BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Legal Newsline) - Alabama's 2010 attorney general race now has a Democrat in the field.
Birmingham lawyer Giles Perkin announced Wednesday he is running for attorney general, joining Republicans Troy King, the current attorney general, and Luther Strange, The Associated Press reported.
Perkins is of The Perkins Group, which lists environmental law and corporate law among its areas of practice.
He is also a former executive director of the Alabama Democratic Party and earned his law degree from Washington & Lee in 1992.
Strange announced in May that he will seek the Republican nomination against King, who was appointed to the post in 2004, elected in 2006 and already announced he will run for re-election next year. Strange lost the lieutenant governor's election in 2006 by one percentage point.
Strange took a shot at King in his statement.
"Unfortunately, ethical lapses, impropriety and incompetence have plagued the office throughout the last five years," Strange said.
"The respect that the office earned under the leadership of our former attorneys general, Sen. Jeff Sessions and Judge Bill Pryor, has sadly declined. Alabamians can only restore integrity to the Office of Attorney General with a change in leadership."
King has recently made news for moving to dismiss lawsuits filed by five district attorneys who hired private counsel to represent the State in litigation, while also taking a hit when the state Supreme Court overturned more than $270 million in verdicts against pharmaceutical companies.
From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at jobrienwv@gmail.com.