As Alabama struggles to overcome the international publicity of our state’s controversial new immigration law, there is one thing for which we can be thankful.

We did not elect Bill Johnson governor of the great state.

Johnson, a former director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs on Gov. Bob Riley’s watch, campaigned on family values as he sought the Republican nomination for governor in 2010. He was adamantly against gay marriage and pro- every conservative cause imaginable. He professes to be a conservative Christian.

Now, he’s made international headlines who secretly donated sperm to nine women while allegedly in New Zealand to help oversee the recovery from an earthquake. According to news reports, he specifically sought lesbian women who wished to give birth. According to news reports, there are already three women carrying his children and three more are waiting to find out if they are pregnant.

He told reporters he led the secret life because his wife was unable to give him children.

For all that his staunch “anti-“ positions would normally appeal to Alabama voters, in a field of several contenders for the Republican nomination, he wasn’t picked.

In light of this week’s allegations, we can be grateful for that.