Part Two of The Limestone Lowdown’s look at one of Alabama’s more unusual State Senate races

In Part One, we showed you how Jesse Battles went from qualifying as a Republican candidate for Senate District 10, to being removed from ALGOP’s Republican primary ballot, to gathering thousands of signatures and returning to the November ballot as an independent.

Now, Election Day is less than a month away. On November 3rd, voters will choose between incumbent Republican Sen. Andrew Jones and Independent challenger Jesse Battles. So, we went back to the campaign finance records. And the financial difference between these two campaigns is hard to miss.

$751,372 vs. $67,102

According to campaign finance data currently available from Alabama FCPA filings, Jones has reported approximately:

$751,372 in cash contributions
$645,261 in expenditures

Battles has reported approximately:

$67,102 in cash contributions
$62,091 in expenditures

In other words, Jones has reported raising more than 11 times the cash contributions reported by Battles and spending more than 10 times as much.

Editor’s note: These figures reflect FCPA data available in early October 2026. September reporting remains partial, and totals may change as additional reports are filed.

Still, that’s a significant financial difference for a race involving one of only 35 seats in the Alabama Senate. So we started following the money.

Is It Coming From Outside Alabama?

Here’s where the records corrected one assumption we wanted to check. Despite the size of Jones’s campaign account, his identifiable contributions are overwhelmingly from Alabama. Approximately $686,705 of Jones’s geographically identifiable contributions are listed as coming from Alabama, compared with approximately $54,500 from outside the state, roughly 92.6 percent in-state. Battles’ identifiable fundraising is even more Alabama-centered, with approximately $64,351 in-state compared with $154 out-of-state.

So, when we get to reports of out-of-state political canvassers later, don’t confuse the two issues. The contribution records do not show this race being predominantly funded from outside Alabama.

Who Is Writing the Checks?

Jones’s contributors include numerous PACs and organizations. Among those identified in available campaign finance records are SV&B PAC at $30,000, Forge PAC at approximately $24,348, Pride PAC II at $20,000, Alabama Voice of Teachers for Education at $15,000, and several others at $10,000 each. PAC contributions are legal and common in Alabama politics. A contribution alone doesn’t establish why an organization supports a candidate or suggest anything improper. But campaign finance reports are public for a reason.

They show voters who is financially participating in an election.

Then Look at the Spending

One month in Jones’s reports particularly stands out: May 2026.

The available campaign finance data shows approximately $487,151 in expenditures during that month alone. By the end of August, the tracker showed cumulative Jones campaign spending of approximately $645,261.

By comparison, Battles’ total reported expenditures in the data we reviewed are approximately $62,091.

Again, campaigns exist to raise and spend money. A large campaign expenditure is not evidence of wrongdoing. But it does put the financial scale of this race into perspective.

One More Number for Context

There’s another public financial disclosure worth noting. Jones’s Statement of Economic Interests reports his combined household income in the $50,000 to $149,999 range. That is not campaign money, and the two shouldn’t be confused. Campaign contributions belong to the campaign, not the candidate personally.

But it does provide some context:

Jones reported household income between $50,000 and $149,999, while his campaign has reported approximately $751,372 in cash contributions and $645,261 in expenditures. Those numbers represent two completely different things.

But together, they illustrate just how much larger a political campaign can become than the personal finances of the person running it. And while reviewing those campaign expenditures, one vendor caught our attention: BullsEye Public Affairs. Jones’s campaign records show payments to the political consulting firm. There’s nothing unusual about a campaign hiring political consultants. But remember that name. We’ll come back to it.

Then the Mail Started Showing Up

Candidate campaign accounts aren’t necessarily the entire picture. District 10 voters have received political mail attacking Battles.

One declares:

“JESSE BATTLES CHECKS ALL THE DEMOCRAT BOXES.”

Another tells voters:

“IT’S TIME VOTERS KNOW THE TRUTH.”

But we were more interested in the small print. The disclaimer doesn’t identify the Jones campaign as paying for the mailers.

Instead, it identifies: Accountability and Transparency in Government

We have not established that the Jones campaign paid for these mailers. Outside political organizations can spend money attempting to influence elections separately from candidate campaigns.

Then We Looked at the Address

The disclaimer lists this address for Accountability and Transparency in Government:

1929 3rd Avenue North, Suite 600
Birmingham, Alabama 35203

That same suite is publicly listed as the Alabama office of Pepper & Odom Injury Lawyers.

We’re going to be very clear: A shared address does not establish that Pepper & Odom controls, funds or operates the political committee. It doesn’t establish that the firm paid for these mailers, and it doesn’t establish wrongdoing. But an address is something we can follow through public records.

Who funds Accountability and Transparency in Government? What other political spending has it reported? And how much is being spent to influence Senate District 10 outside the candidates’ own accounts? Those are questions we’re continuing to examine.

The address printed on the political mailer matches the publicly listed Alabama office address for Pepper & Odom. A matching address alone does not establish that the law firm controls or finances the political committee.

And Then There Are the Door Knockers

Residents have also posted publicly about political canvassers who they say told them they traveled to Alabama from other states, including California and Virginia. Former State Sen. Larry Means has publicly described encountering a canvasser in Attalla who, according to Means, said he lived in Virginia and planned to remain in the area through Election Day. Other social media reports have referenced American Opportunity PAC and an organization described as “Red Dog.”

But these are reports, and that distinction matters. We have not independently established who employed each canvasser, who paid for their travel or whether their activities were coordinated with either candidate. A social media post gives us something to investigate. It doesn’t give us a conclusion.

So What Do We Actually Know?

Less than a month before Election Day, the financial picture looks like this:

Jones: approximately $751,372 raised and $645,261 spent.

Battles: approximately $67,102 raised and $62,091 spent.

The identifiable contributions to both campaigns are overwhelmingly from Alabama. Separate political mail attacking Battles identifies Accountability and Transparency in Government, not Jones’s campaign, as the paying organization. And residents have reported out-of-state canvassers, although we haven’t independently established who hired or funded them. Those facts do not establish that Jones paid for the mailers, hired the reported canvassers or coordinated with the outside organizations discussed here.

But while following the money, we found ourselves right back where this series started.

Remember BullsEye?

Jones’s campaign records show payments to BullsEye Public Affairs. Again, a campaign hiring a political consulting firm isn’t unusual. But then we looked at who works there. And one name took us straight back to ALGOP. More specifically, back to the ALGOP Steering Committee involved in Jesse Battles’ Republican ballot challenge.

We have not found evidence that Jones paid anyone to remove Battles from the Republican ballot or that anyone associated with BullsEye influenced the outcome of that challenge. But there is an overlap in the public record. And that’s where we’re going next.

Coming Next: Part Three

The People Behind the Party: The Reed Phillips Connection

ALGOP Treasurer.

ALGOP Steering Committee.

BullsEye Public Affairs.

Andrew Jones campaign expenditures.

What connects them?

And, just as importantly, what doesn’t?

We’ll show you the records and let you decide what you think.