As if Alabama politics couldn't get any more hectic, retired Marine Lee Busby announced on Tuesday that he was throwing his hat into the Alabama senate race as an independent against Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones. Busby will be running as an Independent on a write-in campaign.
The Alabama Senate race to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions's seat has turned into a bizarre spectacle, mostly centered around the harassment allegations made against Republican candidate Roy Moore. What was once considered a solid win for Moore against Democratic candidate Doug Jones has turned into a complex enigma for the Republican party to tackle: should they back Moore amidst the allegations made against him for a surer victory or set up a write-in campaign for another Republican considering Moore has stated he will not drop out of the race?
With Lee Busby entering into the race, the dynamics of this problem have not only increased, but also seem harder to solve. In theory, he is the perfect write-in candidate for the Republican Party to replace Roy Moore. According to his campaign website, he is a retired colonel who served in Iraq and has experience as the vice chief of staff for the current White House chief of staff, Lt. Gen. John Kelly. In addition, he says that he has experience as a small-business owner and an entrepreneur, touting his skills learned there along with his military service as qualifications to become a senator.
His positions are also closely aligned to the Republican agenda. He supports "sufficient funding" for the military and wants to reform the immigration laws to encourage legal immigration. On abortion, he is pro-life and is willing to work with Trump to increase funding for infrastructure. More importantly, he disapproves of Roy Moore on a political standpoint and presents an option that keeps most of Moore's agenda without sacrificing morality.
Despite the appearance of a possible solution with Busby, him coming into the race only complicates matters further for Republicans. The challenge revolves around Moore's steadfast support from a high number of Alabama voters regardless of the ongoing allegations against him. With only Roy Moore and Doug Jones in the race, Moore's support base could be large enough to propel him to victory. Lee Busby, a Republican in all but name, would divert many voters who have moral qualms with Moore and split his base, giving Jones a much larger chance of victory. The polls are already tight between Moore and Jones; adding Busby in would most likely leave Moore many points behind Jones in the polls.
However, the success of Busby's write-in campaign is far from likely and in the history of the nation, only a few write-in campaigns for positions in Congress have been successful, and even less for the Senate. A notable example is Strom Thurmond's write-in campaign for the 1954 Senate race in South Carolina. Busby's campaign will likely not follow Thurmond's format of rejecting the predominant party to win, so Busby will likely not win the race. While he would be a theoretical upgrade over seating Roy Moore, Busby's entrance into the race may have granted Doug Jones victory.
The Alabama Senate race to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions's seat has turned into a bizarre spectacle, mostly centered around the harassment allegations made against Republican candidate Roy Moore. What was once considered a solid win for Moore against Democratic candidate Doug Jones has turned into a complex enigma for the Republican party to tackle: should they back Moore amidst the allegations made against him for a surer victory or set up a write-in campaign for another Republican considering Moore has stated he will not drop out of the race?
With Lee Busby entering into the race, the dynamics of this problem have not only increased, but also seem harder to solve. In theory, he is the perfect write-in candidate for the Republican Party to replace Roy Moore. According to his campaign website, he is a retired colonel who served in Iraq and has experience as the vice chief of staff for the current White House chief of staff, Lt. Gen. John Kelly. In addition, he says that he has experience as a small-business owner and an entrepreneur, touting his skills learned there along with his military service as qualifications to become a senator.
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| Lee Busby's campaign website |
Despite the appearance of a possible solution with Busby, him coming into the race only complicates matters further for Republicans. The challenge revolves around Moore's steadfast support from a high number of Alabama voters regardless of the ongoing allegations against him. With only Roy Moore and Doug Jones in the race, Moore's support base could be large enough to propel him to victory. Lee Busby, a Republican in all but name, would divert many voters who have moral qualms with Moore and split his base, giving Jones a much larger chance of victory. The polls are already tight between Moore and Jones; adding Busby in would most likely leave Moore many points behind Jones in the polls.
However, the success of Busby's write-in campaign is far from likely and in the history of the nation, only a few write-in campaigns for positions in Congress have been successful, and even less for the Senate. A notable example is Strom Thurmond's write-in campaign for the 1954 Senate race in South Carolina. Busby's campaign will likely not follow Thurmond's format of rejecting the predominant party to win, so Busby will likely not win the race. While he would be a theoretical upgrade over seating Roy Moore, Busby's entrance into the race may have granted Doug Jones victory.
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