A Birmingham Democrat is hoping for his party to retake Alabama’s seat in the U.S. Senate.

On Tuesday night, Everett Wess clenched the Democratic nomination for Alabama’s Senate race, narrowly beating Dakarai Larriett vwith 54.59% of the vote.

In total, Wess received 50,229 votes to Larriett’s 41,779 votes, the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office reported.

“We’ll enjoy tonight, we’ll celebrate, and then, we’ll have to get back to work in the morning,” Wess said.

Wess, a lawyer and managing partner at The Wess Law Firm, watched the runoff results come in at a small gathering at The Komplex in Birmingham’s Titusville community, while Larriett, an entrepreneur, held his own watch party just a few miles away at The Paper Doll bar, downtown.

“I want to do so much for all Alabamians and to bring back civility to government,” he said. “We just want to do good for Alabama and for the country.”

Statewide, Wess did well in major population areas such as Jefferson and Madison counties, as well as the majority of west Alabama. Larriett took a piece of central Alabama with Shelby County as well as Montgomery County and major swaths of the Wiregrass in the southeastern part of the state.

Larriett in his concession speech expressed disappointment in the loss but said it taught him some lessons. “You know, this is my first time running for office, and I decided to run for Senate in a very large state of 5 million people, so that is a learning, and also the endorsement, understanding the dynamics of kind of the pay-to-play endorsements in our state. This is a reality of running for office here.”

Wess has long been involved in Jefferson County politics, from being a municipal judge in Midfield to a prosecutor for both Midfield and the city of Irondale. Wess last ran for office in 2024, when he lost the Democratic primary for Jefferson County probate court. He has also had an unsuccessful bid for the District 2 seat on the Birmingham City Council, losing to incumbent Kim Rafferty.

“I’ve gotten a lot further than anyone would’ve thought,” he said.

Before going into politics, Larriett worked in the corporate world, where he was most recently vice president of sales and operations planning for Datavant, as well as the founder of Gerrard Larriett, an aromatherapy-inspired line of pet care products.

With the primary behind him, Wess said his campaign would work to address issues facing everyday Alabamians, such as the economy.

“I don’t think the citizens of Alabama enjoy paying $5 for a gallon of gas,” he said.

Larriett said that, despite his loss, he’s not giving up on Alabama. “Well, I’m still so incredibly interested in pushing forward my proposed legislation, the Motorist Bill of Rights, which protects all of us in our interactions with law enforcement,” he said. “I’m going to continue to be an activist, so looking for opportunities to move things forward and ensure that we have a more just Alabama.”

Moore Wins GOP Primary for Senate, Results in Other Statewide Races

With typically low turnouts in runoff elections, as well as rainy weather across the state, 10.72% of Alabama’s voters turned out to the polls Tuesday.

Wess will face U.S. Rep. Barry Moore in the general election Nov. 3 after Moore won his runoff for the Republican nomination to the Senate seat against Jared Hudson, a former U.S. Navy SEAL. Moore took 55.80% of the vote to Hudson’s 44.20%.

“The greatest days of Alabama are ahead of us,” Moore, who was endorsed by President Trump, told cheering supporters Tuesday night. But he urged Republican voters to not get complacent in November as Democrats seek to make gains in the state.

“It’s vitally important that we show up and vote,” Moore said.

Hudson said he may have lost this race, but he’s not giving up the fight.

“Every time I look at my beautiful family, I’m reminded that tough battles are always worth fighting,” he said in a statement. “This battle did not go our way, but there will be more. This wonderful country deserves our best effort, and it has been my honor to join with so many to give it a shot.”

In other statewide races Tuesday,

• Former GOP Chairman John Wahl won the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor, winning 56.99% of the vote against Secretary of State Wes Allen.
• Deputy Attorney General Katherine Robertson won the GOP nomination to the state’s Attorney General’s Office, taking 55.07% of the vote in her race against former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell.
• Douglas mayor Corey Hill won the GOP nomination for commissioner of agriculture and industries with 53.30% of the vote in his race against farmer Christina Woerner McInnis.
• Former state auditor Jim “Zig” Zeigler won the GOP nomination to the Public Service Commission Place 2 seat. He won 51.3% of the vote in his race against incumbent Commissioner Chris Beeker.

  

Democratic Hopes Raised This Year

Wess’ clenching of the Democratic primary comes as more prominent members of the party are hoping to capture momentum across Alabama, such as former Sen. Doug Jones in the governor’s race against Sen. Tommy Tuberville.

Jones, who served in the Senate from 2018 to 2021, is the last Democrat to win statewide office in Alabama. The last Alabama Democrat to serve a full term in the Senate was Howell Heflin, who represented the state from 1978 to 2002.

Despite his loss, Larriett also is hoping that, with more Democratic candidates on the general election slate this fall, there will be more potential for a blue wave in Alabama.

“I feel sorry for the party, because I feel that we so much is at stake, and at the end of the day, though, we support our nominee, and it’s time for us to come together and get behind this individual and assure that they are as successful as they can be,” Larriett said Tuesday night.

“It may take some time for others to come around, but I’m already messaging that we must coalesce behind our candidate and make sure we run strong candidates who understand the issues and will advocate for us, and so I’m so happy to help him, and for example, building his policy around LGBT. He needs some help there, and ensuring that he understands what it means to be an advocate for that community, which is under constant assault. So he has some blind spots.”

Other Democratic nominees who weren’t in runoffs Tuesday showed up at Larriett’s watch party to show support for him and for the Democratic Party.

Forrest Satterfield is running for election for Alabama House of Representatives District 21, in the Huntsville area. Amanda Puzchek, a registered nurse, is the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House from Alabama’s 4th Congressional District. Both nominees expressed disappointment at Larriett’s loss but excitement that he fared as well as he did as a first-time candidate in a statewide race.

Forrest Terrell contributed to this report.