From AP Studios in downtown Montgomery.

I'm Todd Stacy.

Welcome to Capitol Journal.

We have a good show for you this week.

Continuing our effort to interview candidates for statewide office.

I'll be sitting down with candidates for Alabama attorney general, Republican Kathryn Robertson and Democrat Jeff McLaughlin.

And after that I'll link up with John Rogers, a pollster from signal based in Washington, DC, who will talk throug some of their recent statewide polling that was released this week.

We are, after all, just a little over a week from the November 3rd general election.

One of the most closely watched races in Alabama and in the country is for Alabama's second congressional district, which stretches from here in Montgomery over to the Georgia Line and down into the Wiregrass.

Democratic incumbent Congressman Shamari figures and Republican state Representative Marcus spent the past week rallying voters to boot to boost turnout on Election Day.

Alex Angle followe the candidates on the campaign trail and has the story from Dothan.

To Pike Road, or in cities in between.

Alabama's second congressional district candidates are urging voters to head to the polls as both parties fight for control of the critical seat.

I think people to be out voting in record numbers.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise stumped for Rhett Marcus this week, stressing the importanc of the newly redrawn district.

This seat absolutely will have a larger say on the direction of the country.

You know, do we want conservative policies that are ruling common sense, or do you want fa left socialist defund the police agenda moving forward?

Republicans are framing the congressional race as a national fight over who controls the House next year.

You know when to see.

I can go ahead and guarantee you we will not have we have the leadership in the House.

And and then that's what it comes down to.

Marcus is trying to flip a seat that Republicans drew to make it friendlier for the GOP this year.

But the race has become competitive as voters worry about high price at the pump and grocery store.

And that's figures is closing pitch to voters as he fights to keep the seat.

It doesn't matter what tradition guys look like when people are paying $4 a gallon for gas.

But it doesn't matter what your district lines look like when you have big, all time high prices for diesel fuel.

Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey spent Thursday campaigning for figures in Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones.

With just days before the midterms.

Booker says he chose to visit the state to support candidates that will provide great leadership to Alabama, the home of his great grandfather.

I've worked with both of them.

I'm blown awa that they're not left or right.

They're really Alabama first and how to move our country forward.

So I just feel like I'm here to pay a debt back to my ancestors.

Both campaigns say turnout will be key in determining who will represent the South Alabama district next year in Washington.

The general election is November 3rd.

Reporting in Dothan and Montgome Thank you Alex.

And as a reminder, we had in-depth interviews with both of those candidates on last week's show.

You can find those interviews and all of our candidates sit down on our Capital Journal YouTube page.

Have you ever been to the top of Mount Yeehaw?

Now, thanks to new investments and Alabama state parks, you can spend the night or the weekend on Alabama' highest point at the New Lodge for recently retired Conservation Commissioner Chris Blankenship, it's also a project that helped cap more than nin years leading that department.

Capital Journal's Jeff Sanders has more.

Alabama's oldest state park now has something new on the horizon.

Perched along the bluff at Mount Chickasaw, a new $28 million lodge puts visitors face to face with sweeping mountain views.

State leaders dedicated the 32 room facility earlier this month.

Former Conservation Commissioner Chris Blankenshi says replacing the aging hotel offered a chance to rethink its place on the mountain.

Tore down the old hotel.

Move the hotel across the road where it's on the brow, looking out over the valley from the highest point in Alabama, a used mass timber construction that highlights the forest products industry in Alabama.

And it just blends so nicely into the mountain and the views from there are just spectacular.

While the scenery is timeless, the investment is a long term bet on Alabama's parks.

The governor's office says the parks have seen more than $350 million in upgrade during the Ivey administration.

Chicas Lodge is amon the projects supported by an $85 million bond issue approved by voters in 2022.

But new building need more than ribbon cuttings.

They need paying customers.

Visitors generate 80 to 90% of the park system's funding.

Blankenship says the goal was to build facilities that could help pay their own way.

I think we've done that.

I think we've got them in a great place, and we just need our people to come out and enjoy them and spend some money there.

And now we can we can keep them nice.

The dedication came just weeks after Blankenship retired in September, ending more than nine years leading an agency of roughly 1300 employees.

It's work stretches beyond parks to wildlife, fisheries, offshore oil and gas leasing, and coastal restoration.

Blankenship credits the leadership style of Governor Ivey, giving him room to lead.

If I need some help, she' always been there to help with when needed, but for the most part, she trust jihad good people, and she trusts them to run their organization.

Blankenship started as a conservation enforcement officer in the Marine Resources Division.

32 years later, he says leaving the people he worked with is the hardest part of stepping away.

They love their jobs and we really just had a fantastic staff and great men and women to work with and people in the department that, you know, want everything to be better for our citizens and want to protect the resource.

And I'm going to miss working with them on a daily basis.

And just because Blankenship has retired from state government doesn't mean he's retire from advocating for the state.

He's now the new executive director of the Coastal Alabama Partnership and Coastal 150.

Reporting from the AP Studios in Montgomery.

I'm Jeff Sanders for Capitol Journal.

Thank you, Jeff.

This week, the Alabam law Enforcement Agency launched a new initiative aimed at encouraging safe drivin amongst the state's teenagers.

Troopers want teen drivers to develop good habits that help them avoid accidents that could hurt themselves or hurt others.

Capitol Journal's Randy Scott reports from the Road.

Every life that's lost on the Alabama roadways is tragic.

But but our children are our future and we don't want to diminish our own future.

The Alabama law enforcement agency is usually visible when you see a state trooper.

Their main job is enforcing traffic laws, which keeps them busy.

According to Colonel Jeremy Burkett, the agency is taking steps when it comes to protecting a certain set of drivers.

Teenager who are new to the driving world were used to seeing trooper patrolling Alabama's roadways, streets and byways around the state.

But guess what?

They could be coming to a school near you.

The reason why a new program designed to get in contact with young people to make sure they understan the driving rules of the roads.

And guess what?

They'll have back up the parents.

This new program, rule of the road, starts this week.

Rules of the Road Aliyah focuses on getting parents involved for teen drivers.

And that's really what it's about.

It's about us making sure that the parents are talking to our teenagers and our young drivers to make sure they understand what the requirements are whenever they ge behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Their goal is thi save as many lives as possible.

So fatal automobile accidents don't become an epidemic.

Unfortunately, we have seen in the state of Alabama teen related deaths.

So in 2025 we saw a total of 96 individuals that would qualify as a teen or young driver.

Those lives were lost either during a crash or while a teen was operating a motor vehicle.

Year to date, we've already lost 71 lives in 2026.

Colonel Burkett says they wan to make sure knowledge is power when it comes to understanding driving laws.

And under no circumstances is this to deny people the ability to operate motor vehicles.

Not that we don't want young people driving, not because the law says as long as you pass the skills test and you pass a written test in the state of Alabama, you can obtain a class D driver's license.

When you're 16.

And we encourage people to do that.

The plan is to visit teens at school, talk to them, and feel questions during those conversations.

Also, encourage them to talk to their parents to make sure they're involved in that.

We just want to make sure that parents realize, don't take stuff for granted.

Just because, you know, don' assume that your child knows it.

And it's not that you're being ugly to them.

It's not that you're demeaning them.

It's you.

Again, having a very specific conversation with deliberate results at the end of it to ensure that they understand what they need to do to get out there and safely operate a vehicle in Montgomery.

Randy Scott, Capital Journal.

Thank you.

Randy.

We'll take a quick break and be back with those candidates for attorney general.

Stay with us.

You can watch past episodes of Capital Journal online anytime at Alabama Public Television's website.

App tv.org.

Click on the online video tab on the main page.

You can also connect with Capital Journal and link to past episodes on Capital Journal's Facebook page.

Montgomery native Percival Julian was an internationally acclaimed chemist, the third African-American to receive a Ph.D.

in chemistry.

He specialized in the chemistry of natural products and their synthesis in the laboratory.

This technology is very important in medicines, food products, paint and firefighting foams, among other things.

Julian received many awards, including election to the National Academy of Sciences and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Jeff McLaughlin.

Democratic nominee for Alabama attorney general.

Mr.

McLaughlin thanks for coming on the show.

Well, thanks for having me.

I appreciate the opportunity to be here.

Absolutely.

I thought we would start by asking you to remin our audience of your background.

Because you're no stranger to Montgomery, right?

Well, not too much of a stranger.

Mainly because my brother lives here.

Okay.

And I spent a lot of time with him and his family.

But also, I did put in a few years in the legislature from 2000 to 2010.

I served as district 27 membe of the House in the legislature.

Right.

So, got Capitol Journal a few times and meet you all down.

And when you're in the basement, I think at the state House.

And, I always respected the work you do and had, like, the opportunity to come speak with you again.

Absolutely.

Well, yeah.

We can't wait to be back in the state House.

Good luck in the new state House.

Well.

Good luck.

Well, given that background, given what's going on these days, why did you decide to run for AG?

Or maybe the better question is, why do you want to be Alabama's attorney general?

Yeah.

Let me give you a full good answer.

I'm concerned about the direction of our country.

Concerned about the direction of our state.

Anxious to defend and protect those institutions that make democracy work.

I have yet genuinely fel that many of those institutions are under attack, and I have felt that I need to do something to do my very best take my best opportunity to try to protect those things, because I don't want to look back and think, deficit, you should have done more.

I want my kids to get the same institutions that I inherited from my parents, and that's not a given right now in my opinion.

Now we are coming up on, you know, Attorney General Steve Marshall will have been there about ten years when it's all said and done.

Former law partner of yours by the way.

Ironically enough.

That's correct.

But just looking at his tenure because it's very much wrapped up in your opponent because she's been part of th administration this whole time.

How would your approach be different as a, as the the chief lawyer for the state?

You know, our attorney general?

Well, first of all, I've practiced 36 years now and I've teased on the campaign trail, and when you need a lawyer you want a gray headed lawyer.

I definitely fit that bill.

I've.

I've practiced for 36 years.

I've been in every type of court.

There is an Alabama, district circuit, probate, administrative law courts, city courts, courts of civil appeals criminal appeals, Supreme Court, 11th Circuit, and the federal courts, and Northern District and Middle District.

I've practiced in all of them.

Tried hundreds of cases, maybe even more than hundreds.

I'm not sure if you throw i city court cases, probably over a thousand or more.

I've got experience as a lawyer as a trial lawyer, as a lawyer who evaluates cases for ordinary people day in and day out.

I would bring that experience to Montgomery that that, and I would hopefully focus more on what the people of our state need.

I would try to emphasize the role of protecting, consumer protection.

I would emphasize the role of being the watchdog for the ratepayers at the Public Service Commission.

Statutorily, authorized, or I should say mandated.

I would bring to the attorney general's office, hopefully, a breath of fresh air.

I would not, be carrying out the agenda of a party or president.

I would take the job to sort out good versus evil, right versus wrong, and look at things through that prism, not a political prism.

I think our DA's off.

Our office has gotten too political.

I don't expect to be doing i right now because we're used to, say me to or look at u and we're going to join in these political, positions taken in before the US Supreme Court.

I'm not saying I never filed an amicus brief, but I wouldn't file the volume of them.

And for the purposes that the that they've been filed in the last few years.

There's a time and place for those things, and I think they've been overused for political purposes.

Feel that the AG's office, should be, party neutral.

For the most part, and should be an, an office where the work of the people of the state of Alabama comes first.

There's no question it has gotten more litigious in terms of national.

When I've talked to, Mr.

Marshall about that.

And it is interesting how it's that that part of the job has really grown.

And I think too much.

Yeah.

And and I'm concerned about that particularly.

It seems as though there's been a turn both in my old law partner and in the role of the AG's office towards politics.

And I think that's a I think it's a bad term to have made.

Well, getting beyond the, litigation, everything there is a, a criminal justic role and very important criminal justice role for the attorney general, state's top cop, and Republicans.

And I'm not saying it's happening in this race because I'm not really seeing any ads or anything, but a lot of Republicans try to paint Democrats as soft on crime, too lenient, not wanting those harsher sentences and things like that.

We see this play ou in the legislature all the time.

How would you respond to that kind of broad, big blanket labeling of Democrats?

I believe in the rule of law, and I don't make the laws AG, but I apply the law.

I intend to apply the law as it's written.

And as far as being tough on crime again, no, I'm not the, the A in Marshall County, nor have I ever been, but, did my share of criminal work when I first went home and the judge said, miss McLaughlin beat your new client, which is the way it used to be, and you get assigned criminal cases.

I did my share.

And I worked in city courts again.

City court?

The misdemeanor court.

Only petty crimes.

But I've been working in those for, I guess, 25 plus years.

City.

So I'm used to the application of the criminal law.

I think that is the the tab.

Just like so many other thing to the tag that Democrats are, soft on crime or whatever.

That's just another tag.

I don't think it fits me at all.

And I don't think it'll fit me at all in the AG's office.

Well, no matte what happens in this election, we're hearing things about a blue wave and who knows how muc that's going to impact Alabama.

I think you're going to see some close races.

But I think it's fair to say the legislature will probably remain Republican majority.

I think that's fair.

And so if you were to win, you will come AG, you know.

Well, I guess you've bee in the legislature before, but how would you be able to work with that Republican majority assuming that would be the case?

I think I could work just fine with the Republican majority.

One of the things about me that, some of your listeners may know, or I may have this reputation for my ten years in Montgomery.

I'm not a far left candidate.

I'm a pretty conservative Democrat.

As as a matter of fact, I think that, to solve problems and when I was in the legislature, you can look at the way, my latest way I would work legislation.

Pull people from the right and the left.

Work to the middle.

I've always felt like ou country and our state works best when we compromise.

And we work from the middle.

We work from the common ground.

There's far mor that unites us than divides us.

And if we would focus on those things, we could get a lot more done and stop the finger pointing and stop that.

I'll give you a perfect example.

When I was in the legislature, one thing that was commonly known in my part of the state was that we have our power company is the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal entity, and the state can't tax the federal government.

So there's a compromise worked out decades ago that there would be these in lieu of tax payment made to all of the seven states where the TVA is, which, of course, includes Alabama.

We're second, really, only to Tennessee.

So we, we would receive these payments.

But for some reason, decades ago, I think it was in the 70s under Wallace, some compromise t get something else accomplished.

Ended up taking TVA money and distributing it to dry counties in south Alabama.

It was crazy.

I was aware of this, and one of the things I wanted to do when I was in the legislature is fix that.

Now, the valley is pretty big place.

It's about 20 counties.

And it has a lot, but it was about 20 representatives, about 13 or 14 counties.

Well, they were represented by Democrats and Republicans at that time in 2010.

You had a pretty we didn't you didn't have a supermajority of Democrats, right?

You had a majority without a supermajority and you had to work together.

And I think that was a good thing.

So, we've, organized, the Tennessee Valley Caucus and we, described ourselves, a day, this little story.

We had, like I say, it's 20, 22 members of the House.

We were, by camera because we had we tried to get the Senate involved.

They didn't work as hard as we did, but we we would basically have to do all the work and take it upstairs.

We were, bipartisan.

We were biracial and we frequently called ourselves also bipolar.

But, as a joke, I was I didn't want anybody to think I was trying to.

This is all about my agenda.

So my title was Water Boy.

So I was the water boy of the Tennesse Valley Caucus, and I was proud.

We got two pieces of legislation.

Phase three.

Really?

If you give me a moment to explain it.

First of all, in round one, we got the first bit of our TVA and lieu tax money back to the Tennessee Valley counties.

That was, a few million dollars to each county.

And then they that two years later, I got the bigger piece of it brought home.

By finally figuring out a way to offset the the dry counties in Alabama, but get our TVA and little tax money back where the counties where it's supposed to go.

It's an in lieu of tax payment.

It's tax money.

That should be going to the counties of North Alabama on the Tennessee River.

We got that fast, as real proud of that.

But it was a back.

It was a bipartisan effort.

It it took the joining of Democrats with Republicans and working together.

I see no reason why we shouldn't be that way now.

I'm very strong about that.

So I know how to work across the aisle.

The fact that maybe a majority of Republicans in the in the House an the Senate, it's okay with me.

Honestly, I think the American people and people in the state of Alabam kind of trust the system more.

When you've got a cross-check like that.

You might have a Democrat in this office and a Republican in that office.

I think the people of thi country wish we had that again right now.

Look, I look what's going on in the national government.

There's nobody is doing their job under the checks and balances system.

If there was a different party in any of those, if you had a majority of Democrats on the, on the Supreme Court, if you had a majority in the House or th Senate or a different president, you wouldn't see this one part rule that we've got right now.

I don't think that's good for our country.

I think it's good for our country.

When you've got a mix of Democrats and Republican and they have to work together.

And my view is wor together, solve those problems.

Compromise Compromise is not an ugly word.

Compromise i what this country is built on.

Compromise.

Get done.

What needs to get done for the people of this state and the people of this country?

I'm all about that.

I have no problem worrying.

I'm not anticipating any trouble.

I may have to work harder, but I'm not anticipating any troubl with working with Republicans.

I have Republicans are not the enemy.

Democrats shouldn't be the enemy.

We need to work together.

And we need compromise is not a bad word.

It's a good word.

We need to compromise to get it done.

What needs to get done?

I'll be all for it.

Well, I've got you.

I want to ask you about the issue of gambling and not necessarily.

Hey, you for it.

You against.

It's not really about that.

Because I don't think that's really the job of AG.

I just think, there's a likelihood that there's going to be something that happen.

You heard both candidate, both governor two candidates talking about it.

And so if there i some kind of thing on lottery, sport betting, casinos and all that, seems to m that would put a lot of pressure on the ag and law enforcement, would things like that.

I remember the last iteration, Bill that they had, they almost like created a separate law enforcement entity, I guess, like a gaming commission and everything, in your view, because I'm just thinking if something like that were to pass the legislatur vote of the people on all that.

What kind of resources do you think it would take to what would the AG need more resources to be able to address?

Not just gambling, but the associated things that come along with it?

Yes.

In a word, yes.

And let me break it down a little bit, and I appreciat the question as it comes to it.

Unless separate out gambling from a lottery and why a lottery can be administered, independently through a third party.

A lottery, can be, is a is much simpler than casino gambling.

I think, it's time for people to vote on a lottery.

And I think a lottery is much more manageable.

And I know we always need the tax revenue in the state.

It's a voluntary tax.

I'm not thrilled about the regressive nature of it, but at the same time, it's a voluntary tax.

So, I'm not opposed to a lottery.

Yes.

There will need to be further, ability to regulate, to watch out, to monitor, to be sure the system is safe and that people aren't getting cheated.

Casino gambling presents a completely different set of, issues, I think.

I don't think you can create it without creating some sort of a gaming commission.

And and that commission has got to be full of independent minded and some, I would say firm backbone, people who can handle what I think will be a tremendous amount of stress from 17 years, the legislature.

I see how the ball bounces and you've got to have.

So, personally, I don't mind telling me you didn't ask me, but I'm personally opposed to casino gambling.

I don't think I think they're you're reall talking about a regressive tax, and it's in and it's voluntary until it's not voluntar until too many people get hooked into that.

I'm worried about the amount of gaming going on right now.

It's perfectl legal, on sports betting, but, casino gambling will be, manipulated by the legislature.

And legislators will be manipulated by the interest behind casino gambling.

So one of the things that I have preached in, several months of this campaign is, as an independent minded ag, I intend to go after corruption wherever I find it, whether there's a de by that name or by that name, and that includes involvement in gambling.

We've got to restore public faith in government.

And the way to do that, I think, is to restore faith in the integrity of the of the government, root ou corruption, go after corruption wherever it's found.

And I think you've got to believe that you're that your government is is honest and truthful and that where it's not there's action being taken to clean it up.

And as AG, when it comes to casino gambling, will be all about making sure that the system is as clean and as transparent and as open as it can be if we if we go down if Alabama goes down that path, which, as I say, I'm not real keen on.

Well, look, we're out of time.

I really appreciate your time and coming to answer all these questions, as we do for all candidates.

I was hoping you would, steer us to your website where voters share more about these issues and more.

And I have one thing I'd like to mention if I can.

Okay.

You asked me why I'm here.

I'm here.

I'm a brand new granddad.

And that.

Congratulations.

I appreciate that.

I'd rather be there with her, but I'm here because I feel like I have to be.

Because I think I've got this.

I've got to stand up.

We've all got to stand up for what we believe in, because we've got to give to our kids what we got from our parents.

So if you believe me or you agree with me, let's see, McLaughlin for here it is.

McLaughlin Brady.

There it is.

The people's lawyer.

And, you can get on my Facebook and find out more about me.

I hope if I hope you like what you find.

And I appreciate the opportunity to be here with you.

I absolutely thank you for your time and good luck on the campaign trail.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

We'll be right back.

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How did attacks spark a revolution?

When you hear a stamp you're probably imagining this.

But the Stamp Act was not about mail.

In 1765, the stamp Act was British Parliament's first direct tax on the colonies to raise funds for England.

Suddenly, American publication were required to be printed on stamped paper, providing British agents the opportunity to censor content too.

The British taxed everything from legal documents to playing cards, even newspapers and almanacs.

Things common people needed.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine taxed.

Or it would have been if the colonists hadn't fought back.

Protests were organized and intimidation tactics executed until Boston stamp man Andrew Oliver quit.

Once wor spread of this violence, threats and protests broke out in the colonies, leading to the idea of n taxation without representation, which would grow into the backbone of the Revolutionary War.

Ten years later.

You're watching Alabama Public Television.

And you.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Kathryn Robertson, the Republican nominee for Alabama attorney general.

Katherine thanks for coming on the show.

Always good to be with you, Todd.

How's the campaign trail?

It's good.

It feels like I've been doing it for years now but it's been about 18 months.

Two weeks to go and you're cramming it in.

Well, it has been a long campaign season if you really go back to the beginning of it.

So let's go back to the beginning, not just of this campaign, but of your back.

I wanted you to share with our audience some of your background.

Professional background.

What led you to run for AG?

Yeah.

After I graduated from law school at Alabama, I started my career up in DC, worked at the United States Justice Department, which was really my first exposure to the kind of issues that I work on now.

That turned into a job with Senator Jeff Sessions at the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Did that for a little while, again, kind of those same criminal justice policy, constitutional issues and that kind of thing came back to Alabama as any normal person would, join the Alabama Policy Institute, really learn the ins and outs of state government.

And I've been chief counsel to the attorney general for the last ten years.

So feel very equipped, to take this job on.

Was never my plan.

What?

My five year plan wasn't really my two year plan, but, doors kind of opened, and.

And here we are.

Well, yeah, I was going to ask you about that because I've known you a long time, but, you know, stepping up to run for state constitutional office, it's not like you were previousl elected or something like that.

That's that's a big step.

What did it what made you say, yes, I want to do this.

Understanding that there would be significant competition.

I think one of the things that drew me in is just the opportunity that our office provides to really change things for the bette for people who live here.

And.

The trick is to figure ou how to use the tools that the AG is disposal, in an effective and an efficient way.

And what I realized joinin AG Marshal from his first day, is that it really took a couple of years for us to hit our stride, to really figure ou how to use that office for good.

So I kind of figure if I didn't need the practice of I didn't need the transition time.

If I didn't need the training, I could immediately come in and be effective at a tim where I think our state really wants to see our AG be active.

And so that's what drew me in.

Just I mean, the love for the office and the work that I do and really just love for my state, I was a reluctant candidate, wasn't something that I had dreamed about, but, I'm really glad I did it.

And, you know, I hope I'll have the opportunity to serve.

Well, obviously been working in the office for a while, but what do you want to do as the as the top cop, as as the actual attorney general and maybe do differently than than than the current attorney general?

What are some of the kind of broad themes that you want to accomplish, maybe as attorney general?

I think just for broad strokes, I think what we've been doing, those are the right things.

What I want to do i do more of it and do it faster.

So I'm going to be recruiting a lot of young attorneys to come work with us.

We want to do a lot more of our legal work in-house.

We got to grow our office a little bit, but we're going to fight crime.

We're going to defend state sovereignty, we're going to protect Alabama's values, and we are going to deliver wins.

One of the big topics has been what what we call the war on childhood, just this incessant push to just, take away the innocence of our kids through all this access to online stuff, whether it's online gambling, online pornography, social media that never ends.

And you've seen us really set up roadblocks to TikTok.

We're bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars for our state.

I want to continue that track to make sure that social media companies are honest with parents and with the teenagers who are using their product, but also take the money that we want and do something great with it for our state.

You mentioned crime.

I want to, dive into that because, you know, it's been an issue on the campaign trail.

You had cities with kind of varying degrees of success.

I had Mayor Woodfin from Birmingham on here earlier this year.

He talked about their success.

They hired a ton of cops.

The crime rate really dropped.

So they've figured out something.

Been more stubborn her in Montgomery and other places.

I guess my question is, what role does the AG play?

Is it the AG's job to go into these cities, work with the mayors, talk about police practices and things?

It is it the AG's job to lower the crime rate and and address it like that?

That' a really interesting question.

I think one of the things we've tried to do over the last ten years, and we've done it, is to create the right kind of justice system so that if the local polic do their jobs, if the local D.A.

does his or her job, if the judges do their jobs, we've got the laws in place to make all that matter.

You know, we passed the harshest gang law in the country.

We cut down good time.

We've brought about more honest sentences, especially for violent offenders.

We've provided all these tools.

And so then you sort of sit back and you wait to see whether the locals are goin to make good use of those tools.

But if you skip the first step of having a full police department, the boots on the ground, if you skip that step, all those other steps don't matter so much.

And so you've seen us step in to actually do boots on the ground policing in Montgomery.

Our agents are out with that Max unit, but it hasn't proven to be enough.

It has helped, but it hasn't been enough.

And so you and have talked about this before.

I was a big proponent of Senator Barfoot bil to give the state actual ability to police Montgomery and for them to have to pay for it if they're not going to do it themselves.

Is that the AG's job?

No.

But at the same time as the chief law enforcement officer, you're not going to just surrender a city because the local officials won't do anything about it.

That's my attitude.

I just think we can't turn a blind eye to that.

And if the tools we've given them are enough, we'll just keep going.

And some people do see that as big government encroachment, right.

Saying, hey, well the state shouldn't have that, you know, step over a local community.

What do you say to that kind of criticism?

I think that's political rhetoric.

I don't think any normal person who lives in Montgomery, regardless of party affiliation, feels that way.

People want to feel safe, and we often say it's the first civil right of every alabamian to live free from the fear of violence.

If your local official aren't taking care of business, there is no body.

No normal voter is going to protest us coming in to make the city safer.

It's not about a takeover.

It's stepping into a voi that someone else isn't filling.

Obviously, we want local officials to have fully staffed police departments.

To have that, you have to create a culture that you're going to support them.

You can't just put it on a billboard.

You have to really buy in to what they're doing and support them.

If they don't think you will, you're going to have a hard time recruiting.

If the state can fill that vacuum, we will.

I think the only people who complain about that are the politicians that are worried about looking bad.

Well you mentioned the legislature.

Do you have would you have a legislative agenda as attorney general?

I mean, obviousl there's a lot on the enforcement side, a lot on the litigation side.

But you spent a lot of time in the state House on behalf of your current boss, lobbying the legislature, explaining questions, answering questions, anything on your legislative agenda if you were elected?

Yeah.

We'r always going to be over there.

I've got some tweaks to some criminal justice policies that I like to see.

We're going to probably be very engaged on the flat camera debate, probably to my political detriment, but I think that a big conversation needs to be had about the pros and cons to make sure that we are protecting privacy while also giving law enforcement an important tool.

I really want Alabama to lea the nation in that conversation.

So we're going to have things that we want to push, and then we're going to have things that, you know, are topics of discussion that we need to engage in.

And we will always be very active over there.

Well, you bring up a good question on flock cameras, but because I didn't see that becoming a big issue ever.

But obviously law enforcement is this huge tool for them, right.

It makes their job a lot easier when they can identify suspects very quickly and effectively.

And yet there are some privacy concerns you're seeing that crop up all the time.

People say, come on, this is America.

How do yo how do you strike that balance between an incredibly effective law enforcement tool but also protecting people's privacy?

Do we need it?

Is it a law that needs to b written, or how do we do that?

Yeah, I think the goal would be to have some safeguards written into law so that ever alabamian understands, you know, when a police department in Huntsville is using it, or a police department in the Wiregrass is using these cameras that everybody's got the same set of rules.

And right now there's not really one set of rules.

I think that people are right to have policy concerns, but at the same time, we've always worked through the balance of privacy versus law enforcement.

You know, the United States Supreme Court hears cases on search and seizure all the time.

This is a similar debate.

We've always been able to get to the right place as a country, and I think we will hear too.

But again, I want to see Alabama lead the way.

I think our law enforcement here are just as sensitive to privacy issues as they would be anywhere.

They they hear the concerns of their citizenry.

And so I think there there needs to be somebody kin of mediating this conversation.

And I'm willing to step up and do it.

Let's talk about, the issue of corruption.

This is another issue that I mean, I don't know if I'm surprised by it, but all the polling, latest polling, whether it's the polling we've done here in Alabama, other states nationally, corruptio is cropping up as a major issue.

It was second only to inflation and cost of living in our recent poll.

A little surprising.

Yeah.

And I'm not sure if it's the, you know, garden variety corruption that we're kind of used to in Alabama and other states.

It's it's political corruption.

It's like people feeling like others are getting ahea while they're being left behind.

And there's a, you know, a problem with that, right?

So, I mean, you've seen these polls you've seen this issue crop up.

How do we address the issue of political corruption?

The folks are feeling like the I don't know, the cards are stacked against them in some way.

Do we need stronger ethics laws?

What is there to be done about this issue and the feeling people have?

Yeah, I think one of the things that might be stirring that up is, you know, kind o what we've seen in Minneapolis and around the country with this massive amounts of Medicaid fraud, massive amounts of food stamp fraud.

I think some of that is categorized as corruption.

We need to do a better job of of advertising our wins in that space.

We have a medicaid fraud unit in the AG's office.

It's sort of quiet work.

And so we need to do a better job of that to, you know, kind of regain the citizens trust that people really are looking at these issues.

I think, too obviously we have an ethics all in Alabama that strong.

But somehow it seems to show up on the chopping block every couple of years.

I have spent an enormous amount of time trying to defend the good parts of that law, the need for a strong ethics law, but also a clear one that people can follow who are trying to do the right thing.

And I think we'll continu to tout that we obviously have a public corruption unit in the AG's office.

You're not always going to have a big fish as as you've mentioned, you know, in some of our history in the office.

But, you know, it matters just as much that the local clerk is, is handling mone in a, in a truthful and honest way, as it does the speaker of the House.

And so, we don't turn a blind eye to any of that.

I think the last piece of that is, is here in Alabama.

I do think there's still a fair amount of concern over voter for all, particularly with absentee ballots.

There's some parts of our state where that always kin of crops up this time of year, and I think people are sick of that.

That's another issue that we need to take on, and probably get a little more aggressive on.

So I think there's a great deal of distrust right now and institutions generally, certainly in government, but I hope that, that that is not the case with the attorney General's office.

When you mentioned fraud in other states and maybe even here in Alabama, and that point is well taken, but you've also got the president making billions off of crypto and things like that.

So it's not exactly it's not all fraud.

And that brings up a good point because Partizanship is part of this, right?

You're running you're a Republican.

You have an AR by your name.

Is this how our system works?

And yeah, if elected, you're supposed to be able to, you know, prosecute and, you know, carry out the office in a nonpartizan way.

So how can you assure voters, when it comes to that kind of thing, that the politics won't be a part of it, that you would be just as evenhanded with Republican as you would be for Democrats?

Well, I think one interesting thing about running for attorney general, which is a political office, is that you're also subject to your bar license, and so you can't let politics dictate the way you practice law or enforce the law.

The good thing about me i my track record is very public.

I've been there for ten years.

You've seen the kind of cases we've pursued, whether those be members of our own party or not.

So there's no reason to doubt my ability to do you know what needs to be done in regards to the person you know, we follow facts and the law.

We don't target people.

And you follow that where i leads and you just do your job.

Well I've got you.

I want to ask you about the issue of gambling.

We've talked about this before and it's not necessarily the political issue.

Do you agree or not.

But as I mean you all have had to go take some interesting tax to enforce gambling law.

But I'm thinking toward the future.

With this new legislature, there'll be a new governor.

It seems to me that it's it's getting increasingly likely that something's going to happen on gambling.

And if it's anything like th previous versions that it would that have come before, it' be pretty significant expansion.

The reason I ask you that we've talked about this a little bit before is we know that it would, that any kind of expansion would just lead to more enforcement necessity.

So would that, you know, if that would happen.

Would you would you ask th legislature for more resources?

Would the Attorney General's offic need more resources to enforce gambling laws, to enforce laws in general?

Should a big gambling package happen?

I'd say whether or not a bi gambling package happens or not.

We need more resources to enforce gambling.

Most specifically, as I've mentioned to you, we need a felony provision.

There is really not a lot of, excitement for local officials to go enforce misdemeanors when people just basically pa a fine and reopen the next day.

We've seen this chapter after chapter of this.

I would like for there to be a felony provision, and I would like for there to b some kind of graduated penalties to where when we send people in and we shot a place down, it stays shut down and we don't have to keep going back or begging the locals to keep it shut down so that that that is the case today.

That would be the case, you know if a gambling bill were to pass.

Obviously, if we move into some kind of world of comprehensive gaming here, whic I very much hope that we want, there will have to be a regulatory body for that, that I think would exist outside of my office.

We'd be the ones, you know, enforcing the law, prosecuting bad actors.

They would be the ones licensing and regulating it.

And I don't really thin that's a job that we would want.

Okay.

That's the that's what I was going to ask was should the AG's office or state law enforcement in general be involved?

Because there is that idea of kind of self-policing, but ultimately that that at the end of the day rests with you all?

Yeah, it absolutely does.

But I think what our office is being called upon to do right now, whether it's local, state, or even at the federal level, for u to take something like that on and I'm talking about regulating gaming is not our bailiwick.

Enforcing gambling laws would be we would like additional tools and, and I'm going to push pretty hard for that.

Interesting.

Well, look, we're almost out of time, but I wanted to, you allow our viewers to come visit your website where they can learn more about your platform.

What's that website?

Yeah, you can go to Catherine for adcom.

Please read up on me.

We'd be honored to have your vote on November 3rd.

All right, well good luck on the campaign trail.

And thanks again for coming.

Tod We'll be right back.

Russell Cave is located in northeast Alabama in Jackson County.

It is a significant archeological site with deep deposits that are a result of frequent use by Native Americans for thousands of years and offer a glimpse of lifeways from the archaic to the historic period.

Russell Cave was named a National monument in 1961.

Today, the cave is part of the National Park system.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Well, the election approaching.

There' some new polling out this week commissioned by Alabam Daily News in great television.

Signal is the pollster.

And joining me next to talk about these results is signal pollster John Rogers.

John, thanks for making the time.

Todd, great to be with you.

Well some really fascinating numbers.

I wanted to start with the very basic question that you asked voters, is the state about, you know, generally speaking do you think Alabama is headed in the right direction or off on the wrong track?

And this is interesting because 41.9% said the right direction, but a plurality, 44.6% said the state is off on the wrong track.

What are your takeaways from this number?

Some of that is just the impact that people are feeling about the national environment and so obviously this is a midterm environment that favors Democrats nationally.

And even though Alabama is a strongly Republican state an a stronger conservative state.

How you feel abou what gas prices are at the pump?

The price of beef, a lot of different things that people are encountering as they go about their daily life.

When they answer a question about the direction of their state, some of it's going to be impacted by how they feel about the direction of the country.

So I think you can chalk a lot of that u to just how people are feeling about things nationally, as well as ho things are going in in Alabama.

Yeah.

And and that leads me to the next question, which is you asked voters what is the most important issue to you going into this election?

By far, 37.3% said inflation and the cost of living.

I guess we shouldn't be surprised because just nationwide, that's a huge issue.

So is that your takeaway?

Right.

And it's nearly 4 in 10 Alabamians say that inflation and cost of living is the most important issue for them in the November election.

And what we have found nationally, too, is concerns about inflation have actually risen over the last couple of months among voters nationally.

And so it's the same, in Alabama as it is across the board, across the country.

People are very concerned about prices.

And, you know, as we'll talk about, I think, in a few minutes, that's what's impacting some of the negativity, that we see in Alabama and also nationally.

Yeah.

And what also stuck out to me is the second most popular answer in terms of wha what's the most important issue to you facing in this election is corruption and politics.

I don't think you would have seen that, you know, 5 or 6 years ago.

What do you ascribe that to?

Why are people so, worked up about corruption in politics?

Some of it is, but a lot of it is driven by Democrats in the state.

And some of this is also a proxy.

Todd, if you remember, there was a lot of discussion around threats to democrac in 2020 and 2022, and a lot of Democrat and liberal voters were concerned about that.

And so those voters who ha those concerns in 2020 and 2022, now they're saying corruption in politics, you do have about a 10th of Republican voters who also say that.

Right.

But it's it's mostly a concern that's driven by Democrat in the state of Alabama, right.

Okay.

Well, let's get to the ballot.

So that's wha everybody wants to know, right.

Who who's leading who's behind things like that.

And remember this is just a snapshot.

This is a poll with a margin for error of 4.3%.

So top of the ticket.

Everybody wants to know the governor race.

Based on your polling, 51.2% said if the election was held today, they would vote for Tommy Tuberville, the Republican.

40% even said Doug Jones, and right at 9% were undecided.

And I'm just thinkin back to the last two elections, where, I mean, Kay Ivey won by almost 70 last time and back in 2018, 60%.

So it it seems a lot closer tha it has been in past elections.

Right, Amy.

And some of this is the national environment seeping down even to Alabama.

Right.

And so, you know, Terrell has got a double digit lead.

I thin he's in a really solid position to win comfortably on Election Day.

One of the things to think about is not only does he have an 11 point lead on the ballot, but for those voters who are still undecided, most of them are fairly conservative.

And then also Doug Jones and his, side of the ledger.

He's already consolidated almost all of Democrat voters in the state.

So there's really not any room for Jones to grow his ballot share.

And then also thinking back, to previous gubernatorial elections I think this one is going to be a little bit more similar to 2010, when it was an open seat when Bentley beat Ron Sparks, who actually is on the ballot again for ad commissioner this year, Bentley won with about 57% of the vote.

And then I think it's also when you compare it to Ivey's previous runs, it's a little bit more similar to 2018 when she was an incumbent, but obviously she was an incumbent who had, who had a seated to the position.

Right?

Because o some of the things that happened and still under the Bentley administration.

And so I think it's going to be more similar to 2010 and 2018 than it is 2022.

Right.

And it's going further down the ballot for these other constitutional offices.

The numbers are very similar.

Lieutenant governor 50, 50% to 34%.

Attorney General 5034 same thing for Secretary of State.

It really and the ad commissioner, we're actually that's the only one with a Republican in quite to 50%.

But these these numbers kind of trac the generic ballot, right?

Yes.

And, you know, if you're just if it's a generic Republican versu a generic Democrat, Republicans still have that advantage, 51.7% to 37.7%.

But it also strikes me that, it's not quite where it was even back in 2024 when Trump was on the ballot.

Right.

And the generic ballot that you were alluding to was at, or plus 14.

And so for viewers, that's where we ask the question, if the election held today, would you vote for the Democrat or Republican candidate for U.S.

Congress?

And so in Alabama right now, 52% of voters say I'd vote for the Republican, 38% say I would vote for the Democrat giving you that R plus 14 margin.

And that environment of the generic ballot really does shake a lot of the dow ballot races, because, you know, people may not know who the Republican nominee is for eg commissioner, people may not know who the Democrat nominee is for.

Commissioner.

And so there's going to b some portion of the electorate that when they get in there and they go to those down ballot races, their partizan lean is going to kick in.

Right?

Well, while I've got you I wanted to ask you to kind of take us behind the curtain a little bit to how this all happens.

Because all these numbers are based on yours.

You, your professional pollster best estimate based on history and things like that of what the electorate's going to look like.

You know, how many Republicans show up, how many Democrats show up?

Independents, men, women, age, education level all those things that comprise, the electorate.

And and so I'm curious how you put that together.

And I mean, if, if one of those if more Democrats show up than, you know, than it's estimated that that could really change things.

So how does that all work?

How do you put that together?

And is that why margin of errors in there.

Because it could change on Election day.

Right.

So what you're doing is you're looking at past similar elections and that form of a lot of what you're doing.

So you're looking at midterm elections.

You're also looking at the presidential election for 2024 and looking at how many Republicans voted.

How many Democrats voted, how many college educated voters versus non-college-educated voters every, different socioeconomics that you can think of as a pollster, you're looking at, and then you're looking at dozens of other elections that have happened in similar states, and then you're kind of crafting, okay, this is what it seems like the universe is going to be like on Election Day, right?

But then you're also polling throughout the yea and you're seeing, okay, well, maybe enthusiasm a little was a little higher in the Democrat side or a little higher on the Republican side.

And so you're taking into account signals that you're getting from voters as you talk to them.

And we do tens of thousands of interviews and thousands of surveys every single election cycle.

And that's really informing, a lot of what we do when we then publish a poll like this, with you guys at Alabama Daily News and also great television.

And then I'll say to you, just we have a lot of in-state knowledge.

We're a company that started in Alabama.

I'm from Alabama personally.

And so I think that also kind of gives u a little bit of an inside track on what voters in the state might be thinking.

Right.

Well, look, fascinating numbers.

This is like catnip to us political types.

We love to dive deep inside of the numbers.

And again, the real number going to come on Election Day.

The only poll that really matters, as they say, is on Election Day.

But John, thanks so much for taking the time.

Thanks to great to be with you.

And that's our show for this week.

Thanks for watching.

Don't forget to tune in next week when I'll be interviewing our candidates for governor.

Democrat Doug Jone and Republican Tommy Tuberville for our team here at Capitol Journal.

I'm Todd Stacey.

We'll see you next time.