The Alabama Republican Party Candidate Committee has determined it will hear four election contests that were submitted to the ALGOP:
Alabama Senate District 27 – Auburn City Councilman Jay Hovey defeated Republican incumbent State Sen. Tom Whatley (R-Auburn) by just one vote. Over 16,000 votes were cast. The Whatley campaign alleges that Hovey’s victory was due to Democrats voting in the Republican primary.
Alabama House District 2 - Jason Spencer Black received 3,088 votes, (30.99%) in a four-candidate primary field. Kimberly Butler received 3,083 votes, (30.94%). Ben Harrison received 3,275, (32.87%). Unofficial results have Black in the June 21 runoff with Harrison. This seat was open due to the retirement of longtime Rep. Lynn Greer (R-Rogersville).
Alabama House District 28 – former State Rep. Mack Butler (R-Rainbow City) defeated incumbent State Rep. Gil Isbell 2,652 (51.98%) to 2,450 votes, (48.02%) in the unofficial results. Etowah County was redistricted and reapportioned by the State Legislature (like the rest of the state) as required by the U.S. Constitution. The Board of Registrars in Etowah County apparently erred and a number of people in districts in Etowah County received ballots with the wrong state representative district race on them. Isbell’s campaign is claiming that this impacted their race. These issues were brought out in reporting by 1819 News weeks prior to the election.
Alabama House District 29 – in the unofficial election results Mark A. Gidley received 4,006 votes, 50.52% of the vote and Jamie W Grant received 3,924 votes, 49.48%. This is another Etowah County district where the losing party is claiming that errors by the board of registrars there may have adversely impacted the election outcome. This seat was vacated by Becky Nordgren (R-Gadsden) who was elected as Etowah County revenue commissioner.
The Alabama GOP said that the committee will be complying with the process laid out in the applicable state statutes.
The remaining contests that were submitted did not meet the threshold for a hearing by the committee.
Because the Alabama Legislature recently made the decision to compress the time between the major party primary and the primary runoff to just four weeks, this process has to be complete ahead of the HD2 primary runoff in two weeks as Alabama has paper ballots which must be printed.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandon.moseley@1819News.com.
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