Patricia Todd knows she's a long-shot, at best, to be the speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives. She'd probably needs a miracle.

But her sales pitch is perfect for a browbeaten Alabama that's been slogging from one bum headline to another for most of the past year. "Finally, we would get some good national press," she said.

So perhaps the unthinkable is worth thinking about.

The 60-year-old Todd is the only openly gay politician to ever get elected to the Legislature in this deep red state filled with evangelical voters whose religious convictions cause many to frown upon her lifestyle.

"I wouldn't bet my house on this," Todd said, acknowledging her slim chances. "But you don't get anywhere if you don't try."

She's the only Democrat and woman to toss her name in the hat for a job that has a host of Republicans - all men, and all white - jockeying for control. The position opened up after a jury, on June 10, convicted then-Speaker Mike Hubbard on 12 felony counts of corruption.

"I'm offering an alternative," said Todd, whose District 54 sprawls ranges through downtown Birmingham. "I'm doing this because I think I would be an effective speaker. I've been here for 10 years. I'm well-respected among all of our peers. I stand for integrity and I'm not beholden to any special interest group."

She added, "I advocate for the LBGT community because I am one."

'Interesting time'

The LGBT community in Alabama - lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender -- views Todd in heroic terms. Her rise to House speaker, they claim, would spotlight issues that they support but which often stall in the Republican supermajorities of the Alabama House and Senate.

"Let's pray Patricia becomes speaker of the House," said James Robinson, executive director of the Free2Be resource center in Huntsville. "It would be amazing."

Todd's interest in the job also comes as the LGBT community in Alabama becomes emboldened stand up for itself after Omar Mateen's June 12 massacre an Orlando gay bar. It also comes after the state's high-profile struggle in accepting last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage.

Chief Justice Roy Moore, who became the national face of Alabama's resistance, suspended May 6 by a state judiciary panel for interfering with the federal court's decision.

"It's really an interesting time between gaining marriage equality, Roy Moore temporarily removed from the judicial branch and this Orlando thing," Todd said. "People have become very aware of the LGBT community. And while we've had great successes, it does motivate hate, and hate crimes, against us."

In the Legislature, Todd seeks to add language to the state's hate crime law defining specific protection toward the LGBT community. She believes that Mateen's Orlando savagery bolsters her efforts.

Previous LGBT hate crime bills that Todd has introduced have stalled.

"What I hear from my Republican peers is that all victims need to be treated the same and that victims are victims," she said. "At the same time, they've passed bills which I've supported that give enhanced penalties if it's a child or a teacher. It's hypocrisy to me."

She added, "Anyone who witnessed what happened with Orlando can understand why my community is the target of any hate. He intentionally picked a gay bar. It wasn't just a random thing."

'Broken ground'

Todd said there is more to her leadership skills than pushing for LGBT rights even if her career trajectory leans heavy toward the issue.

She has a master's degree in public administration with a focus on public policy from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has served as past chairs for AIDS Alabama, Birmingham AIDS Outreach and the Human Rights Campaign.

Todd still serves as a consultant for HRC, but had to relinquish her title as director last year. Concerns surfaced about her role guiding the nonprofit group that advocates on behalf of the LGBT community while she was also sponsoring bills on gay rights as an elected public servant since 2006.

Todd said she would focus on "good governance," has no intention of promising lawmakers committee assignments or chairmanships, and would give Democrats and Republicans equal shots at claiming the leadership posts.

And, she suggested, both political parties need to start sitting down to lunch together again.

"Why don't we have lunch together and educate ourselves about issues and have a public discourse?" Todd said.

Nancy Worley, chairwoman of the Alabama Democratic Party, said that House members might find Todd to be a "compromise candidate" if the Republicans lock horns about the next speaker.

"I would never count anything out that Patricia sets as a goal," Worley said. "The one thing you can say about Patricia is she always takes the issues very seriously and gives them a great amount of though and represents her constituency very well."

Worley noted that long shots have been Todd's specialty from the very first. As a white woman, she first won election to her House seat in 2006 in a district that is majority black. She has been re-elected twice.

"Patricia has broken a lot of ground, I think, in state politics," Worley said.

'Second look'

Nonetheless, if House members were to elevate Todd to speaker, it could be likely rank as the biggest political upset in state history.

Said Rep. Victor Gaston, R-Mobile, who is currently serving as acting speaker and who is weighing a possible run for the permanent job: "It would be difficult for a Democrat to be elected."

Steve Flowers, a former House member who is now a political commentator and author of "Of Goats and Governors: Six Decades of Colorful Alabama Political Stories," said even if a Democrat became speaker - an unlikely scenario, he noted, given that there are 72 Republicans to 33 Democrats in the House - it would go to a "more moderate" lawmaker such as Rep. Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, or someone with more longevity such as Rep. James Buskey, D-Mobile.

"She's well-respected even though she comes from a liberal point of view and she's liberal by all standards," Flowers said. "I think even though people don't agree with her philosophically, I grasp that they have respect for her to being trustworthy and honest."

Todd disputes any labeling that she's a liberal and calls herself a fiscal conservative. She said she demands "every state agency" and "economic development program" to produce proof of its performance before taxpayers' money is made available to them.

"Being gay is only one part of who I am," she said. "It doesn't define me as a policy-maker."

But the identity is what stands out, and national networks would flock to the story if Todd is chosen over the Republican candidates by the Republican-controlled chamber.

"It sure would make half the country take a second look at Alabama," said Flowers. "They'd be saying, 'Is this the Alabama we know?'"