She was the first female Chief Justice on the Alabama Supreme Court, and a little over a year from now, Sue Bell Cobb could be just the second female elected governor in Alabama history.
Cobb, one of the state’s most distinguished judges, announced her entrance into the 2018 gubernatorial race on Wednesday, June 14, but the decision was no shocker to those that know her.
“I’ve traveled all around the state and I’ve had many, many people, both Democrats and Republicans, tell me that I should run for governor,” Cobb said. “That is very humbling to me and it’s a responsibility that I don’t take lightly.”
Cobb, a Democrat, says Republican executives and lawmakers have tarnished the state’s reputation and it is time for the voters to shake things up.
“Now is the perfect time for a Democrat to run,” she said. “At the top we’ve had a Republican governor involved in scandal resign and a Republican Speaker of the House go to prison. The people of Alabama are tired of being embarrassed by the people that are supposed to represent and serve them.”
“The Republicans hold nearly every major elected office in this state. We’ve lost the balance that is needed when it comes to debating the issues, and Democrats can bring back that balance.”
For those unfamiliar with Cobb’s life, it could be one described as devoted to the law and to the justice system. For 30 years, Cobb served in Alabama’s courts and was eventually voted to serve on the highest court in the state, the Alabama Supreme Court, from 2007 until her resignation in 2011.
Although she no longer serves in the courts, her passion for the judiciary system and the role it plays in society has not wavered. Since stepping down from the Alabama Supreme Court, Cobb has been a vocal advocate of change in the judicial election system.
In 2015, she penned an op-ed in Politico detailing her disgust and displeasure with the money and partisanship involved in judicial elections.
"I felt trapped," she wrote. "I had made it to the top of my profession. I was the chief justice of Alabama, the first woman to head the state Supreme Court. It was, for a lawyer like myself, the pinnacle of achievement. And I’d earned it the hard way. To get to the justice’s chambers, I had won the nation’s most expensive judicial race that year. But at what cost?"
Cobb, in her interview with the Franklin Free Press, also said that prison and sentencing reform is a major concern. Currently, Alabama prisons are at around 180 percent of capacity.
“As a judge, I wanted to work towards comprehensive sentencing reform,” she said.
During Cobb’s tenure as Chief Justice, she established Chief Justice’s Public Safety and Sentencing Reform Task Force, which was co-chaired by Republican Senator Del Marsh. This task force brought forth sentencing reform legislation but could not get enough support for anything to be passed.
“I was very disappointed that we couldn’t get anything passed,” Cobb said. “We’d have removed a number of non-violent drug offenders and significantly reduced our prison population.”
“Prison and sentencing reform is definitely something that is a bipartisan issue. It’s something Democrats and Republicans can work together on to fix. Making the justice system better, making the court system better; that makes us safer and helps people live in peace,” she added.
Health care is also a big issue for Cobb, who is worried about the future of rural community hospitals.
“Sixty-five percent of our community hospitals are operating in the red,” she said. “That’s extremely concerning to me. I’m from Evergreen and I know the importance of community hospitals. The thought of losing 30-50 percent of rural community hospitals is harrowing.”
The health care issue also ties in to Cobb’s passion for child advocacy.
“One of the things I’ve been most involved in and passionate about during my career and during my life is child advocacy,” said Cobb, who helped to found the Children First Foundation. “If we care about our children in Alabama, we cannot be cutting Medicaid.”
Seventy-one percent of Medicaid recipients in Alabama are children, according to the Medical Association of the State of Alabama.
In her interview with the Free Press, Cobb also discussed her thoughts on education. Cobb is a proponent of public schools and is an advocate of vocational and career technical education programs.
“I do not believe the state of Alabama should be funding private schools,” she said. “I think it hurts public schools and we need to be appropriately funding public schools.”
Cobb believes more emphasis should be placed on career technical programs, which give students a choice other than attending a college or university.
“College isn’t for everybody, and some kids just don’t want to go to college,” she said. “We should be asking students in high school if they want to go to college, and if they say no, we should be asking if they want to learn a skill that will get them a job and make them money when they graduate. I believe the answer to that would probably be yes.”
Putting more emphasis on non-traditional forms of education will lead to a greater, more diverse and highly trained workforce, Cobb said.
Closing her pitch, Cobb said she announced her run after much thought and was honored by those who offered their support.
As governor, Cobb says Alabamians could expect more transparency and honesty from her administration.
“I really want to see more citizen involvement, but the people can’t get involved if they’re left in the dark and don’t know what is going on,” she said.
The final question posed to Cobb was about honesty and integrity. Every politician claims to possess those qualities, but lately Alabamians have seen that that isn’t always the case. Cobb made a case for why Alabamians should trust her.
“I’ve been in public life a long time, but as a judge, and as a judge I’ve always applied a higher standard to myself than I have other people,” she said. “I don’t believe the people in power are the ones who need protection. Government is for the people and as elected officials that is who should be served.”
“I can tell you that there are no skeletons in my closet,” she added. “Real honesty is when your words match the things that you do, and my words have always matched my actions. That’s what I’m most proud of.”
Sue Bell Cobb’s campaign website is suebellcobb2018.com. The 2018 Alabama gubernatorial election primaries will be June 5, 2018 with the general election on November 6, 2018.
