AL-Gov: Several Alabama Republicans are mulling a run to succeed disgraced Gov. Robert Bentley next year, and a new name is expressing interest. Mark Johnston, who has served for 26 years as the executive director of Camp McDowell, a large camp affiliated with the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, says he’s “decided to explore the possibility of running for Governor of Alabama in 2018.” Johnston did not say what party he belongs to, but it would be a big surprise if he ran as anything but a Republican.
Not many people win major office just after serving as the head of a large Christian camp, but Johnston does have one potential role model to look to. Oklahoma Republican James Lankford spent about 13 years as head of a large Baptist camp, and stepped down just before he ran for an open U.S. House seat in 2010. An early primary poll gave Lankford just 7 percent of the vote and prominent D.C. conservative groups backed another candidate, state Rep. Kevin Calvey, and few political observers took Lankford seriously. (Back when Daily Kos Elections was known as the Swing State Project, we also repeatedly called Lankford a Some Dude.) Even after Lankford earned endorsements from Mike Huckabee and ex-Rep. J.C. Watts, Lankford shocked us all when he not only made it to the primary runoff, he led the far-better funded Calvey 36-33, and brushed past two other state representatives.
At the time, Politico wrote that the fact that Lankford had never held political office helped him stand out in the crowded field. However, Lankford was also credited with running “an aggressive, grassroots-oriented effort that mobilized the local Christian community.” Calvey decisively outspent Lankford in the runoff, but Lankford won 65-35 to take the GOP nod for this safely red Oklahoma City seat. In 2014, when no one could mistake Lankford for a Some Dude, he still beat ex-state House Speaker T.W. Shannon by an unexpectedly wide 57-34 to win the GOP primary for an open Senate seat. Lankford’s background as a Christian camp director was credited with his blowout victory, with Roll Call writing afterwards that his “large network in the Baptist community that knows and respects the congressman” helped give a formidable voter-turnout system.
There’s no guarantee anything like this would happen if Johnston runs for governor in Alabama, but some of the ingredients may be there. And if Johnston can also use his camp credentials to portray himself as a political outsider, it could be a huge asset during an ugly time in Yellowhammer State politics. To start with, Gov. Bentley is currently facing a possible impeachment for allegedly using state resources to cover up an affair with a staffer.
Bentley recently appointed Luther Strange to the Senate even though as state attorney general, Strange’s office was investigating Bentley, a fact that Strange tried to cover up. Another powerful Republican, state House Speaker Mike Hubbard, was also recently sentenced to prison for illegally using his office to make money for his business. If Johnston can use his time as director of Camp McDowell to get his name out the same way Lankford did in Oklahoma, he also may be able to present himself as a compelling alternative to politics as usual.