The Birmingham News provides a list of candidates in all national and state elections in Alabama, complete with a bio of each. It’s a heavy year in Alabama. A summary:

Federal races: Incumbent Richard Shelby is up for re-election to the US Senate, facing African-American Democrat Wayne Sowell. Sowell has made state history as the first African-American candidate nominated by a major party for Senate. Shelby is seeking his fourth term in the Senate; prior to that, he served for eight years in the US House of Representatives.

All seven US Congressional districts are up for election, and in only one race - Spencer Bachus in the 6th District - is there no challenger.

State races: Three positions on the State Supreme Court are up for election, and they look to be hard-fought. The races are partisan, and the Republicans have emphasized conservative values in their campaigns. A friend gave me a voting guide from the Christian Coalition with a list of their main issues along with the position of the candidates on those issues. All three of the Democrat candidates for office are listed as “no response” on the issues. One of the Republican candidates, Tom Parker, is listed as “decline” to respond, while the other two - Patti Smith and Michael Bolin - do give their responses. The issues highlighted by the Christian Coalition handout are:

Unborn child is a fellow human being
Oppose gambling
State can acknowledge God
Judicial activism is never appropriate
Judicial branch can impose taxes

That gives you a good idea of what’s on the minds of conservative religious voters in Alabama. I’m not sure that refusing to respond to those issues will hurt Democrats among those who are undecided between the candidates; if asked the Democrats would probably say it’s inappropriate for a judge to have official opinions on social issues. It’s a valid position and one that would resonate with voters. However, I’m sure the Democrats also recognize that openly taking some positions in Alabama would ensure their failure, and it’s best not to open that door even a little bit.

[UPDATE: 6:30 p.m. Monday - I just saw a television ad from one of the Democrat judge candidates. It mentioned his defense of “conservative” values, without mentioning specific issues. A strike back at the Christian Coalition flyer?]

There is one race for a position on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. The Democrat, Sharon Yates, is the incumbent, and she is challenged by Republican Tommy Bryan. The Christian Coalition has included this race on its flyer, with the same issues as for the State Supreme Court.

The race for president of the Alabama Public Service Commission is no race at all - Republican incumbent Jim Sullivan is running unopposed.

Four positions on the State Board of Education are up for election, but one incumbent - Republican Randy McKinney in District 1 - is unopposed. The other three - Districts 3, 5 and 7 - have candidates from both parties, two with Democrat incumbents and one with a Republican incumbent. The Christian Coalition includes two of these races - District 3 and 7 - in their flyer, asking the candidates to respond with their positions on the following issues:

Education choice for parents
Public schools teaching homosexuality as acceptable lifestyle
Increase property taxes
Prohibit abortion
Establishment of a state lottery

As with the judge candidates, the Democrats are both listed with a “no response”. And again, responding to the Christian Coalition is really no-win situation for them, and I’m assuming most voters realize that a “no response” isn’t a strong “I’m against what you’re for” answer. The Christian Coalition base in Alabama is not going to have a lot of overlap with the Democrat base in the state. Interestingly, only one of the state board races in the Christian Coalition flyer has a Democrat incumbent; they don’t list the other race with a Democrat incumbent. I’m curious as to why.