Don Siegelman

Donald Eugene Siegelman (born February 24, 1946, in Mobile) is a Democratic candidate for Governor of Alabama. He previously served as Governor from 1999 to 2003. Prior to becoming Governor, he had served as Lieutenant Governor from 1995 to 1999, state Attorney General from 1987 to 1991, and Secretary of State from 1979 to 1987.

Early life and career

Don Siegelman was born and grew up in Mobile, Alabama. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1968, and from Georgetown University Law School and studied international law at the University of Oxford. While at the University of Alabama, Siegelman served as the President of the Student Government Association. While in law school at Georgetown, Siegelman met his expenses by working as an officer in the United States Capitol Police.

Governorship

Siegelman attempted to capitalize early in his administration on what had been the keystone issue of his campaign: a state lottery, with the proceeds funding free tuition at state universities for most high school graduates. Disregarding the advice of some supporters, Siegelman supported a bill that placed the lottery on a free-standing referendum ballot in 1999. The measure was defeated. Many analysts believe that the key to the lottery's defeat was differences in turnout between supporters and opponents.

Conservative, religiously motivated opponents, it is believed, turn out at higher levels than the general public, who tend to like the idea of free tuition for their children. Some advisers had suggested that Siegelman wait until the regular 2000 elections, when religious conservatives would be a smaller percentage of the electorate.

After the defeat of the lottery, Siegelman struggled to deal with serious state budget problems. Alabama's tax system is historically sensitive to economic downturns, and tax revenues were down during most of his administration. Despite this, most observers felt that Siegelman did a creditable job of managing the limited revenue produced by this system during a national economic downturn. Overcoming these budget constraints, Siegelman launched the Alabama Reading Initiative, an early education literacy program that was praised by both Democratic and Republican officials, and emulated by several other states. Also, Siegelman was able to make good on a campaign promise to eliminate virtually all portable classrooms in the state's public schools [1] - an important safety concern in tornado-prone Alabama.

Siegelman was more succesful - and may best be remembered by Alabama history - as the governor who was at the center of an explosive growth in the automotive manufacturing industry in Alabama. Alabama had never been known for automotive industry until Mercedes-Benz agreed to locate its first plant outside Germany in Alabama in the administration of Gov. Jim Folsom, Jr. During Siegelman's administration, Mercedes agreed to double the size of that plant. In addition, Siegelman became known as a globetrotting industrial recruiter, and brought home commitments from Toyota, Honda,[2] and Hyundai [3] [4] to build major assembly plants in Alabama. These plants, and their associated second tier suppliers, are expected to bring tens of thousands of upscale blue collar jobs to the state by 2010.

He was defeated for reelection in November 2002 by Representative Bob Riley in one of the closest statewide elections in the history of Alabama. Siegelman's election defeat was controversial, and caused many to recall the Florida election recount of 2000. Initial returns showed Riley losing to Siegelman. However, Republican officials in Baldwin County - one of the few counties where all of the county officers in charge of elections were Republicans - claim to have recounted that county's votes after midnight, and after Democratic Party observers had gone home for the night. Thousands of votes for Siegelman either disappeared or shifted to Riley in this recount, turning the statewide result in Riley's favor.[5] While the Republican officials claimed the earlier returns were the result of a "computer glitch," Democratic efforts to repeat the recount with Democratic observers present were frustrated by a series of rulings by courts and then-Attorney General William H. Pryor, Jr. Siegelman supporters complained that these judges were either elected as Republicans or appointed by Republican presidents. Largely as a result of this controversy, the Alabama Legislature later amended the election code to provide for automatic, supervised recounts in close races.

2004 Indictment

On May 27, 2004, he was indicted on federal charges of participating in a bid-rigging scheme with Paul Hamrick, his former chief of staff, and Phillip Bobo, a major contributor to his political campaigns. After considerable wrangling with federal prosecutors, including switching through three judges, his trial began in October 2004. The day after his trial began, prosecutors abruptly dropped all charges against all three men when the third judge threw out much of the prosecution's evidence "with prejudice," meaning that charges could not be refiled based on the disallowed evidence, effectively gutting the prosecution's weak case.

2005 Indictments

On October 26, 2005, he was indicted on charges of racketeering, bribery, and extortion, along with his former chief of staff Paul Hamrick, former state transportation director Gary "Mack" Roberts, and former HealthSouth CEO Richard M. Scrushy. The indictment alleges that bribes were exchanged in exchange for official favors from Siegelman during his term as Governor.

On December 12, the grand jury filed additional charges of mail fraud and conspiracy against Siegelman and Scrushy alleging that they conspired to provide HealthSouth with membership and influence on a state hospital regulatory board. Siegelman, his supporters, and his attorneys quickly pointed out that previous Republican governors had appointed Scrushy to the same board, and had received campaign contributions from Scrushy, but had not been investigated or indicted.

United States Attorney Leura Garrett Canary, who had been the driving force behind the 2005 indictments, was forced to recuse herself from the case after widespread criticism about a conflict of interest. Her husband, Bill Canary, managed the campaign of Governor Bob Riley in 2002, and later took a lucrative position with the Business Council of Alabama, a Riley ally. The case went to trial in early May 2006 with Canary's subordinates prosecuting it.

2006 Election

He is running for reelection as Governor in 2006. He will face Lt. Governor Lucy Baxley and minor candidates in the Democratic primary. Despite the indictments, Siegelman has showed strongly in recent polls. In a Survey USA poll released on May 11, 2006, he was leading Baxley by 47%-39%.

Siegelman is married to the former Lori Allen, and they have two children.

References

• "Don Siegelman." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 13 May 2006, 02:34 UTC. 13 May 2006, 02:40 [6].