Joe Reed: Alabama Democratic Party dispute could go to federal court

Brian Lyman | Montgomery Advertiser

A longtime leader in the Alabama Democratic Party suggested Thursday that Democrats loyal to former chairwoman Nancy Worley could take the case to federal court.

Joe Reed, the chair of the Alabama Democratic Conference and vice-chair for minority affairs in the state party, said he believed the State Democratic Executive Committee's (SDEC) move in November to elect new leadership and remove Worley and vice-chair Randy Kelly violated a 1991 agreement governing the representation of African-Americans on the SDEC.

"I think it's time for us to go into federal court, because they're violating a federal court order," he said.

Reed made the comments after a hearing Thursday in a lawsuit before Montgomery Circuit Court Judge Greg Griffin. Worley is suing members of the SDEC loyal to new chair Christopher England, a state representative from Tuscaloosa, over the leadership of the party. Griffin decided not to act on that motion on Thursday, citing the presence of an earlier appeal in the Alabama Supreme Court. The judge also suggested the parties work toward mediation.

"Let’s say the Alabama Supreme Court does not rule timely," he said. "It might be in your best interests to sit down and work this feud out."

Reed and his allies brought suit against the Alabama Democratic Party in 1989 after the SDEC voted to eliminate appointed seats on the committee, including 23 that had been picked by the Alabama Democratic Conference. At first, the party planned to make seats reflective of the African-American presence in the total population. Officials later changed it to reflect the presence of African-American voters within the Democratic electorate.

The decree, issued by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, effectively acknowledged the interparty changes. New bylaws adopted by the party at an Oct. 5 SDEC meeting kept the language in place. SDEC elections carried out on Nov. 2 resulted in a body that was 64% African-American.

"I don’t think there’s anything to enforce in federal court," said Barry Ragsdale, a Birmingham attorney representing the defendants in the lawsuit. "I’d be disappointed if they resort to another lawsuit, but they would have to prove the same DNC bylaws every state in the country follow somehow violate the Voting Rights Act."

Reed, who is not a party to the lawsuit, also repeated earlier criticisms of the other faction, calling members "Dixiecrats" -- an allusion to segregationist Democratic politicians from the mid-20th century and accused Democratic U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, who supported England's candidacy, of trying to divide the party.

"I don't believe Doug Jones himself is a Dixiecrat," Reed said. "I said he is surrounding himself, he is collaborating with them, I do believe that, yes. But I don't believe Doug Jones is himself one."

Reed defined a Dixiecrat as "those folks who are mad because blacks are a majority in the Democratic Party in Alabama."

Jones' campaign declined comment on Thursday.

Reed did not say if the Alabama Democratic Conference would employ get-out-the-vote efforts for Jones next year, saying that was a matter for the full ADC to decide.

The Democratic Party once dominated Alabama politics, but Democrats have lost three straight state elections. With the exception of Jones' win in 2017, Republicans have won every statewide contest since 2008, and have steadily advanced in the Alabama Legislature, which holds most of the power in state government.

Critics in in the party accused Worley of not providing adequate support for state and local candidates and allowing the party to wither at the local level. Worley said her hands were tied by debt that made it difficult to make those investments.

The year has been marked by internal and external fights for the state party. In February, the DNC ordered the party to hold new leadership elections, ruling that some members of the SDEC who voted in an August 2018 election lacked the credentials to do so. The DNC also ordered the state party to revise its bylaws to provide for better representation of Hispanics, Asians and Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, youth, LGBTQ+ individuals and those with disabilities.

Worley and the DNC fought for months over the implementation of those orders. The DNC accused Worley of dragging her feet on deadlines and sending back proposals that were nonresponsive. Worley accused the DNC of of sending confusing or contradictory directions.

In August, the DNC's credentials committee stripped Worley and vice-chair Randy Kelly of their national credentials, and soon thereafter set an Oct. 5 deadline to ratify new bylaws and begin the election process. When Worley set an Oct. 12 meeting, members of the SDEC allied with Sen. Jones got a majority of SDEC members to call an Oct. 5 meeting, where new bylaws were ratified and elections set. The group organized a second meeting on Nov. 2, which elected England the new party chair.

More: Christopher England elected new Alabama Democratic Party chair

More: Democrats loyal to Nancy Worley promise to continue battle over state party

Worley and her allies refuse to recognize the actions of the England group, and have submitted their own bylaws and held their own elections on Nov. 16. The DNC says it will not recognize Worley as party chair.

Defendants in Worley's suit moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the state court had no jurisdiction in the case. At the hearing before Griffin on Thursday, Ragsdale argued that Griffin did have the right to dismiss the case, regardless of the appeal pending before the Alabama Supreme Court.

"I don’t believe I’m alone in this; I have no idea what the Supreme Court is going to do," he said. "We say you can rule on this motion right now."

Attorney Bobby Segall, arguing for Worley, disagreed.

"The court can’t decide anything when the issue is before the Alabama Supreme Court," he said.

Griffin sided with Worley on that motion. He did grant a motion to allow the Democratic National Committee to join the case.

Ragsdale said after the meeting that England's group had secured the party's building and its website, though finances remain frozen. The attorney also said that donations to the party had increased since England became chair, though he did not state a figure.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Brian Lyman at 334-240-0185 or blyman@gannett.com.