The party’s nominations for five statewide offices, including secretary of state on the Republican side and governor on the Democratic ticket, are on the ballot in Tuesday’s primary runoff election in Alabama. The nomination of the GOP for a Congress seat will also be decided. Here’s a look at the race:
Secretary of State
Many Republican voters accepted former President Donald Trump’s false claims that fraud cost him the 2020 presidential election, with the remaining two GOP candidates becoming Alabama’s top election official, Secretary of StateCampaigned on the topics of tightening election security.
Jim Ziegler, who was barred from seeking another four years as state auditor due to term limits, labeled himself a “watchman” against ballot fraud, so-called “ballot harvesting” and voting by mail. Trump has blamed all that and more for his loss to Democratic President Joe Biden, and many GOP voters believe him despite the lack of evidence.
Rape. Wes Allen is a state representative from Troy, who previously served as a probate judge in Pike County. Citing the potential for fraud, he opposed early voting and absentee voting without excuse, and sponsored a law that prohibits “curbside” voting to make voting easier for people with disabilities.
The Republican nominee faces Democrat Pamela J. Laffitt, an Air Force veteran and corrections supervisor in Mobile County.
The current Secretary of State, Republican John Merrill, could not run again because of term limits.
Governor
Either Yolanda Rochelle Flowers or state Sen. Malika Sanders Fortier will become the first black person to win the gubernatorial nomination of a major party in Alabama in the Democratic runoff for governor.
Flowers, a career teacher from Birmingham, led the six-person field in the May primary. She ran on a platform of “rebuilding” Alabama by rebuilding its economy and systems for education, health care, and criminal justice. Among other things, she has advocated for the state lottery and the state minimum wage of $15.
Fortier, a state legislator from Selma, campaigned on the theme of building the biblical “beloved community” promoted by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., by improving the state’s economy, schools, and health care. She is the daughter of former state Sen. Hank Sanders and lawyer Faia Rose Toure.
The final winner will face Sarkar’s Ivey, who defeated eight challengers to win the GOP primary without a runoff. Nearly four times as many people voted in the Republican primary in May as the Democratic primary, and Republicans hold every statewide office.
state auditor
Stan Cook and Andrew Sorrell are vying for the Republican nomination to replace Ziegler as state auditor.
Cook, a pastor in the Jefferson County town of Kimberly, claims that Alabama is at a crossroads where it can remain a conservative state or come under the control of liberal Democrats. Echoing former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election piracy, he is highlighting the auditor’s role in appointing county election officials who can prevent Democrats from stealing elections.
Sorell, a state representative for Colbert County who led the vote in the May primary, also tried to make election security a major issue, saying that there is a need for a stronger auditor to appoint county registrars who can check electoral rolls. Will keep it clean
The final candidate will not have a Democratic opponent in the fall.
US House
North Alabama’s 5th district is the only runoff for one of the state’s seven US House seats.
In the Tennessee Valley area, Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong and Casey Wardinsky, a former Huntsville school superintendent, advanced in May for a runoff from a field of six candidates. Strong easily led with about 45% of the vote but could not avoid a runoff.
The winner will face Democrat Kathy Warner-Stanton of Decatur.
The 5th District seat is being vacated by US Representative Mo Brooks, who is in runoff with former business lobby leader Katie Britt for the seat being vacated by US Sen. Richard Shelby.
Alabama Public Service Commission
Two Republican incumbents on the Alabama Public Service Commission face runoff challenges to keep their jobs on the utility-regulation board.
Jeremy Oden, a former state legislator from Cullman, sought his third term on the three-member commission, positioning himself as a conservative shield against liberal environmental policies. He received the most votes in a four-way race for the Place 1 seat in May, with PSC employee and Republican activist lawyer Brent Woodall coming in second.
First elected to the PSC in 2014, former Green County commissioner Chip Beaker also portrayed himself as an opponent of Democratic environmental policies in his campaign to retain the Place 2 seat. Beaker, who led the primary vote, was opposed by Robert L. McCollum, a Talaposa County small business owner who argues that the commission is too close to the Alabama Power Company.
No Democrat is eligible for either position, making a victory in the Republican runoff tantamount to an election.
