(The Center Square) – Incumbent Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey handily trounced a crowded field of Republican candidates in Tuesday’s primary race, garnering more than 55% of the votes in unofficial returns.
Her November opponent won’t be known until a June 21 runoff election after Tuesday’s Democratic primary leaders – Yolanda Rochelle Flowers clipped Malika Sanders-Fortier by less than 0.3% – failed to reach the 50% threshold.
In the race for a U.S. Senate seat, the closely watched Republican primary will also be a runoff between Katie Britt (45.26%) and Mo Brooks (28.62%). On the Democrat ticket, Will Boyd advanced to the November election with 63.96% of the votes cast.
Ivey, bidding for a second term, posted to social media, “We did it, Alabama! From the bottom of my heart, thank you! This victory belongs to you.”
In addition to winning the governor’s race in 2018, Ivey ran for two consecutive terms as lieutenant governor – 2010 and 2014 – and also had a stint as a state treasurer for two terms, beginning in 2002.
Behind her on the Republican ticket, Lindy Blanchard received 19.35% and Tim James 15.83%. The other six candidates notched single-digit percentage votes.
On the Democratic ticket, Flowers got 33.1% of the votes and Sanders-Fortier 32.88%. The other four challengers were each under 12%.
Sanders-Fortier, who has represented District 23 in the state Senate since 2018, did not immediately comment on the election results on her official campaign social media page Tuesday night.
Flowers, whose background includes work in speech pathology, described the results as “a step in the right direction” on her campaign’s social media page.
“We must now meet the moment that is before us and press on toward the mark,” Flowers wrote.
All 67 counties had their results in shortly after 11 p.m. According to the preliminary tally on the Alabama Secretary of State’s website, overall voter turnout was 21.43%, with 779,980 ballots cast. Results are unofficial until certified.
