Herman Thomas drops bombshell
with bid to unseat Vivian Figures
Recently acquitted ex-judge hopes
to turn tables on incumbent state senator
By Chip Drago
Mobile Bay Times
If notoriety were votes, Herman Thomas would win election to the state Senate District 33 seat in a landslide.
That notoriety was gained over months and months of news coverage of lurid allegations and an investigation, ultimately leading to the ex-judge's three-week trial last fall on charges that he misused his position to paddle or whip inmates on their bare butts in a transaction where they obtained leniency and he got sexual gratification. A spanking good story it was and remains, but Thomas's candidacy is not the only story of the SD-33 campaign.
His judicial/legal career a moldering rubble and/or in high jeopardy, Thomas last week went on the political offensive, revealing that he hopes to bounce back from the scandal by winning election to the state Senate from District 33. The seat is now held by Vivian Davis Figures, who along with her son Akil, one of the purported victims of kinky justice on Thomas's docket, testified for the prosecution in Thomas's criminal trial just three months ago.
Once facing as many as 103 counts in an indictment alleging the sexual abuse of young inmates in his custody, Thomas was found not guilty.
In addition to the verdict of not guilty, Thomas would argue that his service to the community -- not only in public office, but on 40 or so volunteer civic and charitable boards -- will resonate with the voters of SD-33. The scandal and trial merely represent an unfair interruption in that career of service to the public, according to Thomas.
Thomas flatly denied revenge against Figures as a motivation for his campaign, saying he was "running for the people of District 33 and not
against anyone." Now and for
days to come, some are
doubting Thomas.
Some will see the the election
as a retrial. Just who was the
victim? Thomas, of some
racially-tinged courthouse intrigue, as his attorneys contend? Or Figures, her son and by extension all the other young miscreants whom the judge had over a barrel and, allegedly, over a desk?
One unorthodox school of thought, which hints strongly at what possibly would have been the campaign's dominant storyline had Thomas not entered the race, suggests that Thomas, far from sinking Figures, may in fact save her.
The sudden death in 1997 of her late husband Michael Figures, a legendary political force felled in his mid-40's by an embolism, thrust Vivian Davis Figures from a city council seat to a larger political stage where she has held a 13-year incumbency.
Even so and notwithstanding her quixotic and underfunded run in 2008 for U.S. Senate against U.S. Jeff Sessions, Figures' luster has dulled in some political circles over the passing years.
Her start as the District 1 city councilwoman replacing Irmatean Watson was auspicious. The young, attractive wife of a political power such as her husband formed a team that promised to deeply influence politics and government in Mobile for a generation.
But Figures' sudden death scrambled the story, removing a lead player from the production and perhaps advancing his widow ahead of political schedule.
At the very outset, her elevation to the senate seat carried recrimination. State Rep. James Buskey and others saw Buskey as the natural successor to Michael Figures as Mobile's African-American solon in Montgomery. The voters declared otherwise, Mrs. Figures besting Buskey in one of the more avidly contested political battles in the local black community's modern history. That political spat flares up occasionally, always lingering just beneath the surface, like a pesky rash.
But Figures' present political vulnerability, if any exists, may be attributable to a more recent political occurrence than resentment over rightful succession to the Senate seat in 1997. In the historic 2005 municipal elections when Sam Jones was elected as Mobile's first African-American mayor, rumors flew of Vivian Figures' support for Ann Bedsole's mayoral campaign and they have dogged Figures ever since.
Enter Victor Crawford, son of the late Mobile civil rights icon Vernon Crawford, longtime county computer software consultant and Jones' ally. Crawford has declared his intention to run for the SD-33 seat as well, a rookie political campaign that many seasoned politicos believe could only be born with Jones' blessing.
For better or worse, lots of TV, radio and print media exposure grants Thomas a big shadow. Add Figures' role in the drama and the low-key Crawford could get overlooked as voters lock in on Thomas/Figures: Who's been done wrong? Or Crawford could be the beneficiary of a pox-on-both-their-houses reaction to an ongoing Thomas/Figures rift.
Once again, MBT turns to its store of experts whose worthy opinions were facilitated with a promise of anonymity. What does Herman Thomas's comeback attempt mean for SD-33? Does the on-going story effect other races?
"Thomas announced too soon. His star will dim and the novelty will wear off. The electorate is paying attention and Herman’s inability to influence legislation is too glaring an issue to overcome. Emotions aside, Herman is tarnished. He will be outspent. That said, it's politics and anything can happen. I do not think his candidacy will have an impact on other races."
-- TES,
veteran local political observer
"Judge Thomas is going to get a verdict he doesn't like in this election. Folks get behind those curtains and they will vote what they really think about him and all of that mess. Black women especially and they vote at a higher rate than black men. It may not be that black women identify with Vivian so much as they sympathize with Linda (Thomas's wife) and don't want to reward Herman after he humiliated her."
-- PGD,
former officeholder
"(Thomas's) task will be difficult."
-- URF,
elected official
"Based on all that I have heard as of today and yesterday Thomas will have a difficult time in a race against the incumbent. I do not know that everyone I have heard expressing an opinion actually lives in the district.
His campaign will make it more difficult for (Mobile County District Attorney John) Tyson (editor's note: assuming Tyson runs and most signs point to his capitulation) if only because Thomas stays in the public eye as a reminder. It is my understanding that someone else is orchestrating this so-called political takeover and it is all about revenge."
-- OCB,
longtime Democratic official
"Who, pray tell, is conducting this orchestra?"
-- MBT,
lowly scribe
"Word is that it is Yvonne (Kennedy, state legislator who was forced from the presidency of Bishop State Community College in the course of a Tyson-led investigation of BSCC financial irregularities that led to several indictments, though no charges against Kennedy herself).
-- OCB
"If there's anything that HYT has shown us, it's that anything is possible. I think he makes the race prime for a third candidate to come in and take it. He and Sen. Figures will drag each other through the mud. If a third candidate can come in and stay on message and speak to the many issues facing District 33, they could at the very least force a runoff.
As far as other races go; the fact that there is a Republican (Rev. Walter Bracy, pastor of First Baptist Church of Prichard) in the race will have more effect than anything. Usually this seat is determined by the primary race. It may still be, but people will have to come out and vote in the general election that might not normally."
-- WCM,
former Democratic committeeman
"As strange as it may seem, Herman Thomas has a good chance (to win election) due to some community/political missteps by the incumbent. What I cannot tell yet is whether or not the past legal issues will overshadow his platform of which really needs to be sound and resonating. He will have some effect on the races simply because he is high profile right now and it is any ones guess at this juncture whether he can rally the necessary voting base off that profile."
-- ARS,
Prichard politico
"If a bunch (of SD-33 voters) are truly exercised about the prosecution, then Thomas could win."
-- DHF,
retired officeholder
"Talked to JBS about this, he said Thomas could win. But (a knowledgeable Montgomery insider) says no way. I thought Victor Crawford had a shot but he is a long way from getting any traction now. The key is if Victor will get a little fire in the belly. I like him but he needs to (be more) energetic."
-- IWP,
lobbyist
"I don't think he can win. He does not realize that people will be supportive to his face but in the privacy of the
election booth will vote their conscience. If I am wrong and he does win, then I think we will see less straight ticket voting. His win will make Walter Bracy's bid more viable. I don't see any affect on other primary races unless he decides to associate himself with (Democratic candidates for governor Artur) Davis or (Ron) Sparks. He would try to latch onto one of those campaigns to try to lend legitimacy to his own. I cannot see him being able to raise money from Dems but Reps have supported other Dem candidates in races they wanted to influence so he may get some under the table money there and from some Dem pockets that would like to make trouble for Figures.
All I've said will not apply if Figures does not mend fences torn because of her Ann Bedsole endorsement in 2005 and if she plays this as 'victim' versus a strong pol who runs on her record. The mending fences has to do with generating enthusiasm for her candidacy, not to prevent support for HYT."
-- GHL,
local officeholder
"I don't think Herman can win. The effects he will have on this race are several. One, he will increase the black turnout in District 33. He may cause Democrats to lose this seat if the Primary battle gets nasty. I think the end result will be the re-election of Vivian Figures and an opportunity for her to raise money, because of the competition. I consider this a bad decision by Herman."
-- ALG,
longtime area Democrat
"Waiting to see if and when Tyson, Kennedy et al will
qualify. That's all a part of it. Look at political type organizations that can produce voter turnout. This season of growing darkness and growing light will be a challenge to the Democratic Party, but it is not insurmountable. The Republican win in Massachusetts is an indication that perceived barriers are not insurmountable. That win is also
an indication that the Party can neither rest on its laurels nor take any voter for granted. The 1994-95 sweep, like the potential for 2010, is more an indicator of a brighter and more attuned electorate than an indicator of political affiliation, though the latter cannot be removed from this complicated equation.
Why do people turn out? For a host of reasons and they may be voting against something/someone more than for something/someone else.
My late mother-in-law was a wise person. She said, 'It's not what you say; It's how you fix your mouth when you say it.' Pundits call it 'spin.'
-- FPD,
longtime officeholder
