Four of the five judges are from Jefferson County, which is the largest county in the state and includes Birmingham. The fifth is from Montgomery County, where the state capitol is located. Additionally, former state Rep. Johnny Ford of Tuskegee, a rare black Republican in Alabama, is rejoining the Democratic Party after having switched to the GOP several years ago.

Jefferson County is a mixture of Democratic black-majority Birmingham and very Republican suburbs that surround it. The suburbs are the sort of place where you can still find W stickers and McCain/Palin stickers proudly displayed on bumpers.

Obama actually carried Jefferson County 52% to 47%, which was something of a surprise because even though Birmingham is black-majority it is outnumbered by the white suburbs.

So these judges switching is not as big of an earth-shaking event as if judges from Shelby or Baldwin County had switched, but it is a telling sign.

For more than 20 years the trend has been in the opposite direction -- local officials switching en masse to the GOP, following not just the voters but the fundraising prowess of the GOP. That is starting to change.

So join me in welcoming Judges Virginia Vinson, Dan King, Eric Fancher, Sheldon Watkins and William Shashy as Alabama's newest Democrats.