State Representative Matt Woods, R-Jasper, on Tuesday beat progressive community organizer Ryan Cagle in the special election for Alabama Senate District 5.
An established politician who touted his conservative bona fides and past support for tax cuts during the campaign, Woods was widely endorsed by state organizations, including the Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama and the Business Council of Alabama.
Cagle ran on a platform of investing in Alabama, protecting Medicaid and helping working families. In a 2024 interview with Sojourners Magazine, Cagle described his work creating a free Narcan vending machine and food pantry in the town of Parrish with the religious nonprofit Jubilee House Community he co-organizes.
District 5 encompasses Lamar, Fayette and Walker counties, as well as significant parts of Tuscaloosa and Jefferson counties. A special election for the seat was scheduled after the incumbent Senator Greg Reed, R-Jasper, was appointed as secretary of the Alabama Department of Workforce by Governor Kay Ivey.
According to the unofficial results, Woods received 7,708 votes while Cagle received 1,238, or 86 percent and 13.8 percent respectively. Previously Reed ran unopposed in the district in both 2022 and 2018.
Turnout was quite low as only 8.8 percent of eligible voters in the district cast a ballot.
Cagle performed best in Walker County, where Parrish and Jubilee House are located. He received 922 votes there, or 16.8 percent of all votes cast in the county. Woods has represented part of Walker County since 2022 as the representative from House District 13.
In a concession statement, Cagle said that “we were outnumbered and out funded in every way, but we made incredible strides this campaign.”
According to the most recent campaign finance reports filed by Cagle, they appear to have received under $10,000 in donations over the course of his campaign, mostly in smaller amounts.
By comparison, Woods’ campaign committee began the year with a balance of just under $100,000. Only looking at the most recent campaign finance report covering the period between June 14 and June 20, he received $8,650 in cash contributions and spent almost $2,000 on campaign expenditures.
Despite the results last night, Cagle said that the campaign had “planted seeds that I know are going to continue to grow and blossom.”
Woods posted a message simply saying “Thank you, District 5!” to his campaign Facebook page.
