too long,” King said. “I think it is time for that to end.”
King was a legal counsel for Governor Bob Riley. When Attorney General Bill Pryor was appointed a federal appeals court judge by President George W. Bush, Riley appointed Troy King as attorney general to fill the remainder of Pryor’s term.
King later won his own term. King served as the state’s attorney general from 2004 until 2010.
In 2010, longtime lobbyist Luther Strange challenged King in the Republican primary. That was a very negative campaign and Strange prevailed.
In 2017, Strange was appointed to the U.S. Senate and then Gov. Robert Bentley appointed former Marshall County District Attorney Steve Marshall as attorney general for the remainder of Strange’s second term. Marshall is also seeking the Republican nomination for the office.
King said that he is running because he loves Alabama and because he believes it is time to begin to fix what is wrong with this state.
Trump Alabama campaign manager Chess Bedsole and former U.S. Attorney Alice Martin are also running in the Republican Primary.
The winner of the GOP primary will face Chris Christie in the general election.
Qualifying for the June 5 major party primaries ends today.
