From Trussville Tribune staff reports
MONTGOMERY — Governor Kay Ivey signed a proclamation Tuesday to move the special election for the vacant US senate seat. The new election date for the primary is now set for August 15, 2017, with any runoff election held on September 26, 2017. The general election will be held on December 12, 2017.
“I promised to steady our ship of state,” Governor Kay Ivey said in a release. “This means following the law, which clearly states the people should vote for a replacement US Senator as soon as possible. The new US Senate special election dates this year are a victory for the rule of law.”
Former Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange was appointed to the seat when elected now-former Senator Jeff Sessions was appointed as the nation’s Attorney General.
Strange has announced his candidacy for the seat, and said he is prepared for the election.
“As I’ve said all along, I’m a candidate and I’m ready to run whether the election is next month or next year,” Strange said in a statement. “As the only announced candidate, I will spend the next several months being the best senator I can be.”
Governor Ivey did not rush to the decision of moving the special election due to the severe costs applied, but in the end the law won.
“This is not a hastily-made decision. I consulted legal counsel, the finance director, Speaker McCutcheon, Senate President Del Marsh, and both budget chairmen since the cost to the General Fund could be great,” Ivey said. “However, following the law trumps the expense of a special election.”
The Alabama Democratic Caucus released a statement saying this will put the state one more step closer to moving on from one of the state’s darkest political periods.
“This demonstrates the departure from backroom politics that we have seen for far too long in Montgomery,” the statement read. “The people of Alabama have a right to decide who represents this state and now they will have that opportunity.”
One Comment
Steve Nusbaum
Can’t we just give sessions back?