The former vice-chair's win represented a victory for vice-chair for minority affairs Joe Reed, who lost a power struggle in the party in 2019.
BIRMINGHAM -- These three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and conflict at meetings of the Alabama Democratic Party.
The party elected Huntsville minister and former Alabama Democratic Party vice-chair Randy Kelley the party chair on Saturday after a long and contentious meeting that shows the wounds from an internal party battle in 2019 remained fresh.
"I personally know we are more in line with what Jesus stood for," Kelley said after being elected on Saturday afternoon. "He was the least of these, in opposition to the most wealthy of these."
Kelley's win represented a win for Joe Reed, the vice-chair for minority affairs and a longtime power among Alabama Democrats, who lost a battle over the governance of the party in 2019 and supported a lawsuit to reverse the outcome.
But Reed's victory didn't come until four often tense hours that often included shouting between different party members and one threatened walkout by Reed. Rep. Chris England of Tuscaloosa, the chair of the party before Kelley's election, called a recess in the middle of the afternoon due to a need to recalculate the number of voting delegates from the party's youth caucus. Before the counting concluded, Reed, speaking at a microphone, accused the party leadership of trying to manufacture votes.
"We win every vote," Reed said. "We came here to win every vote. And we are."
England said "there is no plot, there is no conspiracy," and said party officials were trying to get the count correct. Reed said he "spent four full years trying to get this thing back," and threatened to walk out.
"If you go out, you're not going to have it no more," England told him.
Reed got as far as a rope dividing voting delegates from nonvoting delegates, but returned to his seat on the floor after some urging from allies. The party ultimately seated 41 members of the youth caucus.
Kelley managed to get 104 votes out of 202 cast. Josh Coleman, the president of Alabama Young Democrats, received 56 votes. Tabitha Isner, the 2018 Democratic nominee for the 2nd congressional district, finished third. Isner was later elected vice-chair of the party.
The Democratic Party, once dominant in the state, has struggled outside of Alabama's cities and the Black Belt since 2010.
The new chair said he would "analyze" the races where he thinks Democrats can do best.
"We've got to do a better job organizing in our communities," said Kelley, 70. "And we've got to do a better job in fundraising ... we're too much in silos. We can do a whole lot in a collaborative way."
In 2018, a faction of the party loyal to Reed prevailed in elections for party leadership. A faction aligned with Jones protested the vote, saying some people who voted for Reed lacked the qualifications to do so.
The DNC ordered the state party to overhaul its bylaws and hold new elections, but then-chairwoman Nancy Worley, an ally of Reed's, declined to do so, accusing the national party of sending contradictory information. After back and forth, the DNC stripped Worley and Kelley, then vice-chair of the party, of their credentials and recognized the Jones group as the governing body of the party.
The group removed Worley and Kelley, then vice-chair of the party, in 2019, and elected England, an ally of Jones, as party leader. The bylaws also created new caucuses for Hispanics; Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; Native Americans; LGBT individuals; individuals with disabilities, and youth.
From 2019:Christopher England elected new Alabama Democratic Party chair
Jones was present at Saturday's meeting but did not formally participate in the proceedings.
Reed has sued to overturn the new bylaws, arguing they violate a consent agreement on minority representation approved in 1991, litigation that to this point has been unsuccessful.
At a meeting of the party's minority caucus on Saturday morning, Reed urged delegates to vote for Kelley, and said he wanted to get "new bylaws" up before the party.
"We’re going to have a little fight this evening," he said. "It’s going to be about these new bylaws."
Alabama party by-laws require amendments to the party rules to be filed at least 12 hours ahead of a called meeting of the party. Reed said at the caucus meeting that he had turned new rules before the meeting.
The party had not voted on any proposed rules as of early Saturday evening.
Kelley said he believed the 2019 bylaws were "deliberately constructed in order to dilute the power of the Black caucus," and suggested after the vote that the delay in the youth caucus count was deliberate. He declined to discuss how Reed's proposed bylaws would affect the diversity caucuses, though he said he did not think they would eliminate them.
Prior to Reed's remarks, England appeared before the Minority Caucus and apologized for what he called "disrespectful and inappropriate behavior" at the 2018 organizational meeting of the party.
"I’m not going to lie to you, I believe what I did was necessary," England said. "But I do know that the way I did it was wrong. I owed to y’all, especially over the last few years, to have conversations, to talk to you, to include you. I failed at that. I’m going to acknowledge that, and I apologize."
Kelley said he hoped to heal bad feelings from the divide by giving opponents in Saturday's race party positions.
The party is not expected to be competitive in statewide races in November. Democrats have a chance of flipping a Montgomery state House seat, and could be competitive in legislative contests in and around Huntsville. But the party is not likely to break Republican supermajorities in the Legislature in November.
The Alabama Democrats had $25,245 in state funds on July 31, according to a campaign finance filing with the Alabama Secretary of State's office. The party had $177,390 in a federal account on June 30, according to the Federal Election Commission. By contrast, the Alabama Republican Party had $893,44.82 in a state account on July 31 and about $466,000 in a federal account on June 30.
The party also nominated Monica Arrington to replace Sebrina Martin as the Democratic nominee for Montgomery family court judge. The party vacated Martin's nomination in July "incomplete, misleading and false" statements on a campaign finance form.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Brian Lyman at 334-240-0185 or blyman@gannett.com.