Governor
Locally, the democratic primary for governor was extremely close. Two votes separated Ron Sparks and Artur Davis in Jacksonville, but in the end Davis won 227 to 225. Statewide, Davis would not have the same results. Sparks won the democratic nomination with 62 percent of the vote.
After the results were in, Davis announced that he would be leaving politics.
“I have no interest in running for political office again,” Davis said. “The voters spoke in a very decisive way across every sector and in every section of the state. A candidate that fails across-the-board like that obviously needs to find something else productive to do with his life.”
On the Republican side, Jacksonville’s results were similar to the statewide results. Statewide, Bradley Byrne, Robert Bentley and Tim James ended first, second and third, respectively. Byrne and Bentley took Jacksonville one and two, but city residents put Roy Moore third. Byrne took 29.3 percent of the city’s vote, Bentley took 27.8 percent, Moore took 20.9 percent and James took 18.5 percent.
U.S. Senate
Jacksonville’s primary results for the U.S. Senate seat were the same as the State’s. In the Democratic primary, William Barnes won over Simone De Moore with 58.1 percent of Jacksonville’s vote. Republican incumbent Richard Shelby won Jacksonville with 80.3 percent of the vote, as well as the state.
Attorney General
The statewide results for the Democratic pick for Attorney General were different from how the city voted. The state put James Anderson in first with 50 percent of the vote, Giles Perkins in second with 31 percent and Michel Nicrosi in third with 19 percent. Jacksonville put Anderson and Nicrosi in a tie for first, both earning 138 votes, or 34.9 percent.
On the Republican side, both the state and city chose Luther Strange over incumbent Troy King. Strange took Jacksonville with 58.5 percent of the vote.
Lieutenant Governor
Kay Ivey won both the state and Jacksonville. Ivey earned 58.5 percent of Jacksonville’s vote. Hank Erwin also came in second in both the state and the city’s results. Erwin earned 24.7 percent of the vote.
State Treasurer
In both parties’ primary race for state treasurer, Jacksonville’s results were similar to the state’s. Charley Grimsley won the democratic nod, taking 54.3 percent of the city’s vote (60 percent of the state’s). Young Boozer won the republican ticket by earning 68.5 percent of the city’s vote (65 percent of the state’s).
Alabama House District 40
RickyWhaley secured the democratic nomination with close to 1,062 votes, or 77.8 percent. His opponent, Lindsay Ford, received 303 votes, or 22.2 percent.
“I didn’t think we would get that big of a vote, but I’m thankful for it,” Whaley said. “I am looking forward to another shot at this, and I plan on working even harder than I did last time.”
Whaley said he will launch a renewed effort to win the general election.. He plans to win votes this time by voicing his support for ethics reform in Montgomery, repealing the sales tax on groceries and allowing Alabamians to vote on whether to clearly legalize bingo.
Whaley will face K.L. Brown once again for the seat.
Brown also supports ethics reform in Montgomery, but opposes a state lottery. He said he thinks voters have already made it clear that they support him.
“I feel like things were covered pretty well in the last election,” Brown said.
However, area Democrats disagree. They feel some local voters may have voted against Whaley due to frustration about Democratic support of the federal health care bill, and will be more willing to support Whaley this time around.
“I think from the time of the special election until now, some people’s feelings have changed,” Roy Hanner, chairman of the Democratic Party said Tuesday night. “There is still five months between now and the election.”
Laura Johnson of Consolidated News Service contributed to this report.
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