Prior to the primaries, I had disingenuously written that state legislative seats have become analogous to congressional seats. Very few incumbent legislators are even challenged with opposition, and those that do get opposition are easily reelected. I was half right. Eighty percent of incumbent State House and Senate members did not have an opponent. However, I was wrong to assume that those legislative incumbents, who do get opposition, prevail.

There were a host of legislative incumbents who were defeatedin our wild Alabama Legislative Primary elections. Most of the upsets were in the Republican Primary. That is because the vast majority of legislators are Republican.

The reason that most of those incumbent GOP legislators lost was because the Alabama Farmers Federation (ALFA) came after them. ALFA made a big statement in the GOP primaries. They targeted several races where incumbents had angered them, and they took out all but one of them. ALFA proved that they are the biggest, baddest bully on the block and folks need to beware.

The biggest upset on May 19, and the Farm PAC’s biggest scalp of the night, was their taking out veteran State Senator Greg Albritton. Albritton, who chairs the Senate General Fund Budget Committee, had held the southwest Alabama sprawling Senate Seat since 2014. Farm PAC took him out with farmer Terry Waters.

ALFA backed Rusty Glover in the open Senate Seat District 34 in the Mobile area. Glover defeated Business Council of Alabama (BCA) backed Doug Harwell 55% to 45%.

Farm PAC/ALFA toppled three, thought to be strong incumbent House members, who are in the House leadership. The biggest upset was ALFA’s candidate Danielle Duggars taking out Representative Matt Simpson (R-Daphne). ALFA candidate Mike Elliott took out Greg Barnes (R-Decatur) in House District 13. Farm PAC beat Representative Phillip Pettus (R-Killen) in House District 1 with Maurice McCaney by a 60 to 40 margin.

Representative Rick Rehm protected his House Seat in Houston/Henry counties with an impressive victory over popular challenger David Money. Rehm was backed by ALFA. BCA endorsed David Money. Rehm had done his homework in his district.

ALFA came up short in their efforts to defeat incumbent State Senator Andrew Jones (R-Cherokee). They invested heavily to topple him with Amy Dozier Minton. Jones impressively prevailed 54% to 46%.

Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) easily defeated his challenger J.R. Bowling 65% to 35%. Senator Randy Price (R-Opelika) defeated former Senator Gerald Dial from Lineville in Senate District 13. State Senator Jay Hovey (R-Auburn) impressively defeated Lee County Commissioner Doug Cannon with 69% of the vote. Veteran State Senator J.T. “Jabo” Waggoner (R-Vestavia) defeated his challenger. He willreturn for another record-breaking term. Senator Donnie Chesteen (R-Geneva) handily won reelection with 85% of the vote turning back two primary opponents.

In one of the biggest upsets in the Senate Republican challenges, Scott Ortis defeated incumbent Senator Dan Roberts in Senate District 15. Both men are Mountain Brook businessmen. Ortis spent a lot of personal money and parlayed a strong base of support in Mountain Brook along with hard work into victory. In another silk stocking, Jefferson-Shelby County District longtime incumbent Jim Carns was toppled by former U.S. Attorney Lloyd Peeples for a House Seat.

Representative James Lomax (R-Huntsville) won a second term in the Alabama House of Representatives. Lomax turned back former Congressman Mo Brooks by a 60 to 40 margin.Representative Susan Dubose (R-Hoover) decisively defeated her challenger with 84% of the vote. Democrat Alicia Escott Lumpkin defeated incumbent Representative Juandalynn Givan in District 60. Ms. Escott Lumpkin was backed by Mayor Randall Woodfin.

All in all, it was an interesting year for the few contested legislative races in the state.

See you next week.