Incumbents in the Alabama Senate dominated in last Tuesday’s primary except for one race that is too close to call.
In District 27 in east Alabama, Auburn City Councilman Jay Hovey leads the incumbent, Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Auburn, by four votes. The district covers parts of Lee, Russell, and Tallapoosa counties.
On Tuesday at noon, canvassing boards in the three counties will count provisional ballots. There are a total of almost 90 provisional ballots. Some will not affect the Hovey-Whatley race because they could be deemed invalid by registrars, were Democratic voters, or were voters who live outside District 27.
“It’s all up in the air, obviously,” said Hovey, who is a mortgage lender with Auburn Bank and has served four years on the City Council. “That could go either way. We just have to wait on due process and see what happens Tuesday.”
Whatley is a lawyer who was elected to the Senate in 2010 and is seeking his fourth term. He is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
According to the unofficial results from last Tuesday, Hovey received 8,367 votes to 8,363 for Whatley.
Voters can be required to cast provisional ballots for multiple reasons, such as not being on the voter list or not having the required identification. Boards of registrars review the provisional ballots before canvassing and decide which ones count.
New terms begin for all 35 seats in the Senate in November. Republicans hold 27 seats.
Twenty-four of the Republican senators are running for re-election, and 17 of those were unopposed in the primary. Besides Whatley, the other six GOP incumbents who had challengers won on Tuesday.
Six of the eight Democratic senators are running for re-election. Four of those were unopposed in the primary and the other two defeated challengers.
Five open seats
Rep. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, won Senate District 19 in Jefferson County, defeating Rep. Louise Alexander, D-Bessemer. Coleman wins the open seat vacated by Sen. Priscilla Dunn, D-Bessemer, who did not run after missing most of the last term because of illness. No Republicans qualified.
Former state Sen. Hank Sanders of Selma could be returning. Sanders faces Robert L. Stewart in a runoff in Senate District 23. The seat came open when Sen. Malika Sanders Fortier, Sanders’ daughter, decided to run for governor instead of reelection. Republican Michael Nimmer also qualified in the sprawling district, which covers eight sparsely populated counties.
The three Republican senators who retired were Sens. Jim McClendon of Springville in District 11, Sen. Del Marsh of Anniston in District 12, and Sen. Jimmy Holley of Elba in District 31.
Lance Bell, a lawyer from St. Clair County, won McClendon’s seat over Michael J. Wright. There is no Democrat on the ballot in November.
Three Republicans ran for Marsh’s seat. Wendy Ghee Draper and Keith Kelley will be in a runoff on June 21. The winner faces Democrat Danny McCullars in November.
Tuesday’s other winners
District 1, northeast Alabama: Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, defeated John Sutherland 69% to 31%.
District 2, Huntsville area: Sen. Tom Butler, R-Madison, defeated former Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, 59% to 41%.
District 13, east Alabama: Sen. Randy Price, R-Opelika, defeated John Allen Coker 79% to 21%.
District 15, Jefferson and Shelby counties: Sen. Dan Roberts, R-Mountain Brook, defeated Brian Christine 59% to 41%.
District 17, Jefferson, Blount, and St. Clair counties: Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, defeated Mike Dunn 69% to 31%.
District 20, Jefferson County: Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, defeated Rodney Huntley 87% to 13%.
District 22, southwest Alabama: Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, defeated Stephen Sexton 66% to 34%.
District 28: southeast Alabama: Sen. Billy Beasley, D-Clayton, defeated Frank “Chris” Lee 61% to 39%.
