One of the most powerful positions in Montgomery is one of this in this election cycle’s most sought after.
Four Republicans have thrown their hats into the ring for the position of state attorney general, but the incumbent is not giving up without a fight.
Steve Marshall is the current attorney general, and his opponents are former AG Troy King, former deputy AG Alice Martin, and Chess Bedsole, a former criminal court judge.
Over the last year, the state has seen a major shift in state government due to corruption.
“It’s been prosecutors that we’ve convicted, law enforcement we’ve convicted, public officials we’ve convicted,” Marshall said. “And we’ll continue to be vigorous in that front.”
That front will include other corruption cases for Marshall to investigate in the AG’s office if re-elected.
Troy King tells CBS 42 News that he has experience fighting corruption due to his tenure as AG from 2004-2011.
“The only way we can fix and denture people from engaging in conduct is to use the laws that we have to punish the people who break those laws,” King said.
Alice Martin touts her experience as a former US attorney when she prosecuted over 140 corruption cases.
“I helped to do the Jefferson County sewer scandal, the two-year college scandal, and the Jefferson County bond swap scandal, which eventually led to the bankruptcy of this great area,” Martin said.
Chess Bedsole says he was offered the job of Attorney General from former Governor Robert Bentley but declined because he didn’t want to have to recuse himself from the investigation. Bedsole has a few ideas about how to change the criminal justice system.
“I’ll be completely honest with you,” Bedsole said. “Send the people who wear suits to work every day to the same prison where you send everybody else. The minute you start doing that, people will start acting accordingly.”