Gov. Fob James (R) talks with the press after being declared a winner June 30. (AP)

By Terry M. Neal
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 1, 1998; Page A04

In an unusually bitter gubernatorial contest in a state known for colorful politics, Alabama Gov. Fob James Jr. won the Republican nomination last night against his more moderate rival, businessman Winton Blount.

With 93 percent of precincts reporting, James had 56 percent of the vote.

James, a hero of the religious right, will go into November's general election against well-financed Democrat Don Siegelman with a depleted campaign fund and a reputation tattered by months of contentious campaigning. The battle between James and Blount exposed huge rifts in the state's GOP and underscored the divide nationally among social and economic conservatives.

"We campaigned awfully hard in all the counties," James said as his celebration began in a Montgomery hotel suite, according to the Associated Press. "I'm very humbled."

Businessman Winton Blount (R) votes in the runoff between himself and Gov. Fob James (R). (AP)

"We stayed positive and focused on the governor's record," said James's spokesman, David Azbell, speaking by telephone from the victory party. Many observers would disagree with Azbell's assessment and have called the runoff one of the nastiest in recent history.

James, who is seeking his third term – he served one term as a Democrat in the late 1970s and early 1980s before switching parties – failed to win a majority of votes in a five-way Republican primary on June 2. He got 48 percent of the vote to Blount's 41 percent.

The contest was unusual for a number of reasons: Generally, James's GOP counterparts in other southern states – such as Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist – are enjoying great popularity. The economy is good and crime is down nationwide, generally providing a positive environment for incumbents. It is rare for an incumbent governor to be forced into such a competitive runoff.

"It's a case study in how not to be a Republican governor," said Emory University political science professor Merle Black.

James's "agenda is almost exclusively that of the Christian Coalition. By giving such overwhelming emphasis to that side of the agenda, he's disrupted the electoral coalition that put him in office in the first place."

For his efforts to promote school prayer, teaching of creation and other social conservative causes, James has won the loyal support of Christian activists in Alabama and nationwide. Such well-known social conservatives as James Dobson, Jerry Falwell and Phyllis Schlafly endorsed his election, and former Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed served as a consultant.

But James's tactics, perhaps more than his beliefs, have made him a continuing source of controversy. James, 63, has urged schools to defy court orders banning school prayer and has threatened to call out the National Guard to protect a judge's effort to display the Ten Commandments in his courtroom. He also has argued that states' rights supersede the Bill of Rights on matters such as religion and free speech.

Blount, 55, hit James's record, calling him an embarrassment to Alabama who has done little to foster economic development while other southern states prosper.

"I believe a governor should be widely known for his achievements instead of his antics," Blount said on many occasions.

Blount, who owns car dealerships and a plastics company, ran with the support of much of the state's business establishment.

Both candidates spent recent days traversing the state by air and bus, charging each other with lying and dirty campaigning. James accused Blount of, essentially, paying off a citizens group led by Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington Jr. (D) – a popular African American politician – in exchange for Arrington's endorsement. Blount accused James of "playing the race card."

Democrats can vote in Republican GOP primaries and runoffs, and some pollsters predicted that their votes could make the difference in such a tight race. Blount did seem to get a bump in majority-black districts, but James appeared to have more than made up for that with higher-than-normal turnout in majority-white rural districts.

Natalie Davis, a pollster and political science professor at Birmingham-Southern College, said Arrington's endorsement probably worked against Blount by motivating whites who otherwise wouldn't have voted to come out to the polls.

"A reaction in Alabama does result in an equal and opposite reaction," she said.