Tag: 2020 election
Alabamians: Keep Elected State Board of Education
Alabamians on Tuesday said they want to keep their ability to vote for the state’s K-12 leaders.
Amendment One was defeated soundly. With more than 1.1 million votes cast, about 75% were “no” votes, according to unofficial results from the Alabama Secretary of State. The amendment would have done away with the current elected Alabama State Board of Education that oversees K-12 education, replacing it with a governor-appointed commission.
The amendment’s defeat is a loss for Gov. Kay Ivey, who was its chief advocate. It also had the support of other state GOP leaders and a coalition of groups led by the Alabama Farmers Federation, who pinned schools’ poor achievement rankings on the board of eight elected members.
But some, including the Alabama Republican Party’s executive committee, opposed the amendment that would have ended Alabamians’ ability to elect state education leaders, something they’ve done for about 50 years.
Read more.
Voters Reject Amendment, Keep Elected School Board
Alabamians on Tuesday said they want to keep their ability to vote for the state’s K-12 leaders.
Amendment One was defeated soundly, with more than 1.1 million votes cast. About 75% were “no” votes, according to unofficial results from the Alabama Secretary of State. The amendment would have done away with the current elected Alabama State Board of Education that oversees K-12 education, replacing it with a governor-appointed commission.
“I’m proud of the people of the state,” current board member Jeff Newman, a Republican who represents the Shoals and a portion of the Tennessee Valley, said Tuesday night. “I like to work for the people, the schools belong to the people.”
“… There’s no doubt we have work to do in education, we do; but we need the means to do it.”
Shaw Wins Re-election to Supreme Court
MONTGOMERY — Sitting Supreme Court Justice Greg Shaw fended off a challenge from state Sen. Cam Ward Tuesday in the Republican primary for his Place 1 seat on the high court.
Shaw received 341,442 votes, earning 58.43%, while Ward received 242,913 votes, 41.57%, according to the latest unofficial tally from the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office.
With no Democrat signed up to run, Shaw will be uncontested in the general election on Nov. 3.
Read more.
Fridy, Windom Win Appellate Court Races; Kellum and Smith Head to Runoff
MONTGOMERY — Alabama voters on Tuesday gave clear-cut victories in two races for appellate judgeships, while sending a third to a runoff.
For Place 1 on the Court of Civil Appeals, State Rep. Matt Fridy, R-Montevallo, defeated Pelham attorney Phillip Bahakel by 66% to 34%. There is no Democrat running in the November general election.
For Place 1 on the Court of Criminal Appeals, incumbent Mary Windom defeated Cullman attorney Melvin Hasting by 70% to 30%. With no Democratic primary opponent, Windom will be uncontested in the general election.
For Place 2 on the Court of Criminal Appeals, incumbent Beth Kellum will face former Lauderdale County Commissioner Will Smith in a runoff on March 31. There is no Democrat running in the November general election.
Recommends — Super Tuesday
Takeaways From Super Tuesday: Joe Biden’s Big Bounce (Associated Press)
‘I’ve Never Seen Anybody Mount a Comeback Like This — Ever’ (Politico)
At a Glance: Super Tuesday States and Delegate Counts (Reuters)
Democratic Contest Narrows to Biden and Sanders (New York Times)
Alabama Votes Against Amendment 1, Keeps Elected Board of Education (Montgomery Advertiser)
Exit Polls From the 2020 Democratic Super Tuesday Contests (Washington Post)
Numbers From Tuesday’s Vote-a-Rama
Joe Biden swept the state in the Democratic primary for president. Jeff Sessions and Tommy Tuberville are headed for a runoff for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate. Voters rejected an amendment to change the state Board of Education from an elected board to an appointed commission.
See results for state, Jefferson and Shelby County races on the ballot. Read more.
Sessions, Tuberville in GOP Runoff for Senate; Trump Criticizes Sessions
Jeff Sessions, bidding to take back the U.S. Senate seat he held for two decades, will face political newcomer and longtime college football coach Tommy Tuberville in a March 31 runoff for the Republican nomination for the position.
With the campaign revolving around which candidate is the stronger supporter of President Donald Trump, the president seemingly inserted himself into the race early Wednesday with a tweet criticizing Sessions.
“This is what happens to someone who loyally gets appointed Attorney General of the United States & then doesn’t have the wisdom or courage to stare down & end the phony Russia Witch Hunt,” Trump tweeted. “Recuses himself on FIRST DAY in office, and the Mueller Scam begins!”
Sessions was an early supporter of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, and the president appointed Sessions as his first attorney general. When Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, Trump responded with scathing criticism and forced him to resign.
Tuberville and Sessions led a field of seven candidates in Tuesday’s GOP primary election. Both immediately declared their loyalty to the president and his programs.
Results of Today’s Primary Elections
Joe Biden swept the state in the Democratic primary for president. Jeff Sessions and Tommy Tuberville are headed for a runoff for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate. Voters rejected an amendment to change the state Board of Education from an elected board to an appointed commission.
See results in these and other races. Read more.
It’s Election Day
Voting is steady in Jefferson County this evening as polls prepare to close at 7 p.m.
County Board of Registrars Chairman Barry Stephenson said he expected the county to hit the 30% voter turnout projected by the secretary of state.
Grace Newcombe, Alabama Secretary of State’s Office spokeswoman, also said polls seemed to have run smoothly and consistently across the state today.
At the top of the ballot are races for president and the U.S. Senate. But other races also are on the ballot, including races for the state Supreme Court and appellate courts, Public Service Commission and a host of county races. Also at stake is the future of the Alabama Board of Education, as voters decide whether that group should remain an elected board or become a politically appointed commission via Amendment 1. Read more.
In the Weeds: A Career of Fighting Has Led Byrne to Senate Showdown
MONTGOMERY — Bradley Byrne is a fighter.
That’s what Alabama’s 1st District Congressman says differentiates him from the field of other candidates in the race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, and there’s plenty of evidence that his previous experience backs that up.
Over a political career that has taken him from the state school board and the state Senate to the Alabama Community College System chancellor’s office and the U.S. House of Representatives, Byrne’s fights have been famous.
Perhaps the most successful was Byrne’s bout with the state’s two-year college system, which had been mired in a patronage scandal until he, a reform-minded governor and federal prosecutors came in to clean it up.
Perhaps the least successful was a run for governor in 2010 that saw him on a quixotic quest to take on the then-all-powerful state teachers’ association, only for that group to marshal untold resources to defeat him in the end.
Now Byrne finds himself in the middle of another high-profile fight as he seeks to win a U.S. Senate seat by first outmatching two better-known Republican rivals in former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville. The winner of the Republican primary — or runoff, if needed — will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in November. Read more.
