Peter Joffrion is the strongest challenger U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks has faced as he seeks re-election for the fourth time to the House of Representatives.

And it may not matter on election day.

Joffrion has raised more money than any of Brooks' three previous challengers. Joffrion has purchased more TV ad time than any of Brooks' three previous challengers. Joffrion has, in a more subjective assessment, better name identification than any of Brooks' three previous challengers.

And it may not matter on election day.

The race to represent Alabama's five northern-most counties that make up the 5th Congressional District will be finished two weeks from today on the night of Nov. 6.

And it may not matter that Joffrion has raised money (Brooks has raised more) or that Joffrion may be better known (Brooks is still even better known).

"It is a heavy lift," Joffrion said of defeating Brooks.

But perhaps unlike in years past, this may not necessarily be a landslide waiting to happen.

Joffrion declared his candidacy on June 1, 2017 - which translates into more than 17 months on the campaign trail by election day.

Joffrion has raised more than $499,000 for his campaign - which is more than twice as much as any Brooks' previous re-election challenger.

Joffrion spent 22 years as attorney for the city of Huntsville during a period of dramatic growth for the Rocket City - a position that comes with an inevitable public profile. The Joffrion name was already familiar in the Rocket City as Peter's father, Emile, was rector at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in downtown Huntsville for 29 years and the parish's four-story education building is named Joffrion Hall.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in August named Joffrion a "majority maker" - a distinction that gives the candidate validity in the eyes of national Democrats.

And, still, it may not matter.

"Certainly, he has had the most resources," Brooks said in comparing Joffrion to the congressman's previous re-election opponents. "The radical and socialist elements in America are highly motivated to promote their candidates of choice."

While the case for Joffrion, in comparison with past Brooks' opponents, may be intriguing, the case for Brooks makes obvious that "heavy lift," as Joffrion put it.

Brooks is the incumbent and incumbency in the House is a powerful tool on the campaign trail. In 2016, incumbents were re-elected to Congress in 97 percent of the races nationwide, according to

While Joffrion has raised almost $500,000 during the campaign, Brooks has $767,904 in cash on hand after expenditures while his opponent has only $123,918 as of Sept. 30, according to the latest Federal Election Commission campaign disclosures.

And according to Federal Communications Commission disclosures, Brooks is spending triple the amount of Joffrion on TV ads for the campaign's closing weeks.

While Alabama is a strong Republican-leaning state, the 5th Congressional District is an even stronger GOP lean. When President Trump carried the state with 62 percent of the vote in 2016, four of the five counties in the 5th District backed Trump with at least 71 percent of the vote and the president got 64 percent of the vote overall in the 5th District.

Brooks, meanwhile, outperformed even Trump in defeating Democrat Will Boyd with 67 percent of the vote in 2016.

Brooks has the endorsement of Trump, though the president has not tweeted such support as he has for other candidates.

"People really like the booming economy," Brooks said. "Perhaps one of the strongest economies we've had in Tennessee Valley history. They like my stances on border security. They are terrified of (House Democratic leaders) Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters and people of similar left-wing philosophy capturing the House of Representatives."

Brooks described his campaign as going "very well" and said he is focusing on telling voters about his record in Washington.

"That I support free enterprise over socialism, that my record is graded No. 1 out of 435 congressmen on border security by Numbers USA," he said. "That I have a strong record in support of the national security and NASA. And they can count on me to do what I will say I will do on public policy issues."

Brooks has also been a magnet to controversy - from his stances on illegal immigration to race relations. Most recently, he theorized that ocean levels were rising because of rocks falling into the water rather than the scientific theory that climate change was the instigator.

He also has shied away from public town hall events in recent years, a position perhaps only reinforced when his name was on a list of apparent targets found on James Hodgkinson after he was shot dead by Capitol Police following the Congressional baseball practice shooting last year.

Brooks also ignored calls to debate by Joffrion as well as Clayton Hinchman, whom Brooks easily defeated in the GOP primary in June.

Joffrion said he has not made his campaign a negative attack on Brooks - though the challenger has frequently criticized the congressman on a variety of issues from health care to campaign donations Brooks has received.

"I'm very concerned about the status of our education system and what education works for which demographic group," Joffrion said. "Not everybody wants to go to college or needs to. But they need to have some alternative, like a good vocational opportunity.

"And those are things that are not really being addressed right now. Mo is not doing his job. But I need to do my job once elected. So I need to have a message that resonates with people."

But will it matter?

Joffrion, for one, thinks that it will.

In perhaps a blatant seizure of Democratic karma, his campaign headquarters occupies the same space that Doug Jones worked from in Huntsville during his race for the U.S. Senate last year. And Joffrion is attempting to pull off a Jones-like stunning victory, albeit without the aid of a scandal-riddled opponent like Roy Moore.

North Alabama has traditionally supported Democrats, Joffrion pointed out. Most recently, Bud Cramer represented the district in Congress for 18 years before retiring in 2008. He was replaced by Parker Griffith, who was elected as a Democrat but eventually switched to the GOP and being defeated by Brooks in the 2010 primary.

"A well-funded Democratic in the 5th District should ordinarily receive close to 42 percent of the vote without having to really go to any extraordinary lengths," Joffrion said. "We know we are working for that 8 to 10 to 12 percent of the vote in the middle. And that's where we're trying to focus our energy. We don't have to flip every county. We just have to flip a few percentage points within each county."

No Brooks' opponent, however, has come close to that 42 percent threshold in the congressman's three re-election campaigns. Brooks has won re-election with an average of 69 percent of the vote.

"I focus more on my entire district," Brooks said. "I don't focus on, say, the vote in one neighborhood versus another neighborhood. I focus on the vote of the entire region I'm asked to represent."

Joffrion said his candidacy will draw strength from other Democrats on the ballot - such as Walt Maddox in the gubernatorial race and Joe Siegelman in the attorney general race. Though no Democrat holds statewide office beyond Jones after his upset of Moore last year, the party has candidates also running for lieutenant governor and chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Locally, political newcomer Amy Wasyluka is running for the District 2 Senate seat as a Democrat vacated by the retiring Bill Holtzclaw. Her opponent is former longtime state legislator Tom Butler.

"If you know Walt, he's very sharp," Joffrion said. "He is a wonderful candidate in my view. And Walt brings an energy to that race that it needs. He motivates people to get out the vote. But there is also a synergy created with multiple Democratic candidates being on the ballot in the same area. We help each other. Walt is helping me. I'm helping Walt. Amy Wasyluka is helping me and I'm helping Amy. We're better together. There is more energy as a whole."

Brooks - whose has stressed the possibility of Pelosi taking the leadership reins of the House if the Democrats win the majority - has made a campaign point to remind voters of that possibility. And, as perhaps would be expected, he puts no stock in Democratic candidates on Alabama ballots translating into making an impact on Republican candidates.

In particular, Brooks rejected the suggestion that Maddox is a strong opponent to Gov. Kay Ivey in the governor's race.

"Kay Ivey is going to blow the socks off Walt Maddox in the Tennessee Valley," Brooks said. "The governor's race being on the ballot is a big bonanza for every Republican running."

So does it matter?

As Joffrion said, it's a "heavy lift" for any candidate to defeat Brooks. And in 2018, he's the candidate that's taken that responsibility.

"He is a well-funded incumbent Republican in what is still a red state," Joffrion said. "It wasn't going to be easy for anyone. As hard as it is to say, it was probably going to take someone with name recognition in Madison County because it's the largest population base (in the district). So ultimately, not being able to find someone to do that, I chose to do that myself and step forward with the name recognition I had built up over almost 29 years in the city attorney's office. And a willingness to work to build that name recognition across the district.

"I know it is possible."