BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - The Latest on the Alabama election (all times local):
10:23 p.m.
Auburn City School Board President Tracie West has won the GOP nomination in the only runoff for a position on the Alabama State Board of Education.
West defeated Dothan school board member Melanie Hill for the District 2 position, which represents southeastern Alabama on the policy-making board.
Hill led West narrowly in the four-person primary contest. Both supported repealing Common Core educational standards, and both touted their experience as in education and leadership roles.
The winner will face Democrat Adam Jortner in November. He teaches history at Auburn University.
___
10:10 p.m.
Voters in Alabama’s runoff election decided the Republican nominees for three slots on statewide appeals courts.
Mobile County Circuit Judge Sarah Hicks Stewart defeated gubernatorial appointee Brad Mendheim for a seat on the nine-member Alabama Supreme Court. Mendheim is a former circuit judge from southeast Alabama who led primary balloting.
Alabama Tax Court Judge Christy Edwards of Montgomery defeated Baldwin County Circuit Judge Michelle Manley Thomason for a judgeship on the five-member Alabama Court of Civil Appeals
And west Alabama District Attorney Chris McCool beat Assistant Alabama Attorney General Rich Anderson for a position on the five-member Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.
No Democrat is running for any of the three judgeships in November, so winning the GOP runoff is tantamount to election.
___
9:51 p.m.
State Rep. Will Ainsworth has defeated Alabama Public Service Commission President Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in a race that got raucous down the stretch.
The 37-year-old Ainsworth ran commercials playing on Cavanaugh’s unusual first name and calling her a career politician. Cavanaugh led all candidates for lieutenant governor in fundraising with nearly $1.1 million in total contributions through April.
The 52-year-old Cavanaugh brought up Ainsworth’s theft arrest when he was a college student and was accused of stealing fiberglass tigers in downtown Auburn.
Ainsworth called it a college prank and closed his campaign by touring with a fiberglass tiger. He will face Democratic minister Will Boyd in November.
The lieutenant governor’s office has been vacant since then-incumbent Kay Ivey became governor in April 2017.
___
9:26 p.m.
Farmer and small-town mayor Rick Pate has defeated longtime state Sen. Gerald Dial for the Republican nomination for commissioner of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries.
The 63-year-old Pate led the 80-year-old Dial and three other candidates in the primary in June, but he didn’t get enough votes to win the nomination outright.
He widened his lead in Tuesday’s balloting.
Pate is a cattle breeder west of Montgomery, and he also serves as mayor of Lowndesboro. Dial says he farms timber.
No Democrats are running, so the eventual Republican nominee is virtually assured of winning in November.
___
9:08 p.m.
Appointed incumbent Steve Marshall has won the Republican nomination for attorney general and now faces his first statewide general election challenge.
Marshall defeated former attorney general Troy King in the Republican runoff Tuesday.
The former county prosecutor will face a general election challenge from Birmingham lawyer Joseph Siegelman, the son of ex-Gov. Don Siegelman.
The 53-year-old Marshall has been attorney general since February 2017, when then-Gov. Robert Bentley appointed him after naming Luther Strange to the U.S. Senate.
Marshall had a narrow lead over the 49-year-old King in the June primary and widened his margin in the runoff.
The race took on an aggressive tone in the closing days after both Marshall and King temporarily paused their campaigns following the suicide of Marshall’s wife last month.
___
5 p.m.
U.S. Rep Martha Roby is expressing confidence that she will prevail over challenger Bobby Bright in the Republican runoff for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District.
Roby is seeking a fifth term in Congress but drew multiple primary challengers in a lingering backlash over her onetime criticism of Donald Trump in 2016.
Bright represented the district for two years as a Democrat.
Speaking about three hours before polls were scheduled to close in Tuesday’s runoff, Roby continued to stress her voting record and Bright’s past as a Democrat.
“It just really comes down to one thing: my record versus my opponent’s. My record is that of a conservative who reflects the conservative principles of the people I represent. My opponent voted for Nancy Pelosi,” Roby said.
___
1 p.m.
Alabama’s election chief says turnout in today’s primary runoffs appears to be “extraordinarily low.”
Secretary of State John Merrill gave the assessment late Tuesday morning.
Among the notable races, U.S. Rep Martha Roby is trying to hold back a primary challenge from former congressman Bobby Bright in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District.
Merrill said he anticipates on average that 15 to 18 percent of the state’s registered voters will cast ballots Tuesday. He expects turnout to be higher in the 2nd Congressional District but isn’t predicting an exact number.
__
12:30 p.m.
The challenger to an incumbent congresswoman in Alabama says he’s hoping to make history by defeating her.
Bobby Bright is challenging U.S. Rep. Martha Roby in the Republican runoff in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District.
Bright made his remarks after he cast his ballot Tuesday.
Roby is facing a backlash because she withdrew her endorsement of President Donald Trump in 2016 after the release of a tape in which he made crude comments about women. Trump has endorsed her in this election.
Bright has painted Roby as an establishment Republican out of touch with her heavily agrarian and military district.
Bright shrugged off concerns that Republican voters might reject him because of his past as a Democrat.
He says he’s “always been conservative” and always will be.
__
Midnight
Alabama voters go to the polls today in several heated Republican runoffs.
Armed with an endorsement from President Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. Martha Roby is trying to hold back a challenge from former congressman Bobby Bright.
The endorsement could help Roby overcome a backlash after she withdrew her endorsement of him in 2016 after the release of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape.
Bright has painted Roby as an establishment Republican out of touch with her heavily agrarian and military district.
In the runoff for lieutenant governor, Public Service Commission President Twinkle Cavanaugh faces state Rep. Will Ainsworth. Attorney General Steve Marshall faces challenger Troy King in the runoff for attorney general. State Sen. Gerald Dial of Lineville faces Rick Pate in the agriculture commissioner runoff.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.