Sue Bell Cobb outside WBHM in Birmingham
Sue Bell Cobb was the first woman to be elected chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Now the Evergreen native has her sights set on the governor’s office. Cobb is running in the June 5 Democratic primary. She spoke with WBHM’s Dan Carsen as part of our series of interviews with gubernatorial candidates. The conversation starts with a horrific event from Cobb’s days as a county judge when back in 1989, a man who’d appeared in her court firebombed her house.
Additional web exclusives:
“You don’t see dumps put in rich folks’ communities.” Sue Bell Cobb on clean water, lead, environmental justice, and the “evisceration” of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management:
Sue Bell Cobb on the controversy over her former campaign worker, Paul Littlejohn III, who was convicted of sex crimes and robbery in the 1980s. This interview was recorded roughly two hours before Littlejohn turned himself in and was arrested:
Sue Bell Cobb on UAB hospital and health care in Alabama:
Sue Bell Cobb on horses and donkeys:
Hear the full interview:
Mark Pettway begins his job as Jefferson County sheriff today. He’s the first African American to hold that post after defeating longtime Republican Sheriff Mike Hale in November. One of his priorities is to hire and promote more women and minorities in law enforcement.
Sheila Tyson and Lashunda Scales were sworn into office as Jefferson County commissioners Wednesday, along with Steve Ammons, a former Vestavia Hills City Council member. Tyson and Scales are Democrats; Ammons is a Republican. The Republican majority continues on the commission with incumbents Jimmie Stephens and Joe Knight.
Jefferson County’s first black sheriff and district attorney were swept into office Tuesday on a wave of Democratic straight-ticket voting.
Democrats across the country took the House and flipped several governorships during the midterms. It was a different story in Alabama. Democrats here lost every statewide race, and they lost five statehouse seats to Republicans. Recent news reports say the Alabama Democratic Party sat on hundreds of thousands of dollars -- money candidates say could have been used toward their campaigns. Many Alabama Democratic candidates blame their poor performance on the lack of support from the state Party.
The day after the 2018 midterms, Jeff Sessions has resigned as attorney general. In a letter to President Trump, Sessions told the president that he is stepping down “at your request.”
Republicans left no doubt about their dominance of Alabama politics Tuesday. Republican incumbent Governor Kay Ivey turned back a challenge from Democrat Walt Maddox. The Republicans kept all statewide offices and won all contested congressional races in Alabama.
