State Rep. Daniel Boman, D-Sulligent, has yet to report raising a single dime in his bid for Congress, but this week he found a free way to get some public notice: Use Facebook to imply that your opponent is gay.

Boman has not reported any campaign contributions with the Federal Elections Commission. That compares to $1.2 million raised by U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, as of the end of last month.

Boman, an attorney, is the Democratic nominee seeking to unseat Aderholt, an eight-term incumbent. On Oct. 14, Boman posted the following

:

"Who would you vote for on November 6, 2012 between the following two candidates:

1) A republican who is a homosexual who has a voting record of voting AGAINST ALL homosexual legislation. Further, this particular homosexual congressman has ALL homosexuals working on his congressional staff

OR

2) A democrat who is a straight male, but has no voting record for or against homosexual legislation."

The post has caught some attention online and from local talk radio. Boman this morning insisted the post is hypothetical and does not refer to anyone in particular. "The people running my campaign posed a hypothetical question," he said. "The reason they posed the hypothetical question is we received phone calls about a congressman who may be homosexual."

Asked if he believed Adderholt is gay, Boman responded, "The only way to remove the hypothetical is to call and ask him."

U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville

Contacted for a response to Boman's tactics, Aderholt's campaign offered only this: "When someone is making a fool of himself, we hate to interrupt," said Aderholt campaign spokesman Brian Rell today.

Boman was elected to the state Legislature two years ago as a Republican.

in 2011, after breaking ranks with the Alabama GOP and opposing a bill that streamlined the process for firing school teachers.

Boman said he's not worried about being sued over his comments, in part, because Aderholt is a public figure.

Boman said being gay "absolutely" should disqualify a candidate for congress, but limited that to conservative candidates only. "The issue is hypocrisy, living one way and voting another. It has nothing to do with homosexuality, if that's your preference or not."

This is not the first time homosexuality has been an issue in the 4th District. During Aderholt's initial 1996 campaign, one ad against his Democratic opponent featured a waitress complaining that Aderholt's opponent would not stand up against "those homosexual rights groups."Aderholt said at the time he built that first campaign around traditional family values.

The Human Rights Campaign, which calls itself "the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans," scores Aderholt at 0 percent in terms of support for "sexual orientation and gender identity issues." That includes votes against items such as the 2009 repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." But that leaves Aderholt tied with every single Republican member of the House from Alabama.

When asked about where he stood, Boman answered: "I am a straight male Democrat, in that hypothetical I would align with number two."

Aderholt, who is married and has two children, has not faced a competitive Democratic opponent in a decade.

Bradley Davidson, director of the Alabama Democratic Party, said that Boman represents the party's best shot at picking up a GOP congressional seat in Alabama this year "based solely on the demographics of that district." Davidson declined to comment on Boman's Facebook post.

T.J. Maloney, executive director with the Alabama GOP, also declined to comment on Boman's online remarks.