Three-Way Primary Race for Alabama’s Senate Seat

Voters exit after casting their ballots at a polling station setup in the fire department in a file photo. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The 2022 Alabama primaries will see three conservative candidates fight each other for an open Senate seat.

Incumbents have an extremely high chance of reelection, so it’s likely that this year’s winner will be in Congress for a long time.

Another potentially interesting race is in Alabama’s Fifth Congressional District, where several Republican candidates face off for a House seat.

With only one Democratic district, Alabama is one of America’s most conservative states. Primary results will likely only be a matter of determining which Republican goes to Congress.

Alabama’s aspiring congressmen tend to strongly support former President Donald Trump and his political agenda.

Alabama Governor’s Race

The Alabama governor’s race will most likely go to the current incumbent, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey.

Ivey first became governor in 2016, after Gov. Robert Bentley was arrested and resigned from office for campaign finance violations.

In 2018, voters reelected Ivey by a landslide with 59 percent of the vote to her opponent’s 40 percent.

Ivey’s last term was marked by lower taxes, lower unemployment, and increased school funding.

Despite Ivey’s popularity, eight other Republican candidates are challenging her for the primary.

Advisers of former President Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he wanted to replace Ivey with another candidate.

Allegedly, Trump blamed Ivey when a state commission blocked him from holding a political rally at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.

Although Trump hasn’t endorsed Ivey, her commercials say the 2020 election was “stolen” from him.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who faces a campaign for reelection this year, in Beauregard, Ala., on March 4, 2019. Vasha Hunt/AP Photo

“We have not and will not send absentee ballots to everyone and their brother,” Ivey said in her ad.

Another ad mentions Ivey’s work in fighting critical race theory and improving border security. It features Ivey sending a volley of bullets into a steel plate on a gun range.

Ivey, a social conservative, is running on a platform including protection for the unborn from abortion, support for the Second Amendment, job creation, support for the police, and fighting government corruption.

She has endorsements from Manufacture Alabama, the Alabama Farmers Federation, and business group the Progress PAC.

Alabama Senate Race

When Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby announced that he would not run in 2022, he opened an intense competition for the seat he has held since 1986.

Three Republican candidates lead the primary race for his seat. Its winner will likely also win the general election.

The leading candidates are Republicans Katie Britt, Mo Brooks, and Michael Durant.

Britt, president of the Business Council of Alabama, has a platform that’s pro-life, pro-school choice, pro-fiscal responsibility, pro-border security, pro-Second Amendment, and pro-police. She also favors repealing and replacing Obamacare, fighting big tech companies, and using American energy sources.

Her commercials focus on her Christian faith, her support for the Second Amendment, her support for pro-life issues, and her support for border security.

“Being pro-life and pro-Second Amendment doesn’t make me radical. It makes me American,” Britt said.

Brooks, a Congressional representative, is campaigning to fight corruption in Washington, improve military technology, lower government spending, avoid armed foreign intervention, end Obamacare, protect the border, support the Second Amendment, and support pro-life issues.

Brooks’s ads position him as a “true conservative” who opposes “Republicans in name only,” including Mitch McConnel and Katie Britt. In another ad, he claimed that he supported Trump in a “war” against McConnell “for the heart and soul of the Republican Party.”

President Donald Trump on the White House South Lawn in Washington on Aug. 1, 2019. Losing Trump's endorsement has been challenging for Alabama senatorial candidate Mo Brooks, who based much of his campaign on his loyalty to Trump. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

But about two weeks ago, Trump withdrew Brooks’s endorsement.

“Mo Brooks of Alabama made a horrible mistake recently when he went ‘woke’ and stated, referring to the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, ‘Put that behind you, put that behind you,’ despite the fact that the Election was rife with fraud and irregularities,” Trump said.

Even so, Brooks still has endorsements from many pro-Trump conservative politicians, including Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Army veteran Durant’s platform includes support for Trump, opposition to mask mandates, support for pro-life policies, support for the Second Amendment, support for border security, and opposition to the influence of big tech.

Durant’s commercials highlight his faith and his military service. Durant was the sole survivor of the “Black Hawk Down” incident in Somalia, and was wounded in service of his country.

Right now, Britt has raised $4.98 million, Durant has raised $4.3 million, and Brooks has raised $2.1 million.

According to the most recent polls, Durant now leads the race with 33 percent of the Republican vote, Britt has 23 percent, and Brooks has 12 percent. About 26 percent of voters remain undecided.

The same poll suggests that Trump’s endorsement would likely impact the voting choice of most undecided voters.

Durant has endorsements from Trump ally Michael Flynn, former opponent Jessica Taylor, and gun rights activist Ted Nugent. Britt has endorsements from the Alabama Restaurant and Hospitality Association, the Alabama Retail Association, the Farm PAC, and several other business groups.

Trump has announced that he will likely endorse another candidate in the race. Since then, both Durant and Britt have competed for a Trump endorsement.

Alabama House Races

Alabama will likely send six Republican candidates and one Democrat to Congress. All the state’s congressional districts have incumbents except the Fifth Congressional District.

Its current representative, Brooks, is running for Senate.

In his place, he leaves a race between four main Republican candidates. Judging by funding, Dale Strong is leading the race with about $628,000 raised, followed by Casey Wardynski with about $415,000 raised, John Roberts with $142,000 raised, and Paul Sanford with $37,000 raised.

According to a poll by the Alabama Farmers Federation, which endorses Strong, Strong is leading the race by about 20 percent, with candidate Paul Sanford at 7.3 percent, Wardynski at 6 percent, and Roberts at 4.7 percent. The poll said 40 percent of Republican primary voters are still undecided.

Strong, a former paramedic and county commission chairman, is running as a pro-Trump conservative. He supports pro-life policy, the Second Amendment, cutting taxes and cutting spending, upholding police, and stopping illegal immigration.

He has received endorsements from the Fraternal Order of Police, the Alabama Farmers Federation, and the League of Southeastern Credit Unions.

Strong’s ad highlights his service as a volunteer firefighter as well as his Christian and conservative beliefs. The ad condemns President Joe Biden and accuses him of “kneeling to Antifa.”

Sanford, a restaurant owner who entered politics in 2008, supports pro-life policy, the Second Amendment, local control of schools, pro-business laws, modernization of American energy, cutting taxes and cutting spending, upholding police, and stopping illegal immigration.

Sanford has endorsements from the Alabama Restaurant and Hospitality Association and pro-family group the Eagle Forum PAC.

Sanford has not yet released any ads.

Election workers count ballots in Philadelphia, Pa., on Nov. 4, 2020. Increasing election security is a common item on Alabama Republican platforms. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Wardynski, former assistant secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, will also likely prove an important candidate in the Fifth Congressional District race. He has an endorsement from Trump ally Michael Flynn.

Wardynski supports Trump’s America First Agenda, the Second Amendment, pro-life policies, less federal control over education, fighting cancel culture, increasing election safeguards, stopping illegal immigration, opposing Iranian nuclear weapons, and countering China’s growing power.

Wardynski’s ads focus on his service to the Army and his work in strengthening border security.

Roberts, an economic developer, may have the race’s third-best fundraising, but his website features no major endorsements.

His campaign platform includes workforce development, educational opportunity, a balanced budget, pro-life policies, Second Amendment Support, border security, support for the police, bringing economic business back from China, increased mental health resources, increased election security, and opposition to big tech companies.

His commercials emphasize his past success in creating economic development and state that he isn’t a career politician.