MONTGOMERY -- Joe Hubbard, the Democratic nominee for Alabama House District 73, will not be competing with another candidate for votes to unseat two-term incumbent, David Grimes. In November, only Hubbard will appear on the ballot with Grimes.
On June 1, the last day for a candidate to file as an Independent, a petition was filed with the Secretary of State's Office that, if certified, would have placed Anthony James Macon on the ballot in November as an Independent. Macon, however, did not file this petition. Greg Masood, a political operative and former lobbyist for Alabama Association of Realtors, filed the 59 page petition.
Of the 449 signatures Masood filed on Macon's behalf, at least 423, or three percent of the votes cast for Governor in 2006, had to be signatures of voters registered in House District 73. Of all the signatures submitted, only 48 were found to be from registered voters in the district -- "375 short," said an official at the Secretary of State's Office, "a record in futility."
Hubbard said that there was little doubt the independent candidate was recruited to hurt his chances in the November election. "When the special interests get nervous," Hubbard said, "they get desperate. This ploy was a blatant attempt to keep the people of my hometown from getting an independent voice in the Alabama Legislature"
"They must see the same momentum we're seeing. I'm not going to let back-room politics slow us down. We'll keep walking the neighborhoods, meeting folks, and sharing our plan to address the challenges we face as a community."
For more information on Joe Hubbard's campaign for House District 73, visit his website at www.hubbardforhouse.com.
