For the next two weeks,
The Times
will be profiling the seven candidates for the District 5 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. All the stories will be available by April 14. Get all the latest election news on our
.
This week: Democratic candidates
Monday:
Tuesday:
Today: Steve Raby
Thursday:
Next week: Republican candidates
April 12:
April 13:
April 14:
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Steve Raby thought about running for Congress a couple of times before he actually did it.
This time, the timing was as good as it could get for him.
His two sons are off at college, and he said there's no other candidate besides himself (and the incumbent) who wouldn't need "on the job training, and that's essential for our district, given the fact that we just lost seats on the transportation committee and the committee that authorizes spending at NASA."
"The 5th District has benefited greatly from the federal government, and we need to make sure that continues," said Raby, 51. "I know how it works up there. And for years, I watched a man who didn't just talk about being bipartisan. He was one."
Raby, a Democrat who grew up on a farm in Harvest, was hired in 1983 as a legislative assistant for former longtime U.S. Sen. Howell Heflin, working on issues regarding the Democrat's seat on the Senate agriculture committee. The Madison County native had just completed his master's degree in economics at Auburn University.
Three years later, when Raby was just 28, he was named Heflin's chief of staff. He remained in that post until Heflin retired in 1997.
When he was a junior at Sparkman High School, he served as a page for longtime US. Sen. John Sparkman, a Democrat.
Age:
51
Birthplace:
Huntsville; grew up in Harvest
Now lives in:
Huntsville
Occupation:
Political consultant,
public relations
Education:
Sparkman High School;
attended Calhoun Community College;
bachelor's in agriculture economics
and master's in economics from
Auburn University
Experience:
Partner in Direct
Communications public relations
and consulting firm; former chief of
staff for longtime U.S. Sen. Howell
Heflin, a Democrat from Tuscumbia;
Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta in 1982
Family:
Wife, Denise; son Nathan is a
senior at University of Montevallo; son
Keenan is a freshman at Auburn University
Key issues:
Secure and maintain funding for
Constellation and other NASA programs;
improve infrastructure to keep the district
appealing for future BRAC decisions.
"I learned from watching Judge Heflin what an effective senator - or congressman - would do," said Raby, who married his high school sweetheart Denise in 1982. "He was very involved by what was happening in Washington, D.C., but he wasn't seduced by it. He called that 'Potomac Fever.'
"Washington is a place to work and make things happen, but your district is your home and what your focus should be."
Raby said he still has a farm in his hometown of Harvest, where he raises hay, wheat and cattle.
The political consultant said he learned how a person's politics could be separate from their relationships, "and you can disagree with someone without calling them names."
While working for Heflin, Raby was called on to look after Alabama's interests in BRAC decisions in 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1995.
"All of my work, including as a consultant, has been more behind-the-scenes stuff," Raby said.
Even so, his name seems to be brought up by Democrats any time there's a congressional vacancy. He was approached about running for the District 5 seat in 1991 when former U.S. Rep. Ronnie Flippo announced he was leaving the seat to run for governor.
"But (former Madison County District attorney) Bud Cramer was running, and I believed in Bud Cramer."
Cramer served as congressman through 2008. When he announced his retirement, Raby's name was brought up again.
"We had a son still in high school, and I needed to focus on my business," he said. "It just didn't feel like the right time for my family."
Democrat Parker Griffith was elected, but less than a year into his term, he switched political parties, and Raby was again asked to enter the race for congressman.
"Our district would be in better shape if our congressman had stayed focused on North Alabama issues and not gotten caught up in what's going on inside the beltway," he said. "I'm not a politician, but I don't need any on-the-job training.
"That's what distinguishes me. I'm the most qualified person out there. That's audacious, but it's true."