MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — In a Monday night rally to kick off her campaign for governor, former Alabama Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb said Alabama is suffering from “failed leadership” and stressed her support for a state lottery.
“If you’re tired of the corrupt politics that’s been going on, join us. If you’re tired of Alabama being at the bottom of all the good categories and the top of all the bad ones, join us,” Cobb said in the speech at her campaign headquarters in Montgomery.
Cobb is proposing a state lottery to fund preschool, vocational training and other education programs.
“We’ve been sending our money to Tennessee, to Florida, to Georgia, have we not? People in Alabama think it’s just plain stupid that we don’t have a lottery,” she said.
Cobb said the state needs to address the closure of rural hospitals. She said she also supports a raise in the minimum wage.
Cobb was one of the last Democrats to win statewide office in Alabama. She was elected as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2006 and was the first woman to hold that post. She resigned in 2011.
Cobb faces Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, former state legislator James Fields and others in the June 5 Democratic primary. The winner will face the Republican nominee in November.
On the Republican side, Gov. Kay Ivey faces a number of GOP primary challengers, including Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, state Sen. Bill Hightower of Mobile and evangelical preacher Scott Dawson.