Big news out of North Alabama, U.S. Representative Bud Cramer (D) now has a Republican challenger for the 2008 race.

On April 17, local attorney E. Ray McKee, Jr., announced his candidacy for the 2008 election to the House of Representatives Fifth District, a seat currently held by Cramer (D-Ala.). McKee, a Republican, holds a Ph.D in electrical engineering and is recently retired from the U.S. Government. His main platform is the enactment of the Fair Tax Bill into law.

In 2006 Cramer ran unopposed.

I’m going to try to exercise a bit of restraint and not immediately endorse Dr. McKee, but his strong support of the FairTax makes it hard.  I called his office as soon as I read the article, but he had left for the day and will call me back Monday his receptionist assured me.  I’m going to try to schedule a time to sit down with McKee and find out about the rest of his platform.

I’m not eager to see Cramer replaced.  He is a very moderate, fiscally responsible Democrat.  He isn’t a grandstanding media whore like some politicians.  But his persistent refusal to cosponsor the FairTax Bill despite strong support from within his district bothers me.  I’ve traversed the fifth district, from Florence to Scottsboro and in between, and found that there are lots of people who already like the FairTax and many who like it once they learn about it.

Cramer’s staff has been responsive and polite and I was even able to meet with his District Director and D.C. Legislative Director to discuss the bill.  I’ve talked to numerous others who have called, faxed, and emailed his office requesting that he sign on as a cosponsor.  He has not done so.

Certainly anyone who opposes Cramer faces an uphill battle.  Cramer sits on a $1.7 million war chest and hasn’t been really threatened for his seat since 1994 when he only received 50% of the votes.  Since then he has enjoyed comfortable margins of victory.

More to come after I talk with McKee…

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This entry was posted by Brian on Friday, April 20th, 2007 at 8:08 pm and is filed under Rep. Cramer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.