Alabama’s State Senate primaries were a mix of incumbent strength, a handful of close defeats and competitive open-seat contests across both parties.
In Alabama’s state Senate primaries, most incumbents were able to hold their seats.
- In Senate District 4, Senate Pro Tem Garlan Gudger easily secured renomination with 15,422 votes or 64.7 percent, defeating J.R. Bowling, who finished with 8,432 votes or 35.3 percent.
- In District 10, Andrew Jones held off Amy Dozier Minton in a tighter contest, winning 8,308 votes, 53.8 percent, to 7,127 votes, 46.2 percent.
- In District 16, Sen. J.T. “Jabo” Waggoner held off challenger Nate Carlson 7,695 votes or 54.1 percent to 6,522 votes or 45.9 percent.
Democrats saw a competitive three-way primary in District 25, where incumbent Kirk Hatcher advanced decisively with 12,250 votes or 55.4 percent. Phadra Carson Foster earned 24.0 percent, and KK Middleton earned 20.6 percent, with 5,312 votes and 4,549 votes, respectively.
Three incumbents posted large margins in their primaries.
- In District 29, Donnie Chesteen received 85 percent of the votes, totaling 14,068. He faced two opponents, Zachary J. Hurst and Val Glasgow Paul, who received 11.79 percent or 1,952 votes and 3.2 percent or 530 votes, respectively.
- The District 32 primary saw a decisive victory for incumbent Chris Elliott, who earned 72.78 percent of the vote with 14,561 ballots cast in his favor. Challenger Mike Vandenheuvel received 27.22 percent, totaling 5,445 votes. The contest drew 20,006 total votes.
- Jay Hovey in District 27 defeated Doug Cannon with 10,933 votes, 68.9 percent to 4,936 votes, 31.1 percent.
Three incumbent senators running for reelection narrowly lost their seats Tuesday evening.
- District 13 saw a decisive outcome, with Randy Price defeating Sen. Gerald Dial 11,457 votes or 62.2 percent to 6,976 votes or 37.8 percent.
- One of the closer incumbent races came in District 15, where Scott Ortis narrowly prevailed over Sen. Dan Roberts, 8,300 votes or 52.1 percent to 7,643 votes or 47.9 percent.
- Another closely watched contest in District 22 saw Terry L. Waters win the Republican primary with 9,084 votes, or 52.1 percent, over Sen. Greg Albritton, who finished with 8,349 votes, or 47.9 percent.
In both Districts 2 and 34, the election was open, with incumbents either retiring or seeking different offices.
District 2’s Democratic primary featured a three-way contest in a closely divided field. Rudolph Valentino Drake led the race with 36.57 percent of the vote, totaling 4,561 ballots. Alex House followed closely with 33.85 percent, or 4,221 votes, while Guy Sotomayor received 29.58 percent, finishing with 3,689 votes. The race drew 12,471 total votes. A runoff will be held on June 16.
In District 34, Rusty Glover emerged narrowly ahead with 54.55 percent of the vote, totaling 7,187 ballots cast in his favor. Doug Harwell followed closely with 45.45 percent, or 5,987 votes. The contest drew 13,174 total votes.
