The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-04-02
By FRED H. G0RMLEY Montgomery Bureau, The AEe-Heraid, 221-2 First National haRk Building

for the democratic primary August 8 which came at midnight Saturday,
 At the last moment opposition de- veloped to Congressman William B, Bsnkhead of the Tenth district. Her ace E. Gibson, of Walker county, who opposed Mir. Bankhead four years ago. announced again.
 The other surprise was the an nouncement of l.. Il. Rrasseh, Of Montgomery. that ne had decided not to be a candidate for congressman of the Second district. This announce gan Prestwood. of Andalusia, who qualified during the day, in oprosi- ton to Judge. John R. Tyson.
 The ballot for the primary will he one of the longest in the history of Alabama In many counties it will be five feet long. Jefferson county proba bly, will furnish the longest bal lot because of the large number of candidates for the legislature and
 for membership in the state demo- cratic convention.
 Judge w. W. Brandon of Tuscaloosa whose public and political record may be found on many pages of Ala bama's history, and Col. Bibb Graves
 of Montgomery. also public figure | for many years, will enter the battle of the ballots for governor of Ala 1 bama. The time limit for the quali- fication of candidates for the demo l cratic primary August 8 ended ut midnight Saturday with no other en- tries for the governorship. Judge Branden's running mate will he Charles s. Mcdowell, of Eufaula. state senator. while Col. Graves paftner will be Berrien T. Phillips of Opelika, state senator.
 The campaign will be started al once. Judge Brandon has already perfected a state organization and Brandon clubs have been organized in many counties. He has been a potential candidate for governor since the democratic primary of 1918, He made his formal announcement two
 weeks ago and named the committee which vii handle all funds to be used in the promotion Of his political interests
 For many weeks it was thought Judge Brandon would receive the democratic nomination without oppo-
 sition. but Colonel Graves formally announced that he would be in the race on the eve of the meeting of the state democratic executive com
 mittee January F. Shortly after he
 made his statement Senator Phillips announced his candacy for lieuten- l ant governor. Senator McDowell had been a candidate since tho closing days of the special sessien of the leg islature of 1920. Up to that time Senator Mcdowell had been regarded as a candidate for governor, but with the declaration that it was Judge ! Brandon's time to be governor he l informed his friends that he would seek to be Judge Brandon's partner in the admin stration of the govern-
 ment during the four years, begin
 ming the middle of January, 1923.' Non-partisans frankly say that Judge Brandon begins the campaign
 with great advantage over his op- ponent and that this advantage Is ] great enough to put the full Bran
 don ticket into office. Even friends
 of Colonel Graves are of the opinion that if the election were held now Judge Brandon and Senator McDow r. el would receive the democratic nom mat tions by large maiorities. but they contend that conditions may change and probably will change. Anyway, | they intend to make the fight. Judge Brandan's Record. Judge Brandon has been an imper- tant figure in the states public and political life for many years. He is
 a veteran of the Spanish-Ameriean war. Later he became adjutant gen
 erai of the Alabama National Guard.
 Then he was elected state auditor, after which he became a candidate for probate judge of Tuscaloosa county. position to which he was l elected and, successively reelected, Wherever there Is a democrat in Ala bama Judge Brandon is known. He and Senator J. Thomas Heflin have been regarded as the party stand bys in political fights in the close districts. Judge Brandon has always complained for the election of the democratic ticket in the Seventh con gressional district, where the repub- licans have a large following and where the fight for congressman has
 been close. He has also used his voice in many other counties where
 the republicans have had appreclable ] strength.
 Colonel Graves has also been in l the forefront of the political battles for several years. He was adjutant general of the Alabama National Guard from 1907 to 1911 and then was brigadier general of the military i c~vanizatlen. He started his polit- ieal career as representative of
 
 ture. In 1914 Colonel Graves was elected chairman of the state dem ocratie executive committee at a time when all others on his ticket wen, down 10 defeat. He retired as chair man of the committee, organized the Ala ba ma cavalry regiment and as it's head, entered training in the World
 war. He was head of the organiza- ton until the end of the war, being
 made colonel of the regiment when it was converted into field artillery
 organization. He landed in France
 during the closing days of the war and would have gone into battle
 shortly had not the armistice been signed November II, 1918.
 Colonel Graves was urged to be-
 come a candidate for president of the
 public service commission in the
 campaign of 1920, but declined and informed his friends that he expect
 ed to enter the race for governor.
 Races for Court Places
 One of the eleventh hour surprises was the announcement of John Dem son, Birmingham attorney. as a csndi- date for one of the three positions on the court of appeals. It had been thor ght there would be no opposition to the three members of the court Judge Charles R. Bricken of Luverne, Ju6ge William H. Sanford of Mont gomery and Judge Henry P. Merritt of Tuskegee. Under the rules of the party there is no designation of posi- tioH and the three candidates who re- ceive the highest number of votes will be declared the nominees.
 No opposition developed to Lucien D. Gardner of Troy and Ormond som erville of Tuscaloosa, associate jus tices of the supreme court, who are candidates for full terms of six years. and they will receive the democratic m nai r a tinns for re= alectian uith haut z