President Donald Trump recently endorsed U.S. Rep. Barry Moore for U.S. Senate and John Wahl for Alabama lieutenant governor, but fresh polling shows their GOP rivals still have the most voter support for now.
Attorney General Steve Marshall, who is running for U.S. Senate, and Secretary of State Wes Allen, running for lieutenant governor, still have the advantages they entered their campaigns with – statewide name recognition, favorable ratings and broad coalitions, pollster Michael Lowry and The Alabama Poll say.
Meanwhile, the numbers show U.S. Senate Katie Britt’s endorsement could be even more valuable than Trump’s.
Lowry’s recent poll surveyed 500 likely GOP primary voters this week asking who they would support if the primary were today. The poll has a margin of error of ±4.4%.
Key findings include:
- 26% of respondents said they would vote for Marshall; 17% said Moore. Jared Hudson, Rodney Walker and Morgan Murphy polled in the single digits. Forty-three percent are undecided.
- 52% of current Marshall voters say the Trump endorsement makes “no difference” – they’ve already chosen Marshall and aren’t moving.
- Marshall does better in Montgomery, Birmingham and Huntsville markets, where 74% of GOP voters are. Moore’s strength is in south Alabama.
- 23% of voters said they would vote for Allen for lieutenant governor, compared to 6% each for Wahl, current Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate and economic developer Nicole Wadsworth.
Wahl entered the race two weeks ago while others have been running since mid-2025 or earlier. Fifty-nine percent of voters are still undecided in that race.
Lowry said despite Wahl’s time as ALGOP chairman — he stepped down two weeks ago when he qualified for the race — he has a name recognition issue to overcome. Forty-six percent of voters have never heard of him, limiting the Trump endorsement’s weight.
Meanwhile, only 38% of respondents said Trump’s support for Wahl makes them more likely to support him. Forty-six percent said Trump’s endorsement of Moore made them more likely to support him.
“To me, the Trump endorsement is valuable for an introduction to voters in mail pieces, things like that, but it’s not determinative,” Lowry told ADN.
In both races, there is plenty of room for candidates to make gains in the three months until the primaries.
The Britt factor
Lowry said a Britt endorsement for Marshall or Allen would be a powerful counterweight to Trump’s, and potentially “more decisive with the voters who will actually determine these races.”
A Trump endorsement makes the GOP voters polled 15% to 16% less likely to support a candidate, The Alabama Poll information said. Only 11% said the same about Britt.
Britt performs significantly better with moderates and women, segments where Trump’s endorsements underperform or actively work against candidates, the polling summary said.
And while 39% said Trump’s endorsement makes “no difference,” a Britt endorsement would move 25% toward “more likely.”
“I think that Sen. Britt has quickly established herself as one of, if not the, powers in the state of Alabama,” Lowry said. “She’s put her nose down, she’s doing her job in Washington and she’s serving the people of the state.
“I think that her numbers, her influence, are a recognition of the work that she’s done and the person that she is.”