During Friday's broadcast of Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," Republican candidate for Alabama attorney general Katherine Robertson responded to criticism from her opponent over political contributions from out-of-state donors.
"I have a great deal of support from the Republican Attorneys General Association and their network. National conservative groups are often organized as 501(c)(4)s. There's nothing untoward about it," explained Robertson. "It's a big donor privacy issue that is more prevalent at the national level than it is in Alabama. These are longstanding relationships that I've had for 20 years, and without those relationships and those friendships, my campaign would have never gotten out the door."
Robertson, chief counsel to AG Steve Marshall, spoke about her opponent, former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell, transferring $650,000 from a previous election to his campaign.
"I'm running against a guy who's the pick of the inside Montgomery crowd; he's the pick of the BCA, who's heavily funded him," she said. "You know, I wouldn't have had a shot. He raised $650,000 in a state Supreme Court race where he didn't have an opponent. He won that election, obviously with no competition, and put all $650,000 of that into this race."
Added Robertson, "I would have been written off, as you well know, had I started out with $0 in the bank, and so these friends that I've had over 20 years that have been a part of me and my legal career and the conservative legal movement came to help me out, and there's nothing untoward about it."
According to Robertson, support from grassroots organizations and out-of-state groups will position her well to assume the role of AG.
"There's nothing secretive about it, but I think you can also see that I have an amazing grassroots coalition that no other candidate running for anything has built: farmers, cattlemen, foresters, sheriffs, NRA, and so I'm proud of the support the AG plays a big role inside the state and a big role beyond the state, and I've got the support of both," concluded Robertson.
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