Luther Strange is the candidate claiming to be the fresh face after being behind the scenes in campaigns of Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor in their successful runs for attorney general.

George Wallace Jr. is the son of the state’s most well known political figure and has been touting a platform of cutting taxes and doing something about illegal immigration.

Both have had no problem taking shots at each other in their bid to win the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.

Wallace has been critical of Strange’s role of a Washington lobbyist.

He claims that Montgomery is “infested with a lobbyist culture.”

Strange counters that he has lobbied in Washington, not Montgomery, and sees no conflict of interest despite the fact some of his clients lobby in both places.

“I feel my experience would actually help because of the contacts I’ve made in economic development,” Strange said.

Wallace wasn’t the only candidate critical of Strange’s position as a lobbyist. Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks was also critical and has since endorsed Wallace.

“I had the impression they were working together (during the campaign),” Strange said. “They were saying a lot of the same things. But I’m not really concerned about that. I’m more concerned with picking up the voters who voted for him.”

That could be critical in determining the outcome of the battle between the two men. Strange came close to winning without a runoff, claiming 48 percent of the vote to Wallace’s 33 percent.

Wallace downplays the notion of an uphill battle.

“He hit me with his best shot, and my knees didn’t even buckle,” Wallace said.

Wallace has been courting Democratic crossover votes to help him overcome the deficit.

Strange has been critical of Wallace’s ties to the Democratic Party. Wallace’s father was a member of the Democratic Party throughout his career. Wallace himself was first elected to office as a Democrat, drawing comparisons from Strange to former President Bill Clinton.

Strange has also been trying to tie his opponent to the state’s image of the past. Pointing out the elder Wallace’s stand at the school house door.

“We’re going to contrast it as the past versus the future,” said Strange, who said a contest between Wallace Jr. and Cullman resident Jim Folsom Jr. would bring back unflattering images of the state that includes the racial unrest that took center stage when Wallace’s father was governor.

Folsom faces the winner in the general election.