Rep. Wes Kitchens of Arab won the Republican nomination for Senate District 9 on Tuesday night, outpacing two other challengers.
The win makes Kitchens the senator for the district, which became vacant after former Senate Majority Leader Clay Scofield, R-Arab, left to join the Business Council of Alabama after about 13 years in the Alabama Legislature. No Democrats qualified for the seat.
Kitchens, an insurance agent serving his second term in the House, had 3,707 votes (52.5%) in unofficial returns on Tuesday. Rep. Brock Colvin, R-Albertville, coming in second, had 2,702 (38.3%) votes. Former Morgan County Commissioner Stacy Lee George had 646 votes (9.2%).
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Kitchens said in a Tuesday evening night phone call that it was a “great night, very exciting night for us.”
“We’re still going to be working on a lot of things when it comes to education, kind of my goals the whole time, the things that matter to people the most,” he said. “You know, education, making sure their communities are the best place to live in that they possibly can be, infrastructure projects, workforce development.”
Colvin congratulated Kitchens in a statement on Tuesday and said he was “excited and grateful” to continue representing his House district.
“Wes and I will continue to work together to make Marshall County and North Alabama the best place it can possibly be,” the statement said.
Messages were left with Colvin and George Tuesday evening. Kitchens raised $187,748 for the race through Thursday afternoon. Colvin raised $146,929 and George raised $10,020.
Turnout for the election, taking place on a rainy and windy day in the state, was 6.7%, according to the Alabama Secretary of State’s office.
Kitchens said in the lead-up to the election that he wanted to prioritize infrastructure work in the north Alabama district as well as the state’s pre-kindergarten program.
The Alabama Legislature will begin its 2024 regular session next month.
The contest was one of two that took place in the state on Tuesday. Republican Bryan Brinyark won election to House District 16 in the Tuscaloosa area.
Updated at 10:14 p.m. with statement from Rep. Brock Colvin.
