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By PAUL DEMARCO | Guest Columnist

Well within one week, the race for Alabama Governor got real interesting.

First, there was the long anticipated announcement that Tim James, the son of former Gov. Fob James, was running.

Then Lindy Blanchard, Ambassador for former President Donald Trump who had been running for the United States Senate, switched campaigns to join the Gubernatorial election.

It had looked like Gov. Kay Ivey was going to effortlessly win a second term, but now the Republican Party Primary next May has gotten crowded.

Both new candidates in the Republican Primary will be well funded. James ran a previous race for Governor but fell short of making a run-off with eventual winner Robert Bentley. Yet, he has been on the campaign trail unofficially for months criticizing Ivey and flirting with running before this official announcement.

Blanchard has been on the trail hunting votes since last Spring to replace Sen. Richard Shelby. She comes to the race with her credentials of being hand-picked by Trump to serve in his administration.

And there is still time for others to get in before qualifying ends on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022.

Ivey has been popular since she took the state’s top executive back in 2017. She also vanquished very strong and credible opposition in her original election for a full term without even a run-off. Ivey has seemed to handle controversial issues without losing support, but James and Blanchard feel Ivey is vulnerable.

So get ready for a battle this spring to determine who will reside in the Governor’s Mansion for the next four years.

Paul DeMarco is a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives