A Bedford in Florence's Future?

If the proposed redistricting plan is approved by our legislature, Florence will be in Sen. Roger Bedford's district. We're going to have to agree with Sen. Tammy Irons that this move is illogical and just plain, well, dumb.

We doubt Florence could regularly expect more than lip service from Bedford, but we've been mistaken before. Could the Florence vote send Bedford packing? That's entirely possible, but it would require a super candidate. Anyone out there?

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The redrawn district lines for the seat currently held by Tammy Irons will make it nearly impossible for a Shoals resident to win the seat. - Mike Goens of the TimesDaily

Certainly the current plan diminishes Tammy Irons' loyal base, but northern Limestone and Madison counties are not the population centers of those areas. Irons has always been a good campaigner, whether she's been the best candidate for the job or not.

As with Bedford, any defeat of Irons will involve a super candidate. We predict a Democratic challenge from Limestone and a Republican foe from Madison.

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Weakening of the Shoals? That's what opponents are stating the new redistricting plan will accomplish. We say let's make lemonade. Instead of one senator representing us, we'll have three. That's three chances to produce an advocate for this area. Just because a candidate isn't from the Shoals, it does not automatically follow that he or she won't "play nice" in order to win the votes of this area--even Bedford. What's being predicted to be a huge loss for the Shoals could turn into a win-win situation for extreme northwest Alabama.



Shoalanda