The Alabama Attorney General is a constitutional officer responsible for representing the state in civil and criminal litigation, enforcing state laws, and providing legal advisory opinions to public officials. The position can be a springboard to other offices such as governor and the U.S. Senate.

Republican Runoff Candidates

Katherine Robertson and Jay Mitchell are squaring off in the runoff for attorney general. Robertson received 183,340 votes, about 41 percent of the votes cast in the May 19th primary, while Mitchell received 154,657 votes or 34 percent of the ballots.

Both runoff candidates are heavy hitters in Republican and state politics. Robertson is Deputy Attorney General in Steve Marshall’s office, while Mitchell is a former Alabama Supreme Court Justice. Robertson has touted her experience working in the AG’s office, while Mitchell says the office should be held by someone with courtroom experience like he has had as a litigation attorney and justice on the state supreme court.

Campaign Controversy

The closeness of the primary balloting led to runoff campaigning quickly taking a negative turn. Mitchell has accused Robertson of receiving over $3 million in “dark money,” or outside Alabama contributions from PACs like the ultra-conservative Virginia-based SuperPAC Frontline Victory Fund.

Robertson defended the PAC contribution, saying, “You’re going to want an attorney general that has national relationships. You are going to want an attorney general that can walk in on day one and be supported by the other 27 republican AGs.”

Democratic Candidate

There is no runoff for AG on the Democratic Party side of the ballot. Attorney Jeff McLaughlin is the only person who qualified for the Democrat May 19th primary and will face the Mitchell and Robertson runoff winner in November.

Original reporting: The Tuscaloosa Thread — read the source article.