The Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) is accusing Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed's campaign of using deceptive text messages to gain support in next month's municipal election.
Reed has a comfortable lead in preliminary polls with only three candidates in the race, although the polls were conducted before most candidates declared.
Municipal elections are non-partisan, meaning no candidate is required to align themselves with any political party. The election is scheduled for August 22.
According to a release from ALGOP, Reed's campaign has sent mass text messages that claim the ALGOP is directly backing an unnamed candidate to unseat the incumbent mayor.
"It has come to the Party's attention that Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed is sending out fundraising text messages with false claims about the Alabama Republican Party," The ALGOP statement read. "We would like to set the record straight. The Alabama Republican Party is not backing any candidate in the non-partisan Montgomery mayor's race."
"We are disappointed that Mayor Reed would use outright lies in order to gin up financial support for his campaign," the statement concluded.
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