COLUMN: The Political Assassination Of Tripp Powell

*This is an opinion column*

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Tuscaloosa businessman and Senate District 21 candidate Tripp Powell sat outside of a meeting room for more than an hour Saturday evening at the Alabama Republican Party's Winter Meeting. The all-day affair was held at the Birmingham Sheraton Hotel and, after an opportunity to defend his candidacy as a Republican, Powell's name was removed from the May 24 GOP Primary Ballot.

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It would be the Alabama GOP's Steering Committee who voted to remove Powell's name, citing a paltry $500 donation to the 2018 Democratic Primary campaign of Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox as he ran for governor. This came as a massive shock to many in Tuscaloosa, who immediately began to question the committee's reasoning.

Apart from Powell, sources in attendance at the meeting, in addition to multiple other political surrogates and campaign staffers, provided me with disturbing insight into what exactly went down during at the meeting, which is a story of burgeoning, fringe radicalism becoming the norm for the party at the state level.

Indeed, as one source recounted, the 21-member Steering Committee handed down the decision at the request of Chris Brown — the owner of Red State Strategies and a bonus member of the Jefferson County GOP's Executive Committee.

Viewed by more moderate party insiders as a ravenous and bitter attack dog for the Alabama GOP, Brown was also responsible for numerous other ballot challenges Saturday, sources told me. But it would be the vitriol from the Committee itself that underscores the ever-increasing toxicity in partisan politics that bring us to our present state.

For instance, sources said at least one committee member brought up past financial contributions made by Powell's parents to Maddox. In a true show of partisan pettiness, Powell was questioned by Committee Vice Chair Josh Dodd over apparent "sins of the father."

The committee would then go on to completely overlook the fact that, while Powell's parents did donate to Maddox’s campaigns in the past, these instances were in non-partisan mayoral races, well-before he qualified as a Democrat to run for Alabama governor in 2018.

The ballot challenge, a copy of which was obtained by Patch, was filed on Feb. 4 and cites Article 3 of the Alabama Republican Party qualifying form, which requires a prospective party official to pledge their full support to the GOP platform and its candidates, forsaking any and all others.

The guidelines are obviously in place to ensure the overall idealogical makeup of the party, while providing the committee the legal authority to punish those who break ranks in any form.

But it's important to point out that the substance of the complaint filed by Brown comes up short when saying the committee reserves the right to deny ballot access to a candidate "if in a prior election that person was a Republican office holder and either publicly participated in the primary election of another party official or publicly supported a nominee of another office."

This assertion, however, initially fails to acknowledge the fact that Powell was not an elected official when he donated to Maddox's Democratic Primary campaign. So, in a literal interpretation of the criteria set forth by the party itself, this should make Brown's entire challenge invalid.

But, in the same complaint, Brown attempts to rewrite the party rules on the fly, arguing that "while this applies to current elected Republicans, we should hold candidates to the same standard." Through his connections on the committee, Brown was able to move the goalpost just close enough for party officials to take their shot and drop Powell from the ballot, effectively handing the party nomination to longtime incumbent Sen. Gerald Allen.

In a strange contrast, Tallassee Mayor and Public Service Commission candidate Johnny Hammock was given the green light to see his name appear on the Republican ticket in his primary, where he and two other Republicans will seek to unseat incumbent Republican Public Service Commissioner Jeremy Oden.

According to a story written in January by Sarah Stevenson of the Elmore Autauga News, Hammock not only faces a laundry list of serious allegations made by members of his own city council, but also a disturbing domestic violence-strangulation charge earlier this year while he was on the campaign trail in Orange Beach.

Despite this well-documented malfeasance — a concept that the latest party bylaws explicitly say is cause enough for dropping a committee member or candidate — Hammock will still have a chance to run in the Republican Primary, while Powell will be left making sense of what can only be viewed by this seasoned journalist as a political hit job.

This isn't the first time the Alabama GOP has pulled such a stunt, either. Many Tuscaloosa residents will remember in 2018 when former Tuscaloosa City Councilor and City Board of Education member Lee Garrison was dropped by the party in his bid for a position on the state Republican Executive Committee. Much in the same way Powell's campaign met its demise, Garrison’s bid failed after Alabama GOP party leaders took issue with his vocal support of Maddox in his role as the mayor of Tuscaloosa.

It's a story that has played out for more candidates over the years than I could possibly mention, but numerous sources, mostly those leaning moderately-conservative, have described a concerning evolution in the GOP's Steering Committee — a governing body within the party that has become increasingly paranoid and critical of other party members not viewed as 100% loyal.

A widely-publicized concept straight out of the Donald Trump playbook, the Republican Party has made no secret in recent years of its desire for conservative lawmakers and officials at all levels of government to be wholly-behind the party. Anything less is considered treason.

At this point in our analysis of the party's Saturday Night Massacre in Birmingham, it's crucial to note the names that have come up repeatedly from those critical of the decision: Committee Vice Chair Josh Dodd and District 2 Chair William Rayburn.

Patch reached out to both committee members to offer a chance to comment on the developments during yesterday's closed-door executive session, with few details offered in response.

Dodd, who owns pawn shop in Florence, did respond, but declined to speak at length on the matter, citing the privileged conversations that take place among party officials behind closed doors.

When asked about the decision to drop Powell from the GOP Primary ticket, Dodd reiterated the Committee's right to deny ballot access to a Republican office holder who either publicly participated in the primary election of another political party or publicly supported a nominee of another political party.

"The provisions of this Rule shall apply for a period of six years after such person so participated," Dodd said in a statement to Patch. "In my opinion, we should hold candidates to that same standard."

While several party members not connected to Powell insisted on anonymity when speaking on the situation, it was mentioned on more than one occasion that Dodd is viewed as a "truther," who sources claim has referred to Maddox as a "radical, socialist Democrat."

When I asked certain officials on background exactly what the term "truther" meant, I was provided similar anecdotes relating to a prevailing approach on the committee — unconditional loyalty to the party, both historically and at present, or nothing.

Another telling example when looking at the thought process of those on the Alabama GOP Steering Committee can be found in the multiple accounts of Rayborn's words relating to Powell's seemingly-inconsequential donation to Maddox's 2018 primary campaign.

"You can't be a little bit pregnant."

This argument is one that seems to only apply when the party finds subjective cause to take down a candidate or official, while completely disregarding its own set guidelines when they conflict with deeply-held desires of committee members.

Indeed, there are numerous instances where cash-flush elected officials donate funds across the aisle in states outside of Alabama, and even more examples of candidates and office-holders alike taking money from political action committees who also donate to the opposing political party.

These practices are common in politics, as this reporter has seen covering campaigns in three different states. Rather, it's the Alabama Republican Party's interpretation and application of its own rules that underscore an insidious problem that will only worsen if left unchecked.

Above all, it should be most concerning to Republican Party members and constituents who are not privy to these closed-door discussions — especially considering such a small group of politically-compromised and morally-bankrupt party officials have the unmitigated power to pick and choose their own candidates on the ballot for nearly 150,000 residents in Senate District 21.

Ryan Phillips is the founder and field editor of Tuscaloosa Patch. The opinions expressed in this column are his and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of our parent company.