A judge Thursday dismissed a lawsuit brought in the race for Alabama attorney general. Challenger Troy King, who served in the office from 2004-11, sought an order preventing incumbent Steve Marshall from spending more than $700,000 donated by the Republican Attorneys General Association on the grounds the contributions violate the state's PAC to PAC transfer ban. Montgomery County Circuit Judge James Anderson rejected the suit, ruling that the state does not have jurisdiction over a federal PAC. The Marshall campaign issued the following statement:
"Troy King has abused the judicial and ethics process this week to stage a political stunt. He did so routinely as AG and Republicans fired him in 2010 because of it. We are glad the court has confirmed this and look forward to getting back to the issues Alabama voters actually care about in the final days of this campaign."
King issued this statement:
“Today, we stepped into a time capsule and returned to the days when a Democrat Attorney General, this one masquerading as a Republican, Steve Marshall, picked up where Jimmy Evans left off. When Democrats ruled Alabama back then, they routinely used the courts to do their dirty work. Here we go again. In 2010, Republicans took control of the Alabama Legislature and, as a first order of the day, banned the generations old practice of laundering money through PAC-to-PAC transfers. No exceptions. The Democrats lacked the votes to stop them. Instead, they have bided their time and, today, RINO Steve Marshall, an Obama supporting Democrat who hired Ted Hosp, Siegelman’s lawyer and John Kerry’s Presidential campaign organizer, to argue to a Democrat judge who is a former leader in the Montgomery County Democratic Party, that he should dismantle the ethics laws that the Republican Legislature passed banning PAC to PAC transfers and, as a result, declared the work of the Republican legislature null and void. I intend to appeal this ruling. Not to more judges but to the court that really matters – the court of public opinion. I trust that real Republicans will reject make-believe Republicans like Steve Marshall and restore order and the rule of law that he trampled today. The ruling today impacts more than just the Troy King v. Steve Marshall race. It threatens the election of Republicans from the top of the ballot to the bottom. Steve Marshall has given Democrats the weapon they need to destroy the entire Republican party using out of state liberal money. We took this state from the Democrats in 2010 and now we are going to have to do it again!”
The ruling came just days before next Tuesday's Republican runoff. Marshall and King have been locked in a heated race, with both sides airing attack ads on radio and television.