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John Merrill

News / Elections / State

Robert McKay sues to have Lipscomb removed from the ballot

On Thursday, Republican Primary House District 30 candidate Robert McKay filed suit in Etowah County asking the court to have his Republican primary runoff opponent, Brandon Craig Lipscomb removed from the November 6 general election ballot and that he be placed there instead. Lipscomb beat McKay in the July Republican primary runoff election. McKay is … Continued
August 17, 2018

Republicans playing by different rules when it comes to state ethics laws

The law is simple: Candidates running for public office in Alabama must file a statement of economic interests when they qualify, and then must file an annual SEI by the yearly deadline. That’s not hard, right? File an SEI when you qualify. File again at the next year’s deadline. Simple. But then, following ethics laws … Continued
August 14, 2018

Republican Party will not remove candidates from the ballot

Candidates are required to file a Statement of Economic Interests form with the Alabama Ethics Commission. It has been recently reported that certain candidates did not file their 2017 statements by the deadline. Under Alabama law failure to file a Statement of Economic Interests means removal from the ballot. The Republican Party told the Alabama … Continued
August 13, 2018

Inside the Statehouse: Primary political potpourri

Now that the dust has settled on the primaries, allow me to share with you some thoughts on the Alabama political stage. There is an old saying that says the more things change, the more they stay the same. This old adage is true in Alabama politics. First of all, “All politics is local.” In the … Continued
August 9, 2018

Lathan, ALGOP circumvent secretary of state, agree to hand out sensitive voter info

There is often a penalty for believing dumb things. Terry Lathan should receive one. Last week, emails from soon-to-be-impeached-President Trump’s so-called “voter fraud commission” were made public for the first time. The short-lived commission, which was abruptly disbanded last January, less than a year after it was established, was set up to root out the … Continued
August 6, 2018

Merrill writes letter supporting the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh

Wednesday, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill (R) wrote a letter adding his support for the confirmation of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald J. Trump (R) to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. “President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett M. … Continued
July 25, 2018

Secretary of State’s Office begins voter fraud investigation in Wilcox and Perry Counties

Turnout in Tuesday’s primary runoff was just 12.7 percent across the state. That percentage, however, varied wildly across the state. Many Democrats did not vote as there were not any statewide Democratic runoffs. Understandably then, the counties with the worst voter participation rates were Democratic dominated Black Belt Counties. Choctaw County was the worst in … Continued
July 20, 2018