Supreme Court Candidates Turn Personal

Associated Press
Published: October 7, 2008

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The race for the state Supreme Court is turning personal.

Republican Greg Shaw is calling for an apology from his Democratic opponent, Deborah Bell Paseur.

Paseur is running an ad that says she is the only candidate not backed by oil companies. Shaw says the ad wrongly implies he can be bought.

Paseur’s campaign spokeswoman says the ad focuses on Paseur’s record. But she says Shaw has received contributions from political action committees run by an Exxon Mobil lobbyist.

Paseur is upset about phone calls voters have been receiving that say Paseur got an “F” rating by the Alabama State Bar. A State Bar spokesman says the phone calls are not true because the State Bar does not rate candidates. A spokesman for Shaw says his campaign doesn’t know about the calls and had no involvement.