Gov. Kay Ivey: Re-election decision could come in the fall

Brian Lyman | Montgomery Advertiser

Show Caption Hide Caption The Alabama Governor's office: A user's guide It's a prestigious position, and people spend millions of dollars trying to get it. But once there, Alabama's governors find themselves weaker than they expected. How do they cope?

See you in September. Maybe.

Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday said she still hasn't made any decisions about seeking a term in her own right next year, and might not make a public announcement until the fall.

“I’m still trying to steady the ship and focus on governing,” Ivey said Tuesday morning, after signing a resolution establishing a state Juvenile Justice Task Force. “We still have time to make the decision.”

Ivey has left her future plans open to question since taking office in April, after Gov. Robert Bentley pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor campaign finance violations and resigned from office.

As she did Tuesday, Ivey has responded to questions about her re-election plans with comments that she is focusing on the tasks of governing. The governor has replaced most of Bentley’s cabinet and met with President Donald Trump on infrastructure issues.

Other members of her party aren’t hesitating to jump in. Seven Republicans have already established campaign committees for the office, including Agriculture and Industries Commissioner John McMillan; Public Service Commission President Twinkle Cavanaugh; Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Jefferson County Commissioner David Carrington and businessman Josh Jones. The candidates have already begun fundraising for the primaries in June of next year.

The governor didn’t say what factors she was weighing in considering a 2018 run.

“I am so focused on governing and trying to get things back started like they want to go and in the right direction,” she said. “There’s a lot about running this state. I’m just devoted to governing for awhile.”

Ivey — who entered office in the middle of the 2017 legislative session — hasn’t yet had the opportunity to outline a policy agenda. She may have a chance later this year, if a special session is required to consider matching state funds for any federal infrastructure program, or an expected federal court ruling on health care in the state’s overcrowded prison system.

Ivey also said little about any plans for a special session on infrastructure — which could revive talk of a gas tax — or prisons, saying she needed to see what decision would come forward.

“The important thing is Alabamians need to make these decisions, not the federal courts,” she said.

The governor said she hadn’t discussed possible changes to Medicaid — a foundation of health care in Alabama — with the president in a recent meeting, saying she was concerned about infrastructure. Ivey did say she told Trump in a sidebar she wanted to see the red snapper season extended.