Here’s everything you need to know for this week in Alabama politics:
Election results
Alabama had its party primaries, usually the more competitive elections, on Tuesday for all seats in the Legislature, Congress, and any statewide position.
The races had a lot at stake for both parties.
For Democrats, it was a indication if a blue wave would come to Alabama, and if voters were still invigorated to come vote for Democratic candidates in a deep red state.
For Republicans, there were many major races with competitive primaries that almost certainly go Republican in November’s general election.
By the end, the ALGOP touted the huge number of people who voted for Republican candidates, and the Democrats pointed to the U.S. Senate primary elections in 2017 that showed similar voter turnout for their party.
Here are the results for the major statewide races broken down by party:
Republicans
- Governor: Kay Ivey won the nomination with 56 percent of the vote.
- Lieutenant Governor: A Runoff between state Rep. Will Ainsworth and PSC President Twinkle Cavanaugh.
- Attorney General: A Runoff between sitting Attorney General Steve Marshall and former Attorney General Troy King.
- Chief Justice: State Supreme Court Associate Justice Tom Parker won the nomination with just over 51 percent of the vote.
Democrats
- Governor: Walt Maddox won the nomination with 54 percent of the vote.
- Lieutenant Governor: Will Boyd ran uncontested and did not face an election on Tuesday.
- Attorney General: Joseph Siegelman won the nomination with 54 percent of the vote.
- Chief Justice: Bob Vance, a judge from Jefferson County, ran for the office uncontested and did not face election on Tuesday.
The 2nd Congressional District was also a heated race on the GOP side. After two hours, the race entered runoff territory. Before midnight on Wednesday, the race was called a runoff between former Congressman Bobby Bright and sitting Congresswoman Martha Roby.
Roby seemed confidant that she can defeat Bright in the July runoff, but the runoff will most likely be plagued with low voter turnout, which creates an opportunity for Bright to invigorate voters.
Henry indicted in pill mill scheme
State Rep. Ed Henry speaks at a press conference outside of the State House. (Samuel Mattison/APR)
Hartselle Rep. Ed Henry, who built his reputation on critiquing corrupt politicians, was arrested and charged with heath care fraud on Thursday.
In a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the office said that a health care company owned by Henry worked with a Montgomery physician to refer Medicare patients in exchange for unlawful kickbacks from the doctor.
Henry pled not guilty at his arraignment on Thursday afternoon, and released a statement through Facebook explaining that he was innocent.
In the post, Henry said he helped “chronically ill patients and saved the taxpayers’ money” with his company, and the representative said that he’s “always been as open and transparent as possible.”
Henry’s indictment is just one of many in the pill mill case.
Everything Else
In other election news, GOP candidate Jim Bonner lost his election for PSC position 1. His loss was predestined as leadership in the ALGOP voted before Tuesday to not count his votes.
Bonner gained state wide, and even national, attention after the Alabama Political Reporter published a story about his Facebook page, which was riddled with anti-Semitic, racist, and sexist posts. The candidate responded to the story in a radio interview, where he falsely said APR was a “liberal newspaper.”
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions hired four new federal prosecutors for the Northern District of Alabama this week.
Sessions and U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town said the hiring would help Alabama combat violent crime and the opioid crisis that is currently plaguing the entire country.
That’s all for this week.
