Progressive Bessemer endorsements

Qualifying begins today for the Bessemer municipal elections and we already know who most of the candidates are. One candidate for mayor either needs to correct the spelling of his name on his signs, or inform the Birmingham News how to spell his name, because they do not match.


But we return to the polls before the August 24 contest. The state primary runoff's are a week from today, on July 13, and here are the progressive recommendations for the Democratic Party from Bessemer Opinions.



This may seem unusual, but you may see a different candidate recommended than was endorsed in the June primary. This can be due to various factors, but in no way is money or payment of any kind involved. Unlike the other political groups in the Bessemer Cutoff, we do not accept money or gifts of any kind from political candidates, and we do not endorse our cronies or friends.


Our recommendations are based solely on the candidates academic and professional credentials, track record, political views, plans for the future, and answers to questions that have been proposed to the candidates. Not all of the candidates in this list have completed questionnaires, but the candidates were studied enough to allow an informed opinions to be formed.


The most important recommendation is to ignore requests to vote in the Republican runoff. Some Democrats are urging others to vote in the Republican governor's race to oust a particular man, but the truth of the matter is, they are both bad for the state, and bad for education, and we need to focus on getting the best progressive candidates into office.

And some of these races will be very close, and the candidates listed below need every vote, so stick to your party, and vote progressive on Tuesday, July 13.



Statewide


Attorney General - Giles Perkins



Federal District


AL-07 - Terri Sewell



State District



56 - Claire Mitchell



County Commission


District 2 - Gary Richardson



District 3 - Ron Yarbrough


Jefferson County


Circuit Court Place 12 (Bessemer cutoff) - Annetta Verin


Circuit Court Place 17 (Remainder of county) - Nicole "Nikki" Still


Circuit Court Place 23 (Remainder of county) - Denise J. Pomeroy



Sheriff - Willie Hill