Does APR Have It in for Andrew Sorrell?

 

The Alabama Political Reporter is a middle-of-the-road online news entity. Any articles to the left of center are always balanced by news reports leaning toward the right. Yet, we've noticed something strange about several recent articles concerning state auditor Andrew Sorrell, a right-leaning politician from Muscle Shoals.

Mr. Sorrell, a former state representative, has announced his candidacy for Alabama Secretary of State. While it's still extremely early in the game, he had been unopposed for months. Then Caroleene Dobson entered the race.

That's when news broke on a Georgia Ponzi scheme to which many Republicans had fallen victim, among them Sorrell and some of his friends. APR op-ed writer Josh Moon has openly asked if Andrew has done anything illegal. No, Moon didn't accuse him, but asked the reader to decide.

Then the APR reported on an organization called Associated Builders and Contractors endorsing Dobson. Remember, it's still early in the race, and any number of candidates could yet declare.

If the Alabama Political Reporter isn't deliberately attempting to tank Andrew Sorrell's campaign, it's making no effort not to. Do your own research.

Andrew Sorrell Refuses State Vehicle

 

The Shoals' own Andrew Sorrell has a beautiful wife, cute daughter, lovely cat, and...a Chevy Malibu that he will be driving for the foreseeable future. That means he won't be driving a vehicle that we the taxpayers funded.

Presumably, Andrew is Sorrell's middle name, but we're pretty sure the term "common sense" is included in there somewhere. How many others in this new administration refused a state car? 

In fairness to Gov. Ivey, she's cutting back on needless expenses by doing away with the state motor pool by October. We salute her as well as Auditor Sorrell!

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Worried about the Redstone rocket falling across I-65? The state's tourism office has said the landmark has become unsafe. NASA says it has become unsafe.

Rep. Andy Whitt of Huntsville disagrees and will be fighting to keep it. Whitt is a banker by profession, but like recent legislators who dabble in medicine, he appears to be a self-proclaimed authority in rockets or welding or something.

Doesn't our legislature make you proud?

The Hold-Up on Election Challenges

 

So many have asked about the status of all the election challenges in Lauderdale County. It seems the Republican Steering Committee will accept one challenge per set of paperwork filed. It designated the Harrison/Black/Butler race in Limestone/Lauderdale to determine any irregularities.

If no one files against the others, that will be the end of the matter. Sad day for democracy.

The election is tomorrow, and so far we haven't addressed the fliers handed out by Melson/Pettus paid workers outside the polls on May 24th. Andrew Sorrell was specifically singled out to vote against.

We cannot think of a better candidate for State Auditor than Andrew. He's this blog's unanimous pick!

We're also going with Katie Britt for U.S. Senate (Mo demonstrated the Peter Principle years ago) and Jim Zeigler for Secretary of State. 

Later today, we'll be looking at some area races. If you have comments, get them in quickly.

Vote for Liberty's Daddy!

Andrew Sorrell to Run for State Auditor

 

Andrew Sorrell of Muscle Shoals is currently the state representative from District 3; however, that may soon change. Sorrell has announced he will be running for State Auditor in 2022.

Current auditor Jim Zeigler is in his second term and not eligible to run for a third at this time. During Zeigler's tenure, the state has reduced the number of employees in the auditor's office, ostensibly due to budget constraints.

There has been discussion of completely eliminating the office and allowing each state department to police the areas currently covered by the auditor. If that doesn't sound problematic to you, it should.

Since Andrew has been in office, he has consistently fought for this area, as well as animal welfare and fewer business restrictions. There have been a few times we've disagreed with him, but have never doubted his honesty or work ethic.

At this point, we don't know who will be running against Rep. Sorrell, but we can't imagine anyone of more integrity in the position. Good luck, Andrew!

Two Final Endorsements

As the election countdown continues, we offer two final endorsements. First, we'll look at the state house District 3. Recently we were sent an "expose'" on candidate Andrew Sorrell. What did it say?

First, this long-winded hit piece made the shocking revelation that Andrew owned a Florence pawn shop. This was news? We thought everyone knew that Mr. Sorrell owned a pawn shop. This is not Sorrell's only business, but we're sure it pays a great many of his bills. We've always been amazed at those who tell us what not to do for a living, but never seem to have any "positive" ideas on how we're to survive financially. Panhandle, perhaps?

The piece went on to say that Sorrell was hardly new to politics as he claimed. That is a subjective opinion, meaning each of us might have a different take on Sorrell's career up until now. Andrew Sorrell has never before run for office; that's an established fact.

We've compared Sorrell with his opponent and believe that Andrew is the better choice tomorrow. Vote Andrew Sorrell for State House District 3!

When this election cycle began, we never had any firm plans of commenting on school board elections. That's not to say school board makeup isn't important, but obviously our readers can see how some other offices may hold greater significance to the voting public.

Then we were contacted by Carolyn Waterman about running a series of short ads for her campaign. These ads have been paid for by Mrs. Waterman, as stated at the bottom of each political advertisement. Yet we were now curious about this election. Who was her opponent? Who was the better qualified? Who would best serve young families with children attending Lauderdale County Schools? 

The Lauderdale County Board of Education hasn't had the best track record, with a two term member being sentenced to jail four years ago. This is what happens when unqualified individuals are elected. But what about Mrs. Waterman and her opponent Larry J. Hill? Are they equally qualified?

Let's digress here for a minute. Over the years, we've helped prepare and edit a resume' for many job seekers. So many invariably begin their experience with positions they once held at McDonald's or the Quickie Car Wash. Sorry, employers looking for a nuclear physicist don't care about jobs held while in high school or college or early in one's otherwise distinguished career.

While we're sure being a school bus wrangler of pre-criminal hooligans or an expert grass cutter was interesting work, we don't see it as preparing anyone for a gig as a school board member. We do see Carolyn Waterman's stellar career in nursing and public service as preparing her for the challenges facing the Lauderdale Board of Education.

We wholeheartedly endorse Carolyn Waterman for the Lauderdale School Board Place 4. Good luck, Carolyn!

House District 3?

Like House District 18, District 3 is open this fall. We have two political newcomers vying for that seat as well: Andrew Sorrell and Humphrey Lee...

Andrew Sorrell

Humphrey Lee

Many will be happy to see Marcel Black surrender his long held seat, but picking the right successor is a conundrum for many. We'll be offering an endorsement in the next few days, so if you have comments, please send them now.

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Is there a downside to electing non-attorneys to our legislature? It would seem so. This past legislative session, we've had some introduce laws...feel good laws...that are already on the books. We've also had some introduce laws that will not stand up in court. Many lawmakers don't seem to care. Should we?

Yes, these are our tax dollars at work. Let's stretch them as far as they will go. Paying attorneys to defend cases they know they can't win should not be one of our priorities.