Alabama’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate is going to a June runoff between Katie Britt and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks after neither candidate captured a majority of the vote.
Britt is Sen. Richard Shelby’s former chief of staff and the former leader of the Business Council of Alabama. Brooks is a six-term congressman from north Alabama. They will advance to a June 21 runoff, which is required if no candidate captures more than 50% of the initial vote.
The two edged out Mike Durant, a businessman best known as the helicopter pilot shot down and captured in the events chronicled in “Black Hawk Down.”
Trump had initially endorsed Brooks but rescinded that backing in March, citing unhappiness with Brooks’ performance and accusing the conservative congressman of going “woke” for suggesting it was time to move on from Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims.
Shelby, one of the Senate’s most senior members, announced last year that he would not seek reelection in 2022, igniting the messy GOP primary at a time when the national Republican Party is trying to chart a direction after Trump’s departure.
The Republican nominee will face the Rev. Will Boyd, a minister and engineer from Hoover, who defeated two opponents in Tuesday's primary. Boyd was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2018 but lost to Republican Will Ainsworth.
