When Republican Robert Aderholt last ran for office, the man he’ll face in Tuesday’s general election was playing for the same team.
Democrat Daniel Boman, who switched parties not long after being elected in 2010 as a Republican to represent District 16 in the Alabama House of Representatives, will seek to unseat Aderholt (R-Haleyville) from a 15-year Congressional stint.
Boman’s switch was a rare instance of Alabama Republicans losing ground to the dwindling ranks of their Democratic rivals, but observers noted it represented one of many principled decisions made among the new wave of Republican leaders elected to the State House in the historic 2010 sweep. The only difference was that Boman ultimately chose not to fight Republican party leadership from within — he simply took his ideals over to the left side of the aisle.
Boman’s shift came in 2011, after he said his Republican peers had gone too far in stripping away policies designed to safeguard Alabama teachers’ jobs. The switch precipitated a small controversy when the Republican-controlled legislature reapportioned his West Alabama district, shaping it in a way he said favored the GOP in future elections.
With more campaign money, more name recognition and a healthy approval from constituents who’ve already elected him to the District 4 Congressional seat eight consecutive times, Aderholt is a heavy favorite Tuesday. Boman has raised virtually no money, relying instead on social media and word of mouth.
Boman won some free, if dubious, publicity earlier this month when he appeared to insinuate on his campaign’s Facebook page that Aderholt, a married father of two children, is a homosexual. That posting remains online at www.facebook.com/BomanForCongress.
Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.
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Candidates for the Alabama Congressional District 4 seat, are, Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, left, and Democratic challenger Daniel Boman, right. Associated press
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Aderholt faces former repub Boman for congressional seat
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