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Bobby Bright

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Bobby Bright
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Alabama's 2nd district
In office
January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011
Preceded byTerry Everett
Succeeded byMartha Roby
55th Mayor of Montgomery
In office
November 9, 1999 – January 3, 2009
Preceded byEmory Folmar
Succeeded byCharles Jinright (Acting)
Personal details
Born
Bobby Neal Bright

(1952-07-21) July 21, 1952 (age 72)
Midland City, Alabama, U.S.
Political partyRepublican (2011–present)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (before 2008)
Democratic (2008–2011)
SpouseLynn Clardy
Children3
EducationAuburn University (BA)
Troy University (MS)
Faulkner University (JD)

Bobby Neal Bright Sr. (born July 21, 1952) is an American retired lawyer, farmer, and former politician who served as a U.S. Representative and was previously the three-term Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama. He served from 2009 to 2011 as the Representative from Alabama's 2nd congressional district. His 2008 campaign ran on the message of "America First", and his voting record indicated that he was the most conservative member of the House Democratic Caucus in the 111th Congress. His district includes just over half of the city of Montgomery, as well as most of the Wiregrass Region in the southeastern part of the state.

Bright is a native of the Wiregrass Region and has 13 siblings. He is the first Mayor of Montgomery to be elected to Congress. In November 2010, he was defeated for a second term in the House of Representatives by Republican nominee Martha Roby, a then-Montgomery City Council member. In 2018, Bright attempted to run for his old House seat as a Republican, but was defeated in the primaries by Roby.

Early life, education, and early career

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Bright was born in Midland City, Alabama and grew up on one of the cotton farms that were typical of the Wiregrass Region.[1] Bright grew up the son of a sharecropper, with 13 siblings. After spending his youth working on the farm and graduating from high school, he took a job in metalworking to save up money for college. Bright worked each and every day to pay for his education. He later graduated from Auburn University with a B.A. in political science in 1975 and took a job as an auditor before earning an M.S. in criminal justice from Troy State University in 1977 and beginning a career as a corrections officer. While working in the prison system, he was deeply affected by the many young people he saw entering the penitentiaries and decided to transition into law practice as a result.[2] Bright received his Juris Doctor from the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law at Faulkner University in 1982. He practiced law for fifteen years before entering into politics.

Mayor of Montgomery

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Bright was first elected in 1999, defeating longtime incumbent Republican Mayor Emory Folmar. He was re-elected in a landslide against challenger Scott Simmons in 2003.

During Mayor Bright's tenure he revitalized Montgomery's downtown and riverfront including the Renaissance Montgomery complex and Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium. He helped bring new jobs to the area, and saved existing jobs. He was also named the state's "Tourism Advocate of the Year" by the Governor for his work in building that industry. On the financial side, he balanced the city's budget every year and created a $30 million rainy day fund, secured millions in federal grants for important projects, maintained the city's "AA" credit rating (best in state) by holding spending and debt in check, and saved money by implementing an international prescription drug buying program.[3][4][5]

U.S. House of Representatives

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Elections

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2008
Main article: 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama § District 2

Mayor Bright had never previously claimed affiliation with any party, but in 2008 he announced that he was running as a Democrat for the open seat in the 2nd District. The district's eight-term incumbent, Republican Congressman Terry Everett, was not running for reelection.[6]

Like many Alabama Democrats, he opposed abortion and gun control. However, he favored "a strong, honorable plan" to end the Iraq War.[7]

Bright was considered the strongest Democrat to run in a district that had been in Republican hands since 1965. With the strong support of the state and national Democratic establishment, Bright easily won the Democratic Nomination against two minor challengers. He faced Republican State Representative Jay Love in the November Election. Both Bright and Love are deacons at First Baptist Church in Montgomery.[8] Bright received the endorsement of Republican State Senator Harri Anne Smith, whom Love had defeated by six points in the Primary.[9]

Just before the Election, CQ Politics, The Cook Political Report and The Rothenberg Political Report rated the race a toss-up, with neither candidate a clear favorite over the other.[10][11][12] In the November Election, Bright received 143,997 votes to Love's 142,231 votes—a margin of 1,766 votes, or just over 0.6 percentage points. While the two candidates each won eight of the district's 16 counties, Bright won the district's share of Montgomery County by 30 points. Love had the option of requesting a recount since the margin of victory was less than a point, but opted not to do so and conceded the seat to Bright.[13][14] Bright's victory, and that of Parker Griffith in the 5th district, gave Alabama two white Democratic congressmen for the first time since Tom Bevill and Glen Browder both left the House in 1997. Bright represented the fourth most Republican district in the nation to be represented by a Democrat; it had a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+16, and gave John McCain 63 percent of the vote in 2008.

The second traditionally gives its congressmen very long tenures in Washington. Bright was only the seventh person to represent it in over a century, and the fifth since 1921. Bright's 2008 campaign was endorsed by Democrats for Life of America.[15]

2010
Main article: 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama § District 2

Bright was unopposed in the 2010 Democratic primary. Republican Montgomery city council member Martha Roby decisively beat Tea Party favorite and former Marine Rick Barber in the GOP primary.[16] Bright ran campaign ads aimed at distancing himself from the establishment Democratic Party. In these ads, he described himself as “independent and conservative,” and emphasized his support for small business. Under fire from Roby for his support of Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House, Bright stated publicly that he would not vote for Pelosi for Speaker again.[17]

Roby nonetheless defeated Bright as Republicans took back control of the House.[18] Since Bright's defeat, no Democrat has managed even 40 percent of the vote in this district. Indeed, Bright is one of only two Democrats to cross the 40 percent barrier since most of Montgomery and Selma's black voters were drawn out of the district after the 1990 census.

Tenure

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During his time in Congress, Bright was a member of the Blue Dog Coalition. He voted with Democratic leadership 71.7% of the time.,[19] making him the second most conservative member of the House Democratic Caucus.[20] Bright voted twice against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, one of only 7 Democrats voting against the final version.[21] In February 2009, Bright voted in favor of the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009.[22] In June 2009, Bright voted in favor of the Cash for Clunkers bill.[23] In July 2009, Bright voted against establishing spending caps through fiscal year 2014.[24] In November 2009, Bright voted against the House version of the Affordable Health Care for America Act.[25] In March 2010, Bright voted against the Senate version of the Affordable Health Care for America Act.[26] He did not sign a petition circulated by Iowa Republican Steve King calling for a complete repeal of the law, calling the effort "premature".[27]

In November 2009, Bright, along with Representative Walt Minnick of Idaho, introduced House Resolution 4072. This resolution reorganized public job training funds, directing them towards flexible skills and credentials recognized by industries. Also called the American Manufacturing Efficiency and Retraining Investment Collaboration Act (AMERICA Works), the bill was targeted at new workers just entering the workforce and servicemen and women returning to civilian life.[28] Because of his dedication to small business, Bright requested a waiver to serve on the House Small Business Committee shortly after his arrival in Washington. The first bill sponsored by Bright would eventually be included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which became law on February 17, 2009.[29]

After the defection of fellow Alabama Democrat Parker Griffith to the Republican Party in December 2009, political analyst and statistician Nate Silver suggested that Bright could follow, naming "60/40" odds that he would eventually join the Republican caucus as well.[30] The day after Griffith's party switch, Bright told media that he had no intention of switching parties and would remain a Democrat.[31]

The National Journal named Bright the most conservative Democrat during the first session of the 111th United States Congress.[32]

In April 2009, Bright voted against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.[33]

Committee assignments

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2018 Congressional run

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In February 2018, Bright filed to run for his old House seat as a Republican. He said that during his one term in Congress, he had not been able to do everything he had wanted to do "because my beliefs are conservative and that held me back." He pointed out that Roby was no longer on the Agriculture and Armed Services committees despite the second district's large military presence and significant agricultural element. Bright finished second in the first round of the Republican primary with 28% of the vote, and qualified for the runoff against Roby. Roby defeated him, 68% to 32%.

Electoral history

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Main article: United States House of Representatives elections, 2008
Alabama's 2nd Congressional District House Election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Bobby Bright 144,368 50.23%
Republican Jay Love 142,578 49.61%
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections, 2010
Alabama's 2nd Congressional District House Election, 2010
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Martha Roby 111,645 50.97%
Democratic Bobby Bright 106,865 48.79% −1.44%
Main article: United States House of Representatives election, 2018
Republican primary results[34]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Martha Roby (incumbent) 36,708 39.0
Republican Bobby Bright 26,481 28.1
Republican Barry Moore 18,177 19.3
Republican Rich Hobson 7,052 7.5
Republican Tommy Amason 5,763 6.1
Total votes 94,181 100.0
Republican primary runoff results[35]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Martha Roby (incumbent) 48,331 67.9
Republican Bobby Bright 22,795 32.1
Total votes 71,126 100.0

Personal life

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Bright is married to retired District Judge Lynn Clardy Bright. They have three children.

References

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  1. ^ Bobby Bright profile Archived November 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at CQ Politics
  2. ^ "Bright for Congress 2008". brightforcongress.com. Archived from the original on November 6, 2008.
  3. ^ Alabama's 2nd District Archived June 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine DCCC
  4. ^ "Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce's Riverfront Development page". Archived from the original on December 9, 2006. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  5. ^ "Central Alabama Business Journal interview with Bobby Bright in August, 2005". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
  6. ^ "Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright to run for Congress". Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  7. ^ Nolin, Jill Profile of Bobby Bright[full citation needed] Archived January 17, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Montgomery Advertiser, May 27, 2008.
  8. ^ "Fellow Church Members, Deacons, Vie for Alabama Congressional Seat". Archived from the original on December 10, 2008.
  9. ^ Reid, Wilson (October 12, 2008). "Ex-GOP candidate backs Bright". Politico. Retrieved December 4, 2008.
  10. ^ U.S. House, Alabama - 2nd District Archived May 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine CQ Politics
  11. ^ 2008 Competitive House Race Chart Archived July 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine The Cook Political Report, August 30, 2008
  12. ^ 200 House Ratings The Rothenberg Political Report, November 2, 2008
  13. ^ Orndorff, Mary. Alabama State Rep. Jay Love unlikely to seek recount in 2nd District loss to Bobby Bright. Birmingham News, Nov. 4, 2008.
  14. ^ Democrat Bright wins in Ala. 2nd Dist.[permanent dead link] Associated Press via WPMI-TV, Nov. 5, 2008.
  15. ^ "Act Blue" page of Democrats for Life
  16. ^ "MSN". NBC News. July 14, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2018.[dead link]
  17. ^ Givens, Matthew (October 18, 2010). "Alabama 2nd Congressional District Recap". Huffington Post.
  18. ^ "Martha Roby defeats Bobby Bright for U.S. House District 2". Alabama.com. Associated Press. November 3, 2010. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  19. ^ "Rep. Bobby Bright, Alabama (D) - U.S. Congress". OpenCongress. Archived from the original on June 14, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  20. ^ "House voting with party scores, 111th Congress". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 14, 2010. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
  21. ^ "Obama: 'Dramatic action' needed now to fix economy - Yahoo! News". news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009.
  22. ^ Final Vote Results for Roll Call 86. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  23. ^ FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 314. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  24. ^ Final Vote Results for Roll Call 610. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  25. ^ "Final vote results for roll call 887". clerk.house.gov. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  26. ^ "Final vote results for roll call 165". clerk.house.gov. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  27. ^ "State may join in lawsuit over health care bill - The Troy Messenger". The Troy Messenger. March 22, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  28. ^ "The Online Office of Congressman Bobby Bright - House Passes Job-Training Legislation Introduced by Congressman Bright". Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
  29. ^ "The Online Office of Congressman Bobby Bright - Small Business". Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
  30. ^ Silver, Nate (December 23, 2009). "Politics Done Right: 2009's Most Valuable Democrat Is". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  31. ^ Jonathon Martin, Josh Kraushaar, Patrick O'Connor (December 24, 2009). "McCain, GOP secretly courting another Dem to switch". Politico. Retrieved July 11, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ "Bright rated most conservative Dem". WTVY. February 26, 2010. Archived from the original on March 2, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2010.
  33. ^ "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 223". Clerk of the House. April 29, 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  34. ^ "2018 Alabama Republican primary election results". Alabama Secretary of State. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  35. ^ "2018 Alabama Republican primary runoff election results". Alabama Secretary of State. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
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Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Montgomery
1999–2009 		Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Alabama's 2nd congressional district
2009–2011 		Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Representative 		Succeeded byas Former US Representative
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