Thomas throws hat in ring for governor

Sam Thomas, a former University of North Alabama student, filed papers Thursday in a bid to become the Democratic candidate for Alabama's upcoming gubernatorial election.

The party primaries are slated for June 1, 2010, with the election scheduled for Nov. 2, 2010.

Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican, will be required to step down after his second term ends in 2010.

Thomas is the first potential candidate to file his campaign papers, said Rob Johnston, elections lawyer for the Alabama Secretary of State.

Thomas was a candidate in 2008's presidential election and holds an undergraduate degree in criminal justice from Washburn University in Michigan.

Born in Alabama, Thomas lived in Florence for three years, spent the majority of his adult life in Detroit, Mich., and moved to Huntsville three years ago.

Thomas is self-employed as an inventor and listed night vision contact lenses, suborbital floating missile drones and a "micro copy scope" that allows germs to be viewed on the Web as some of his inventions.

In his resume, Thomas listed 22 years of experience representing himself in a copyright infringement lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court. He said he expected $20 million from the case, which would help finance his campaign.

An official with the court said the docket case number would not be covered by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Thomas is also seeking $100 billion in damages for what he said was a false arrest for harassment, according to a letter addressed from him to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Initially, he had asked for $750 billion, an amount just shy of the recently passed national stimulus package.

Thomas said one of the first issues he would tackle would be reparation. He said he supported the House bill, the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act, that failed to pass in 2007.

Instead of the proposed 30 acres of land for each slavery descendent, Thomas said he would support giving an SUV to each person through corporate donations.

Other possible candidates have expressed interest in entering the race, but none have filed the required paperwork, said Johnston.

Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@TimesDaily.com