Alabama Hot GOP primary could decide chief justice Former chief justice was kicked out of office over Ten Comandments

By Phillip Rawls Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama's Republican race for chief justice features an incumbent who's new to statewide politics taking on a well-known former attorney general and a former chief justice who's fighting to get back the job he lost over the Ten Commandments. Incumbent Chuck Malone is traveling the state, trying to build name recognition after being appointed to the post in August by his longtime friend, Gov. Robert Bentley. Former state Attorney General Charlie Graddick is returning to statewide politics after a 25-year absence. And former Chief Justice Roy Moore is telling voters he's done the job before -- even though his tenure ended with him getting kicked out of office. The Republican primary on March 13 could decide the race because no Democrats appear ready to challenge the 9-0 hold that the GOP has on the Alabama Supreme Court. Joe Reed, vice chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party, said no one has approached him with an interest in running for chief justice, and the party may not field a contender. In some ways, the Republican race is chapter two of the 2010 governor's race. Moore sought the Republican nomination for governor in 2010, finishing fourth. Former two-year college Chancellor Bradley Byrne, who finished second to Bentley in the Republican runoff for governor, is a member of Graddick's campaign team. Malone was the presiding circuit judge in Tuscaloosa County before joining Bentley's staff in January. Despite being on the statewide political scene only a few months, he's already picked up endorsements from two groups that are traditionally among the biggest donors in judicial races: the Alabama Farmers Federation and the Alabama Civil Justice Reform Committee. The committee's president, Tom Dart, said Malone had a sterling reputation during a decade on the bench in Tuscaloosa. "And he's gotten great reviews in his short time on the Supreme Court." Dart said the group also liked Graddick's record as a circuit judge in Mobile County since 2004, but his age, 66, would only allow him to serve one term. At 57, Malone is young enough to serve two terms before reaching the age of 70, when judges can't run again. Even though Malone has strong business support and Graddick has lots of name recognition, Dart said Moore will be a tough opponent. Moore, 64, started attracting that support when he was a circuit judge in Gadsden and successfully fought to display a homemade plaque of the Ten Commandments on his courtroom wall. He was elected chief justice in 2000 by defeating a better-funded candidate supported by the business community. He issued landmark opinions against video gambling and Alabama's long-running equity funding lawsuit for schools. But that was overshadowed by his installation of a granite monument of the Ten Commandments in the lobby of the state judicial building. A federal judge ordered him to remove the monument, but Moore refused. A state judicial court kicked him out of office in 2003 for refusing to abide by the federal court order. Moore's monument is now at a church and private school in Gadsden, and he says he has no plans to move it. But he still believes he did the right thing. Moore and Malone have always held office as Republicans. Graddick was a Democrat when he served as attorney general, but he became a Republican after his history-making campaign for governor in 1986. Published: Tue, Dec 6, 2011