MONTGOMERY, Ala.—Katie Britt defeated Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) in the Republican primary runoff election for the U.S. Senate ballot berth in the November general election.
Britt received more than 67 percent of the vote as of 9:19 p.m. on June 21, and was declared the winner by Decision Desk HQ with 18 percent of the votes reported.
“We were told by pretty much everyone everywhere that this was an insurmountable task and do not take it on,” Britt told supporters in a victory speech in Montgomery on Tuesday night.
“God calls us to do hard things. Well I’ll be honest with you it still hasn’t sunk in but we just did a really hard thing.”
“Alabama has spoken. We want new blood we want fresh blood we want someone who will fight for conservative Christian values,” she added.
A densely-packed crowd watched Britt as she delivered her speech. She sounded excited, but with tears on her face.
Britt received a late endorsement from former President Donald Trump, who had months ago withdrawn his endorsement of Brooks. Despite Trump’s swift reversal, Brooks called himself “MAGA Mo” on the campaign trail.
Britt and Brooks have similar platforms. Until barely a week ago, it appeared what set the two apart was their political allegiances.
Brooks ran on a “MAGA” campaign and emphasized his agreement with Trump. Although Britt supported many Trump policies, her campaign website didn’t have the same focus on Trump-related slogans as Brooks.
Brooks then missed an endorsement from primary candidate Mike Durant, who had finished in third place in the primary.
But according to Alabama voters interviewed by The Epoch Times, Trump’s last-minute endorsement flips had little impact on their votes.
“It’s been a bunch of noise,” said Britt voter Mose Stuart. The whole issue with Donald Trump endorsement, I think he himself has rendered it a little bit meaningless.”
Stuart said that Trump has often endorsed candidates who lead in polls late in the race. This approach means that Trump-endorsed candidates usually win because Trump only endorses people who are already winning.
“I’m not even sure that it would have mattered in this election,” he said.
Voter Vanessa Askren said she was voting for Brooks because he impressed her in an interview on Glenn Beck’s show.
“He sounded very intelligent, very savvy on the economics of everything,” she said.
Several voters mentioned concerns over the rising cost of energy, the lack of border security, a bad economy, the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the increasing power of China.
Askren said she believed the next few elections were very important.
“I think this election and 2024 are for the survival of this country,” she said. “Our liberty is going away, and I don’t think people realize it.”
