After no candidate on either side of the aisle was able to come away with a majority of the votes in Tuesday’s elections, both the Democratic and Republican primaries for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat will now head to runoff races.
On the Democratic ballot, Birmingham attorney Everett Wess came in first with 39.6 percent of the vote. Wess will face entrepreneur Dakarai Larriett in the upcoming runoff, who finished second with 29.1 percent. Mark Wheeler came in third with 17.4 percent while Trump voter-turned-Democratic hopeful Kyle Sweetser finished with just 13.9 percent.
Wess issued an official statement in a press release following his first-place finish.
“I stand before you humbled, grateful, and inspired,” Wess said. “I want to thank my family. I do this for my children and my grandchildren, because every generation deserves an opportunity to live in a nation where justice, fairness, and opportunity belong to all people. Their future is why I fight, and their future is why we must continue this work together.”
“The people of Alabama have spoken,” he continued. “We are now one step closer to restoring civility to our Congress, to Alabama, and to this nation. This campaign has always been about bringing people together, lifting voices that have too often been ignored, and building a future where every citizen matters.”
Wess also thanked several prominent supporters including former state Senator Hank Sanders, state Senator Vivian Figures, former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington Jr., Dr. Joe Reed, and Dr. Randy Kelley. Additionally, he encouraged Wheeler and Sweetser to back his campaign ahead of the runoff.
“I want to extend my hand to my opponents, Kyle Sweetser and Mark Wheeler. I want both of you to work with me as we move forward together to make Alabama and this country better for all people,” Wess said. “This campaign is bigger than any one person. It is about restoring hope, protecting democracy, and ensuring that every Alabamian has a voice in Washington. Together, we can move Alabama forward.”
Larriett provided his own statement to APR after Tuesday’s results.
“Getting nearly one out of three statewide votes in my first run shows how much our message resonates,” Larriett told APR. “I’ve had the chance to meet so many amazing people and hear their stories but it’s clear that many folks just didn’t know about our campaign. That tells me we have some work to do.”
“With my skills and experience in serving our community and advocating for education, healthcare, and economic opportunity, I’m ready to dive in,” Larriett added. “There are still about 30 percentage points up for grabs on June 16, and this is our moment. My team and I are coming together to map out a solid strategy to secure a win in the next month.”
The hotly contested Republican primary field will also go to a runoff after none of the seven qualified candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote.
Trump-endorsed U.S. Rep. Barry Moore finished first in the polls with a projected 39.2 percent of the vote and will face former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson in the runoff after Hudson narrowly beat Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall for second place (Hudson finished with 25.6 percent compared to Marshall’s 24.5 percent). Rodney Walker came in fourth with 4.1 percent followed by Seth Burton (3.1 percent), Dale Deas Jr. (2.1 percent) and Morgan Murphy (1.3 percent).
Moore celebrated his first-place finish at an election watch party Tuesday night.
“We live in an amazing country. We have an incredible Constitution. We have a wonderful American people. We have friends that matter to us. But more than all that, we serve a great God,” Moore said to a crowd of supporters. “And so we’re blessed to be in this country, we’re blessed to have this opportunity, and we’re excited to get this win tonight.”
“We literally started this race, nobody knew who Barry Moore was…we have South Alabama– people down here know us, but if you go North of Montgomery or Birmingham or Huntsville, they didn’t know who we were,” Moore added. “And so we literally came from last place in the first poll to first place tonight.”
The runoff elections will take place on June 16, with the winners then facing each other in November’s general election.
