By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – State Auditor Beth Chapman says she decided to run for secretary of state because she likes to fix things. Chapman considers the office of Secretary of State Nancy Worley one of the biggest fixer-upper jobs in state government. Worley, while defending her record, accuses Chapman of often being a no-show at the Capitol and not even living in Montgomery as required by law. The Republican Chapman and Democrat Worley are both graduates of the University of Montevallo and have offices on the same first floor hallway at the Capitol. But that's about the only common ground they have found in what has turned into one of the most contentious races of the political season. Chapman says Worley has created chaos in the office that supervises elections and is custodian of much of the state's most important paperwork. Worley defends her record, saying she took over an office with poor discipline and made some enemies by making workers stay at their desks and by stripping office telephones of a button that she said allowed them to make their phone send out a busy signal whenever they did not want to answer it.