Tuesday, Republican voters re-nominated all 15 GOP House incumbents who faced opposition without runoffs.
Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, and House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, released a statement on the vote of support for the House Republican Caucus.
“Since gaining control of the Legislature in 2010, House Republicans have worked hard to bring unprecedented accountability to Alabama’s budgeting process, create an economy that provides our citizens with new jobs and opportunities, and implement commonsense conservative reforms that streamline state government and force it to operate efficiently,” the leadership wrote. “At the same time, we have sought to preserve the religious freedoms and gun rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution, worked to protect unborn life, and fought to shield Alabama’s historic monuments from the out-of-control censorship of political correctness.”
“In Tuesday’s Republican primary election, all 15 of our House Republican incumbents with ballot opposition were successfully re-nominated for the seats they hold, which offers hard proof that the public approves of the work we are doing and the genuine accomplishments we are generating,” McCutcheon and Ledbetter said. “More work remains to be done, more reforms need to be implemented, and more efficiencies need to be put in place, but Tuesday’s results show that we are off to a strong and popular start. We are hopeful that November’s general election will see us not only preserve our House Republican majority, but also build upon it, as we work with Gov. Kay Ivey to give Alabama a state government that is as honest, hardworking, and conservative as the citizens it seeks to serve.”
Several state House incumbents were in extremely hard fought races.
The closest race was probably House District 45 where incumbent Dickie Drake, R-Leeds, fought off a hard challenge from former Shelby County Commissioner Ted Crockett. The New York Times and Alabama Media Group both wrongly called the race for Crockett. The Alabama Political Reporter held off reporting election results until all the returns were in because we thought it was too close to call.
Drake told APR that the Times called it before four boxes from Leeds were counted. Once those boxes were counted Drake had a 752 vote lead. According to the Secretary of State’s office, $263,189 has been spent in this race and there is still a general election battle ahead between Drake and Jennifer Grey.
In District 14 incumbent Tim Wadsworth, R-Arley, defeated challenger Richard “Bull” Corry (56 to 44 percent). $225,696.07 in money was raised in this race.
In District 22 incumbent Rep. Ritchie Whorton, R-Scottsboro, defeated Wayne Johnson (55 to 45 percent). $440,218.60 was raised in this race.
In District 31 incumbent Rep. Mike Holmes, R-Wetumpka, defeated challenge Dustin DeVaughn (53 to 47 percent). $226,296.65 was raised in this race.
In District 33 incumbent Rep. Ron Johnson, R-Sylacauga, defeated challenger Ben Robbins (52 to 48 percent). To this point the candidates reported having raised $231,796.94. Rep. Johnson still faces Democrat Christopher Scott Brewer in the general election. Brewer reports having raised $1130.14 (most of that in non-monetary contributions.
In House District 64 incumbent Harry Shiver, R-Stockton, defeated challenger Stephen Sexton (56 to 44 percent). The candidates to this point have raised $191,212.33. Shiver will face Democrat Amber Selman-Lynn in the fall general election. Selman-Lynn reports having $886 in cash on hand. Shiver reports $34,169.13 in cash on hand.
In each case the GOP incumbent outspent and out raised the challenger.
Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan said, “A vote for an Alabama Republican is a vote for fiscal responsibility, 2nd Amendment rights, tax cuts, strong border security, pro-life legislation, emphasis on our education system and a continued strong economy. These ARE the values that Alabama voters hold and want to see in our state.”
