By CAROLINE BECK, Alabama Daily News
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – After a brief pause, the Republican race for Attorney General is back in full swing and taking a turn for the negative.
The campaigns of Attorney General Steve Marshall and former Attorney General Troy King were suspended briefly after the tragic death of Marshall’s wife, Bridgette. Now, with less than a week to go until the July 17th runoff election, that detente is long gone.
King has emerged as the aggressor, launching daily attacks at Marshall’s character and record. Earlier this week, King made headlines by filing an ethics complaint claiming the donations Marshall received from the Republican Attorneys General Association were improper. The Executive Director of the Ethics Commission indicated to the Associated Press that was not the case.
King also released a last-ditch television ad calling Marshall a Democrat “acting like a Republican” and accused him of sporting an Obama bumper sticker, a claim Marshall’s camp says is laughable.
Now, Marshall’s campaign is fighting back. A new television ad compares King’s attacks to liberal activists “spreading fake news” and “lacking basic civility.”
Watch both ads HERE.
“These attacks are absurd,” said Marshall’s Communications Director Julia Mazzone in a statement via email.
“Troy King was fired by Alabama Republicans in 2010 because of political stunts like this. Clearly nothing has changed. As Ethics Commission Director Tom Albritton stated yesterday, practitioners and the Secretary of State’s office agree that there is no violation of the law here. We are in full compliance and remain focused on the important issues at hand in this race.”
King was defeated during the Alabama GOP primaries in 2010 by Luther Strange. During his tenure as AG, King himself was a member of the Republicans Attorneys General Association and attended at least 14 RAGA events, according to those familiar with those meetings.
RAGA is denouncing King’s aggressive moves as “desperate ploy from a flailing campaign filed one week before the election against the wrong entity and based upon an incorrect reading of the law.”
“What is Troy King for?” Roday asked spokesman Zach Roday. “Seriously, why is he running for attorney general? He has offered no solutions, just desperate attacks. Alabama Republicans sick of his pathetic antics have got to be scratching their heads, thinking, didn’t we fire this guy already?”