Several prominent Republicans will visit Alabama in coming weeks to help raise the party?s profile and help raise money for coming elections. And the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party hopes to use some of the funds raised at events to help win seats at the county level.
The Republicans who will be visiting Alabama include Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, U.S. Rep. Allen West, and Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for President George W. Bush.
Bill Armistead, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, said when he became chairman he committed to bring rising stars in the party to different parts of the state.
Scott, who was elected in 2010, and Gov. Robert Bentley will be at the Grand in Dothan at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
Jindal, who took office in 2008 and who also served in Congress, will be in Mobile on May 10. He will attend events at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. Jindal is often discussed as a rising star in the party.
Fleischer, who was the face of the Bush administration from 2001 to 2003 when he served as press secretary and who is now a CNN contributor, will be in Birmingham for a reception May 21.
West, who was elected in 2010 to represent south Florida in Congress and who retired as a colonel from the U.S. Army, is the keynote speaker for the state party?s annual summer dinner on June 22 at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center. There will be a reception at 6 p.m. and a dinner at 7 p.m. General admission is $150.
West, even though he is in his first term, is no stranger to controversy.
Mark Kennedy, chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party, criticized West and Alabama Republicans for bringing him to the state. In a post on the Alabama Democratic Party?s website, Kennedy criticized West for his recent comments that he knew 81 members of Congress who are communists.
?Like his Republican brethren, Rep. West continually uses the politics of fear and rage to forward his own radical agenda,? Kennedy wrote.
He also wrote that ?Rep. West?s comments are an outrageous, but all too common, attempt by the Republican Party to pit a nation against itself.?
Primarily, Armistead said, the money raised at the events will be used for upcoming elections. He said some of the events are not fundraisers.
Armistead said they are also working to try to get former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the presumed Republican nominee for president, back to the state.
With a plan that includes ?candidate school? and with the money raised at events and from donors, Armistead said they are targeting county races. He said, across the state, probate judges and circuit clerks are on the ballot this year. The chairman said the party is running a full slate of candidates, even in some areas that are still controlled by Democrats.
?We?re going to take this down to the street level,? Armistead said.
Armistead said about two-thirds of county courthouses are still controlled by Democrats, which he said is not acceptable. He hopes, in November, to pick up about 20 more courthouses.
That, Armistead said, is a ?pretty challenging goal,? but he believes it is manageable.
He said the party has recruited candidates over the last year and some of them have never run for office, but are respected in their communities. He said 750 Republicans qualified to run for office in the state this year.
?We?re going to have a real good year of celebrating our Republican victories,? he said.
People can call 205-212-5900 for more information about the events.
