Like him or not, Jim Bonner won't back down from a fight.
And a fight is exactly what Bonner found himself in the middle of in late May after the Alabama Republican Party Candidate Committee publicly censured him and subsequently voted to not certify any votes he received in the June 5th primary.
But Bonner moved full steam ahead with his campaign and in spite of the decision not to certify his votes, Bonner received 217,016 votes in the most publicized race for Alabama Public Service Commission Place One in history. Bonner narrowly lost to incumbent Jeremy Oden, who received 220,690 votes, representing 50.42 percent to Bonner's 49.58 percent.
Oden will face Democratic nominee Cara McClure of Birmingham in the November 6, 2018, general election, unless Bonner prevails in his legal challenge to the primary.
In an exclusive interview Wednesday with the Franklin Free Press, Bonner confirmed he will “seek legal action” as a result of the Republican state committee's decision. Bonner is represented by Huntsville attorney Rex Davis.
“I don't know exactly what we're going to do moving forward because it's so complex,” Bonner said. “There are some people taking office after November who might be sympathetic to a court challenge. We'll just have to wait and see. There was an appeal filed within 30 minutes of when the committee voted,” he added.
Bonner, 65, lives in Marion County near the Franklin County line. The primary source of the state committee's action resulted from social media posts made by Bonner that were labeled as “egregious” by Alabama Republican Party Chairwoman Terry Lathan.
Bonner's posts were accused of being anti-Semitic and racist by his critics, although he steadfastly denies he's a racist or an anti-Semite.
“Do I regret any of the Facebook posts? No, I don't think so,” Bonner said Wednesday. “I made a post of a Muslim Barbie doll with a string on it saying no one knows what she says yet because we haven't had the courage to pull the string.
“That's funny. I don't care who you are,” Bonner added.
Bonner recently made another post that read “Not racist. I love white people, people of color, Jews and Indians. I just hate Muslims.”
Yet another Facebook post of Bonner's referenced his receiving a valentine that read “my love 4 u burns like 6,000 Jews.” Again, Bonner said the outrage was misguided.
“It was a Hitler joke, not a Jew joke. And I regret people didn't get it. I am sick and tired of people who run out with a label maker and stick racist labels and anti-Semitic labels on you,” Bonner said.
Two days before the primary election, Bonner posted the following: “I remain amazed that there are still people who don't realize that I posted inflammatory stuff to get free publicity. Some are in denial that I played them like Chinese fiddles.”
And free publicity played right into Bonner's hand. State campaign finance reports show Bonner spent less than $10,000 on his PSC campaign, compared to expenses for Oden exceeding $550,000.
In spite of that disparity in spending, advance polling showed Bonner leading in much of the state, something his critics attributed to confusion with his last name. In Mobile, home of former Congressman Jo Bonner, James Bonner held a 28 percent to six percent lead in polling two weeks ago. Jo Bonner held a press conference last week to clarify he was not seeking office and that he had no relation to James Bonner.
Bonner received a majority of votes in 50 of Alabama's 67 counties, but lost large counties including Jefferson, Madison and Morgan.
“I was winning and winning by double digits in all 67 counties and they had to do something,” Bonner said. “Twinkle (Cavanaugh) was winning by double digits, so Alabama Power said if this Jim Bonner guy wins we'll have two empty seats on the Public Service Commission,” Bonner said.
“Alabama Power could not stand a rate review. That's the primary reason all this happened. My AEA rep said they will spend half a billion dollars to beat you. I said I expect them to spend half a million dollars and he said not a half million, a half billion,” Bonner added.
Bonner said he was questioned by the state Republican committee about his being on Social Security, allegedly filing bankruptcy and in-kind election expenses from a prior campaign.
Bonner has sought public office numerous times, including failed runs at Senate District Six, House District 17 and Colbert County Probate Judge, but still believes his close race Tuesday will have ripple effects across Alabama.
“I am pleased because I was vindicated by the voters. My prediction is my race will cause a lot of people to be aggravated at the Republican Party and cause Walt Maddox to be the next Alabama governor,” Bonner said. “I've been an influencing agent, a catalyst, in several races I've been in. I just haven't crossed the finish line.”
Attempts to reach Oden for comment on this article were unsuccessful and a message had not been returned as of 5 p.m., Wednesday.
