Category: 2022 Elections
Lew Burdette, Governor, Republican
Lindy Blanchard, Governor, Republican
JeffCo Probate Judge: Tightened Security Will Delay Voting Returns in the Primaries
UPDATED — Jefferson County’s chief election official is warning that a new voting security measure will delay returns from the May 24 primary elections.
Probate Judge James Naftel said Friday that county officials have worked with Secretary of State officials to find a way to expedite returns.
At issue is a new security measure imposed by Secretary of State John Merrill that moves all precinct returns to central computers provided by his office. These two computers cannot be connected to a network and therefore cannot communicate with each other, so there will not be any results released until all precincts have reported and all results are in, Naftel said. Read more.
Second Verse Same as the First: Four of Five JeffCo Commissioners Have No Known Election Challengers
The next Jefferson County Commission will look very much like the current one as four of the sitting five commissioners have no challenger in the upcoming primary or the general election.
Qualifying for the May 24 party primary elections concluded Friday with four of the five incumbents facing no opposition. District 2 Commissioner Sheila Tyson was the lone exception; Steve Small qualified to face her in the Democratic primary.
None of the commission seats has a qualifier from the other party in November’s general election.
Barring a successful independent or third-party challenge, Republicans Jimmie Stephens (District 3), Joe Knight (District 4) and Steve Ammons (District 5) and Democrat Lashunda Scales (District 1) will remain in office another four years. Stephens and Knight were initially elected in 2010. Scales, Ammons and Tyson were first elected to the commission in 2018.
Commissioners questioned Tuesday said the lack of challengers is an endorsement of the work they’ve done.
“It says that all five commissioners – not just four – all five commissioners have been working for the betterment of their communities,” said Stephens, the commission president. “We all run in districts, and everyone within those districts are extremely satisfied. They did not see a need to change.
“That means that we as a commission are working together to get things done to improve the quality of life for our citizens in Jefferson County,” he continued. “That is indeed what we were elected to do.” Read more.
Candidates, On Your Marks
Candidates have lined up under the Republican and Democratic flags to run for their party nominations for a slate of offices, from U.S. Senate to governor to Jefferson County Commission.
Friday was the deadline for candidates to file papers to run in the primary election, which will be May 24, leading up to the Nov. 8 general election.
In Jefferson County alone, Democratic voters will have more than 80 candidates to choose from, and Republicans will have more than 60.
That doesn’t count candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives. That qualifying deadline has been extended while the courts determine whether the redrawn House districts approved after the 2020 census are constitutional. A three-judge federal court panel ruled that they were not and told the state to redraw them, but the state has appealed that ruling to the U.S.
For lists of candidates running in each primary, read more.
Republican Primary Candidates 2022
Democratic Primary Candidates 2022
Blanchard Begins Run for Governor
WETUMPKA — Former U.S. Ambassador Lindy Blanchard officially launched her campaign for governor Tuesday, switching from running for the U.S. Senate to challenging incumbent Gov. Kay Ivey in the Republican primary.
Speaking to a crowd in her childhood home just north of Montgomery, Blanchard called herself the “conservative outsider” candidate.
“I will stand up for our rights against not just the liberal left, but the go-along-to-get-along, so-called conservatives who have run things in Montgomery for way too long,” Blanchard said. Read more.
Blanchard to Announce Candidacy for Governor Tuesday
MONTGOMERY — Lynda Blanchard, the former U.S. ambassador and current candidate for the U.S. Senate, will officially switch races and announce her candidacy for governor Tuesday, she confirmed to Alabama Daily News. Blanchard is planning an announcement in Wetumpka, the small town north of Montgomery where she was born and raised, according to an event invitation. Read more.
Tim James Running for Alabama Governor
Running for governor in Alabama is a full-contact sport, two-time candidate Tim James says, and he’s ready to play again.
James, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2002 and 2010, filed paperwork with the Secretary of State’s office to run for a third time in 2022.
And it’s not just the sitting governor he wants to take on.
“The Republican leadership in Alabama are not Republicans as we know it,” James, son of former Gov. Fob James, said in an interview with Alabama Daily News. “The Republican leadership in large part are what we call RINOS (Republicans In Name Only) or Democrats disguised as Republicans.” Read more.
