Bright opens Dothan headquarters; says he supported Huckabee

By Lance Griffin

Published: September 8, 2008

The 2nd Congressional District’s Democratic nominee for Congress said Monday that close party ties are a thing of the past, adding that he voted for Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee in the Republican primary earlier this year.

Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright officially opened his Dothan campaign headquarters Monday and said his support of Huckabee shows his support of person over party.

“He is a very smart man and I know what his beliefs are,” Bright said Monday morning. “He’s a Southern Baptist minister and I’ve been a Southern Baptist deacon for 14 years.”

Bright’s Republican opponent, State Rep. Jay Love of Montgomery, was a Huckabee delegate to the Republican National Convention before the former Arkansas governor released his delegates to support Presidential nominee John McCain. Love and Bright are both deacons at First Baptist Church in Montgomery.

Bright said he watched some of the Republican National Convention last week, including part of the speeches of McCain and Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who is the governor of Alaska.

“Basically, what they try to do at the conventions is energize the base. The conventions are good, but they’re preaching to the choir,” Bright said. “What I’m trying to concentrate on in my campaign is representing the people of this district. I lived here in the Wiregrass for half my life and haven’t just come in here to try to woo and seduce the people into getting their votes.”

Love’s campaign has said Bright is running his campaign to distance himself from Democratic party leadership that could be viewed as unpopular in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District.

Bright’s campaign headquarters is located at 3236 W. Main St. Suite #1. Bright said supporters can get campaign signs and other material there and get information on volunteering. He said an Internet station would be set up to help answer questions from voters.

Love opened his Dothan campaign headquarters about a month ago. It is located at 3246 Montgomery Highway in Dothan.

“We’d like to welcome Mayor Bright to the Wiregrass,“ Love campaign spokesperson Todd Stacy said. “Our Dothan headquarters has been up and running for a month and it’s been hard to keep up with the demand for signs and bumper stickers ever since.”