Alabama Democratic Party

The special election, scheduled for Tuesday, will fill a vacancy created by the death in January of veteran lawmaker Pat Lindsey. The Democrat from Butler held the seat for seven terms.

Face-to-face contact with voters, Keahey said, could make the difference in an election that is expected to draw a low turnout.

The sprawling, L-shaped district includes all of Escambia and Washington counties, and parts of Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Mobile and Monroe counties.

Jobs are scarce in the rural district: The most recent unemployment statistics released by the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations showed the counties north of Mobile and Baldwin with jobless rates of 12 percent or higher.

Not surprisingly, the economy has become a major issue for Keahey and Albritton, a lawyer and former state representative from Range in Conecuh County. Keahey said he wants to improve educational opportunities and increase teachers' salaries.

Keahey also said he wants to build up infrastructure in the district and attract additional manufacturers. He supported a proposal to increase the state's loan capacity in 2007, a vote

that helped attract ThyssenKrupp AG's steel mill to Mount Vernon. Keahey said the option to borrow additional money for economic incentives should remain on the table.

"I think what we did in 2007 was great," he said. "It was an important vote, and I'd do it again."

Keahey has the support of the powerful Alabama Education Association, which has given him $60,000 through its political action committee. The state teachers union is the single largest contributor to his campaign, which has raised a total of $566,500, according to a campaign finance report filed Thursday.

A win Tuesday would continue a fast rise for Keahey, who won election to his first term in 2006. So far, his most notable bills were legislation to make the cataloging of governor's flights mandatory and to prevent seizures of guns during state emergencies.

"He brings a very incisive and deep understanding. Being a lawyer helps with that committee," said state Rep. Marcel Black, D-Tuscumbia, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, on which Keahey sits.

Keahey's name is known in the district: His cousin Bobby served as district attorney over three of the counties from 1986 to 2005. However, Marc Keahey, as a first-time candidate, was initially rebuffed by Democratic power brokers led by the AEA.

"One of the first things we try to do is learn as much as we can about a candidate, what they support and what they oppose," AEA Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert said. "We had no knowledge of him."

After several fruitless meetings in Montgomery, Keahey called his cousin for advice. "I said, 'Come back to Clarke County,'" Bobby Keahey said. "We'll get the votes for you."

After a furious campaign in which Keahey was briefly hospitalized for dehydration, he easily defeated incumbent Nick Williams.

Keahey holds a cash advantage over Albritton, but is taking no chances.

Driving through north Mobile County on a recent Friday morning, Keahey insisted on visiting every business, shaking hands and passing out campaign cards.

At a stop in Citronelle, he even extended a hand to a life-size, cardboard cutout of NASCAR driver Carl Edwards, before realizing his mistake.

"I just try to get people talking, just try to stay anywhere there's a chance to see somebody," he said.

ON THE NET

For more about Marc Keahey, visit his campaign Web site at: www.keaheyforsenate.com