Montgomery councilwoman files to take on Bright

Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha Roby (R) has stepped forward to challenge freshman Rep. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.) in 2010, and it looks like the primary field might be clearing for her.

Roby announced that she has filed for the race and gives Republicans a top recruit for the race. Bright is one of the top handful of targets on the Republicans’ radar thanks to the dark red nature of his district.

Alongside Roby’s announcement, state Rep. Jay Love (R) said he was more likely to run for reelection to his state House seat than seek the congressional seat, as he did in 2008 when he was the GOP nominee against Bright.

Love had previously indicated that he was looking hard at running against Bright again. He lost the race by fewer than 2,000 votes last year.

National Republicans praised Roby.

“Not only is Martha Roby an adept campaigner who has bridged party lines to be elected in Montgomery, she has a record of fiscal responsibility that Alabama voters are demanding from their elected leaders in Washington,” said a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, Paul Lindsay. “There is one very clear distinction between these two candidates before this race even starts – Martha Roby will never vote for Nancy Pelosi as Bobby Bright did on his first day of the job.”

-Aaron Blake