by Glynn Wilson

Birmingham attorney Giles Perkins is considering a run for Attorney General of Alabama, according to reliable sources connected to the state Democratic Party. He and Montgomery attorney James Anderson are so far the two Democrats who have expressed an interest in taking on incumbent Troy King and announced Republican candidate Luther Strange, another Birmingham attorney, in the race to be Alabama’s top law enforcement officer.

When reached by telephone on Tuesday for confirmation, Perkins said he was thinking about jumping into the race.

“I’m looking at it,” he said. “But I’m a long way from making a decision.”

Mr. Perkins is a native Texan who married a young woman from Birmingham and moved here 17 years go after graduating from Washington and Lee University School of Law. He earned his undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University.

He was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in 1992 and practices law in the areas of governmental affairs, public finance and civil litigation, according to various Web profiles. He is the Founding Member of Birmingham Zoo, Inc., which orchestrated the privatization of the zoo in Mountain Brook, and he serves as President of Friends of the Railroad District.

Mr. Perkins has been involved in Alabama politics for some time, and has connections to former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, Rep. Artur Davis and Lt. Governor Jim Folsom Jr.

He served as Executive Director of the state Democratic Party from 1997 to 1999, and he is known as a successful fund-raiser who first backed North Carolina Senator John Edwards in the 2008 Democratic Party primary for president. He later switched his support to Barack Obama and hosted a fund raiser for him in Mountain Brook attended by Michelle Obama.

In the interview, Mr. Perkins said he was the son of a politically active mother who was known for her commitment to building communities while serving on the school board in Texas.

Most of his law practice has been in corporate law, he said, although he does have some litigation experience.

“I don’t know if I am going to do this (run for attorney general),” he said. “I’m looking at it. I’ve had some encouragement. But it’s something that needs to be studied carefully and thought about before making a decision.”

As for his chances and whether he can be competitive in the race, he would not comment directly on that. But some Democratic Party insiders who commented only on a condition of anonymity said he would raise money “dollar for dollar” with Luther Strange.

The only problems some see with his candidacy is that he tends to come off as a bit arrogant and he is not necessarily open to unconventional methods and the ideas of others, although other sources say he is more knowledgeable about modern technology and open to using the Internet and the Web than other candidates to date in Alabama politics.

Siegelman said via e-mail that Perkins is “a bright lawyer, smart, tough and knows politics and Alabama as well as anybody. He would make a good candidate and a great AG.”A

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Alabama Democratic Party, Alabama Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.