MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Republicans on Tuesday will choose among several U.S. Senate candidates who have stressed their loyalty to President Donald Trump as the party looks for a nominee to succeed Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor this year.
Tuberville’s decision ignited a rare and fierce battle among Republicans for an open Senate seat that is all but certain to stay red. U.S. Rep. Barry Moore and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall are among the best-known candidates in a field of seven Republicans.
Trump has endorsed Moore, a three-term congressman and member of the House’s conservative Freedom Caucus, writing on social media that he is “one of my all time favorites” and “a totally reliable MAGA Warrior!”
Marshall is stressing his record as attorney general, including his work with other Republican-led states in filing court actions that challenged former President Joe Biden’s policies and supported Trump.
The Republican candidates also include former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson, business owner Rodney Walker, cardiac surgeon Dr. Dale Shelton Deas Jr., former U.S. Navy submarine commander Seth Burton and Morgan Murphy, who dropped out of the race but remains on the ballot because of a printing deadline.
The crowded field increases the chance that no one will receive a majority of the vote and the nominee will be decided by a June 16 runoff.
On the Democratic side, business owner Dakarai Larriett, business owner Kyle Sweetser, lawyer Everett Wess and chemist Mark S. Wheeler II are seeking the nomination. Any of them would face an uphill climb in deep-red Alabama.
The state’s other Senator, Republican Sen. Katie Britt, is not up for election this year.
Congressional primaries begin, but changing maps could cause confusion
Alabama voters will cast ballots in congressional primaries but a redistricting fight has confused many.
Primary voters will cast ballots Tuesday in all seven congressional districts, but the state currently plans to void the results in four districts as it goes forward with a plan to change congressional maps.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has scheduled special primary elections on Aug. 11 for the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts. The change comes after the state got permission to switch to a different congressional map that could help Republicans pick up a House seat in November.
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen said the Tuesday votes will be tabulated in the four impacted Alabama congressional districts but will be “void for the purposes of determining the party nominees.” The Aug. 11 primary will determine those nominees in winner-take-all races without a runoff, he said.
The biggest change occurs to the 2nd Congressional District now represented by Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures. The district now stretches from Mobile through Montgomery to the Georgia border.
However, the district lines remain the subject of litigation. The NAACP Legal Defense Find and other groups are seeking to stop the use of the new map. If they are successful, the winner of the Tuesday primary will determine the party nominees.
But if they’re not and the new map goes forward, the Aug. 11 special primary will decide which nominees will appear on ballots in November.
Shayla Mitchell, an organizer with the Alabama Election Protection Coalition, said the situation has fueled voter confusion.
“People assumed that our election was cancelled, which is not true,” Mitchell said.
Governor’s race
The November governor’s race could feature a rematch between Tuberville and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, who became the last Democrat to win a statewide race in Alabama during a special election in 2017.
Tuberville defeated Jones in 2020, boosted by a Trump endorsement and a recognizable name from his time as a football coach.
Since Tuberville has decided not to run for a second Senate term, the two men could once again face each other in the governor’s race if they secure their parties’ nominations.
Attorney general’s race
The attorney general’s race has turned into a costly and contentious fight.
Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell, Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey and Katherine Robertson, chief counsel for Attorney General Steve Marshall, are battling for the Republican nomination. Robertson and Mitchell have traded a series of barbs and accusations.
An outside group funded an advertisement critical of Mitchell for writing the main court opinion that led to in vitro fertilization clinics in the state temporarily shutting down. The ruling said frozen embryos could be considered “unborn children” and couples could pursue wrongful death claims after their embryos were destroyed in a hospital accident. The 2024 decision relied on an Alabama law from 1872.
Mitchell said he supports IVF and that the ad is distorting the facts of the case.
The winner of the Republican primary will face Jeff McLaughlin, a former state legislator who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Kim Chandler, The Associated Press
