Good morning and welcome to new subscribers! It’s Day 2 of our ADN/Leverage poll. Here’s your Daily News for Wednesday, May 2.

1. Poll: Cavanaugh leads Lt. Gov race; majority undecided. 

• New polling shows Public Service Commission President Twinkle Cavanaugh is leading the race for Alabama Lt. Governor on the Republican side, but the majority of voters are still undecided.
• Our Alabama Daily News / Leverage Public Strategies survey has 24 percent of voters choosing Cavanaugh if the election were held today, with eight percent for Guntersville State Rep. Will Ainsworth and seven percent for Mobile State Sen. Rusty Glover.
• Read more about the numbers HERE.
• BTW, I welcome and encourage other news outlets to report on these numbers. The whole point was to get a conversation started, and we have!. But if you’re going to use the survey, throw your boy a link and a mention!
• Tune in tomorrow for results on the Attorney General race.  

2. New ads!

• With less than a month to go until the Primary Election, campaigns are getting serious about television advertising.
• Several new ads for major candidates are in circulation this week, including:
• Tommy Battle’s first statewide buy attempting to raise his name recognition beyond Huntsville;
• AG candidate Chess Bedsole’s second ad (first on broadcast) touting his role in the Trump campaign;
• Chief Justice Lynn Stuart’s first ad re-introducing herself and her judicial style to the electorate.
• See all three of these new statewide ads HERE.
• Did I miss your ad? Please send it on and I’ll be happy to highlight it. The only rule is it has to be running on cable/broadcast/satellite and not just on Facebook.

3. Ag Secretary Perdue talks broadband, cotton in Alabama tomorrow.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue is in Alabama tomorrow.

Among the stops on his visit are:

• A cotton farm in Marion County where he will talk about the impact of cotton and dairy farming in the United States;
• Lunch in Hamilton with as many as 50 of the state’s agriculture leaders;
• The Tombigbee Electric Cooperative in Hamilton to discuss the importance of rural broadband to the future of agriculture. Gov. Kay Ivey and Congressman Robert Aderholt are scheduled to accompany the Secretary at the Tombigbee event.

Alabama’s electric cooperatives played a key role in the recent legislative effort to expand access to broadband in rural Alabama communities. It was considered one of the signature achievements of the 2018 legislative session.

One day I’ll tell you about the time I had to mail a bottle of parched Alabama soil to Sonny Perdue’s office in the Georgia Capitol back during the water wars.

4. Lower power bills?

• A typical Alabama Power customer could soon pay about $9 less per month in electricity bills.
• That’s thanks to the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, which lowered rates for utilities. Alabama Power’s proposal to pass savings from the tax cuts on to customers was approved by the Public Service Commission yesterday.
• From AP’s Kim Chandler:

The 2017 federal tax package cut the federal income tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent beginning Jan. 1, 2018. Because the tax cut was implemented after the company filed rate calculations for the year, Alabama Power said it would give customers a bill credit to reflect the tax cut that began in January. The adjustment to customers is to total $257 million for the remainder of the year.

• Read the full story HERE.

5. News briefs. 

• Sen. Richard Shelby was in Mobile yesterday talking about his (arguably) favorite future project: deepening & widening Alabama’s seaport. It’s a “once in a lifetime” opportunity economically for Mobile and the whole state, Shelby said, we just need funding. If only there were someone in the government we could talk to about that! Seriously though, the $500 million price tag would require significant investment from the state and perhaps the private sector. Read that whole story HERE.
• Montgomery’s first charter school was dealt a blow yesterday when Judge J.R. Gains ruled in favor of the teachers and education employees union seeking to block its opening. LEAD Academy organizers say they will eventually win the legal battle with AEA, but that it could delay the school’s opening until 2019. More than 200 families have submitted registration forms to attend the charter school and “hundreds” of educators have applied to work there, officials said. Read more HERE.
• State Rep. Patricia Todd, who is retiring from the Alabama Legislature, is moving to Florida to lead a LBGTQ rights coalition there. Rep. Todd was Alabama’s first openly gay lawmaker. Read more HERE.
• You’re going to want to read this compelling story about the challenges facing a few black families who decided to move to Mountain Brook for education and athletic opportunities. People can be cruel.

Headlines.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – New polls shows Cavanaugh leading Lt. Governor race, but majority undecided.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama Power customers to see slightly lower bills.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Judge: Montgomery’s first charter school lacks votes.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Report: bus driver unresponsive before deadly crash.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama’s first openly gay lawmaker to lead LBGTQ coalition in Florida.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS: Alabama, Texas, other states sue to end “dreamers” program once and for all.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Pompeo vows to reinvigorate diplomacy, bring back US ‘swagger’.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Next steps for caravan will unfold mostly out of public view.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Rosenstein: Justice Department will not be bullied by Congress.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Two of Pruitt’s top aides leave EPA amid ethics investigations.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Meet the school board candidates forum.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – From screaming and police to college in the fall, family says juvenile justice program ‘saved son’s life’.

DOTHAN EAGLE – ‘Complete’ school security plan under development.

DOTHAN EAGLE – Columnist Steve Flowers’ Inside the Statehouse:  State appellate court seats are on the June 5 primary ballot.

AL.COM – In Faith Forums, AG Marshall promotes church engagement.

AL.COM – Montgomery judge rules charter school approval invalid.

AL.COM – Judith Ann Neelley waives parole hearing in teen’s brutal 1982 rape, murder.

AL.COM – Tommy Battle releases first TV ad in gubernatorial race.

AL.COM – Patricia Todd named head of LGBTQ nonprofit formed after Orlando nightclub shooting.

AL.COM – Shelby likes Austal’s chances for Navy frigate contract.

AL.COM – Shelby: ‘Crucial’ time ahead for funding ship channel.

AL.COM – Alabama Power reduces bills because of federal tax cut.

AL.COM – 2 million people could see HUD rent increase, work requirements.

AL.COM – Kay Ivey leads challengers in GOP governor’s race poll.

AL.COM – Columnist Kyle Whitmire:  Open records and jail food funds: Where do Alabama AG candidates stand?

AL.COM – Airbnb to collect, pay occupancy taxes in Auburn.

AL.COM – Toyota’s Mississippi moves supplement its Alabama plans.

AL.COM – Westrock expanding Lanett operation, adding 50 jobs.

AL.COM – Contributor Clete Wetli:  Republicans scared of the big, bad Wolf.

TUSCALOOSA NEWS – Amendments a cynical effort to attract voters.

ANNISTON STAR – The Roy Moore Treatment

WASHINGTON POST – Under oath or not, Trump owes the country answers.

WASHINGTON POST – Columnist Dana Milbank:  President Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.

WASHINGTON POST – Texas, six other states sue Trump administration to force an end to DACA.

NEW YORK TIMES – Why Answering Mueller’s Questions Could Be a Minefield for Trump

NEW YORK TIMES – Will the Fed Offer Clues About Rate Increases? Here’s What to Watch

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