Luther Strange

With speculation that Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) could run as a write-in Senate candidate in next month’s Alabama special election since Roy Moore (R) cannot be legally replaced, the Birmingham News reports”that may be unlawful as well.”

“In fact, a 2014 memorandum written by Luther Strange, who was the Alabama Attorney General at the time, states that a political candidate may only get ‘one opportunity to run for an elected position in any given year.’  In addition, ‘it prevents a candidate from having his or her name placed on a general election ballot as an independent in the same year he or she lost in the party primary.'”

“The memo deals specifically with the names printed on the ballot. It remains unclear if the law prohibits a write-in campaign for Strange.”

However, an official at the secretary of state’s office tells the Washington Post that  says Strange would still be eligible.

“Luther Strange’s tenure in the Senate is not even four months old, having been handed his Alabama seat by a scandal-plagued governor who resigned on the cusp of impeachment by lawmakers in Montgomery. But Republicans in Washington are going all out to rescue Strange in his campaign this year, treating him like a beloved Senate veteran,” Politico reports.

“The multimillion-dollar push in a state that Democrats have almost no chance of winning is intended to help Strange muscle through a crowded primary field that includes two bomb-throwing conservatives apt to cause Mitch McConnell some major headaches should they defeat the appointed senator.”