Three days after the election Hooper held a press conference to drive home
the idea that the election was being stolen. He declared, "We have endured lies
in this campaign, but I'll be damned if I will accept outright thievery." The
recount stretched on... The race came down to a dispute over absentee ballots...
The matter wound up in court. "The last marching order we had from Karl," says a
former employee, "was 'Make sure you continue to talk this up. The only way
we're going to be successful is if the Alabama public continues to care about
it.'"

Initially, things looked grim for Hooper. A circuit-court judge ruled
that the absentee ballots should be counted, reasoning that voters' intent was
the issue, and that by merely signing them, those who had cast them had
"substantially complied" with the law. Hooper's lawyers appealed to a federal
court. By Thanksgiving his campaign believed he was ahead--but also believed
that the disputed absentee ballots, from heavily Democratic counties, would cost
him the election. The campaign went so far as to sue every probate judge,
circuit clerk, and sheriff in the state, alleging discrimination. Hooper
continued to hold rallies throughout it all. On his behalf the business
community bought ads in newspapers across the state that said, "They steal
elections they don't like." Public opinion began tilting toward him.

The recount stretched into the following year. On Inauguration Day both
candidates appeared for the ceremonies. By March the all-Democratic Alabama
Supreme Court had ordered that the absentee ballots be counted. By April the
matter was before the Eleventh Federal Circuit Court. The byzantine legal
maneuvering continued for months. In mid-October a federal appeals-court judge
finally ruled that the ballots could not be counted, and ordered the secretary
of state to certify Hooper as the winner.