MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — One of Alabama's best-known plaintiff lawyers, former Lt. Gov. Jere Beasley, signed on Monday as chairman of Artur Davis' campaign for governor, a blow to Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb's potential gubernatorial bid.
Beasley said the Democratic congressman from Birmingham can work with both parties and has the leadership skills to transform Alabama.
"He, in my judgment, is the ideal candidate for the times,'' Beasley said in a conference call with reporters.
Beasley's law firm was one of Cobb's biggest supporters in her successful race for chief justice in 2006. Now she is considering resigning that post to compete with Davis and state Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks in the Democratic primary for governor in June 2010.
Asked about her potential entry into the race, Beasley said he decided to support Davis months ago before Cobb's interest became known.
"Personally, I think most people in Alabama would like to see her stay and fulfill the obligation she has as chief justice, but that's her call,'' he said.
Cobb, the only Democrat on Alabama's nine-member Supreme Court, announced two weeks ago that she was torn between people who were encouraging her to run for governor and those urging her to stay put. She did not set a deadline for deciding.
In the 2006 race for chief justice, Beasley and his Montgomery law firm, Beasley Allen, contributed $496,000 to 22 political action committees that made large contributions to Cobb's campaign. It is difficult to tell exactly how much of the PAC money Cobb received originated with Beasley's law firm, but it represented a significant part of the $2.6 million Cobb raised for her campaign.
William Stewart, former chairman of the political science department at the University of Alabama, said getting Beasley as campaign chairman is a coup because he is a leader of trial lawyers in Alabama and he is known throughout the country.
"He's one of the most noted trial lawyers in the United States,'' Stewart said.
He described Beasley as being extremely knowledgeable about Alabama politics, beginning with the eight years he spent as lieutenant governor when George C. Wallace was governor from 1973-1979.
Skip Tucker, executive director of Alabama Voters Against Lawsuit Abuse, said Beasley has a history of putting lots of money into campaigns he supports. "He has more money than a lot of Third World countries, and he's not afraid to spend it,'' Tucker said.
But he said Beasley's support of a candidate is ``radioactive'' with the business community. With Beasley leading Davis' campaign, the congressman's ability to pick up business support "will be somewhere between hard and impossible,'' Tucker predicted.
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