MONTGOMERY — Republican Supreme Court Justice Thomas Woodall gave a campaign contribution to the Democrat who is challenging incumbent GOP Justice Tom Parker in November.

“I did,” Woodall said Monday. “It was $5,000.”

Woodall contributed to Jefferson County Circuit Judge Mac Parsons, who is trying to unseat Parker in the Nov. 2 general election. The contribution made last week was reported by Doc’s Political Parlor, a blog that covers Alabama politics.

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Democratic Circuit Judge Mac Parsons of Jefferson County kicked off his campaign for the Alabama Supreme Court by saying Republican incumbent Tom Parker is lazy.

Parsons said Tuesday in Montgomery that Parker issued less than 5 percent of the decisions by the nine-member court last year and that was the fewest of any justice. Parsons said if someone asked him how to spell lazy, he would say, "P-A-R-K-E-R."

Parker responded by calling Parsons "a liberal Democratic judge" who believes the court system should be a factory for producing paperwork. Parker says using Parsons' logic, Iowa citizens should support their Supreme Court justices for legalizing same-sex marriage because the justices are producing lots of opinions.

Parsons and Parker face off in the general election Nov. 2.

The Associated Press

Robbie Yarbrough, who has been the chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Party since 2005, says he does not plan to seek a second term in the post when the county party meets tonight.

Yarbrough's decision means the county party will need to elect a new head to a four-year term.

Yarbrough said he planned to volunteer full-time in Mac Parsons' bid to replace Justice Tom Parker on the Alabama Supreme Court. Parsons, a Democrat, has been a Circuit Court judge in the Bessemer Cutoff.

"I figured I would do the most good between now and Nov. 2 getting rid of the laziest man in the Alabama judiciary," Yarbrough said.

Parker, who is seeking a second six-year term, has been criticized for taking the longest time among the nine justices to issue decisions and for issuing the fewest rulings on the court, even after other justices started to handle some of Parker's caseload.

Yarbrough is owner of Yarbrough Companies, which provides catering and offers concessions at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center and Legion Field, and does event planning including the Sloss Fright Furnace event for Halloween.