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Ainsworth collects south Alabama endorsements

By WILL WHATLEY, Alabama Daily News

Republican candidate for lieutenant governor Will Ainsworth received a handful of endorsements from officials in Mobile and Baldwin counties Thursday evening.

Ainsworth faces Public Services Commissioner President Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh in a runoff election for the GOP nomination on July 17.

Among those announcing their public support for Ainsworth during a news conference at the USS Alabama battleship were Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran; Baldwin County Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack; State Representative David Sessions of Grand Bay; and State Rep. Jack Williams of Wilmer, who is senator-elect for Senate District 34.

“I’m humbled by the confidence each of these public officials has placed in me by putting their names and reputations beside mine,” Ainsworth said. “During my time in the House, I supported the Gulf Coast 100% of the time, and I voted to keep the BP settlement funds where they rightly belonged. South Alabama will continue to have my support as lieutenant governor.”

Sessions worked with Ainsworth on the House Agriculture Committee in the Alabama Legislature.

“I know two things about Will Ainsworth – he is a good family man, and he believes in doing what is right,” said Sessions.

South Alabama is becoming a battleground in the lieutenant governor race, and Ainsworth needs to significantly improve his share of the vote in both coastal counties.

State Sen. Rusty Glover, who came in third statewide behind Cavanaugh and Ainsworth, won 58 percent of the vote in his home county of Mobile. Those votes would arguably be up for grabs, to the extent that they who cast them will turn out again, and Glover has not thrown his support behind either candidate in the runoff.

Cavanaugh took 35 percent in Mobile to Ainsworth’s seven percent.

In neighboring Baldwin County, Cavanaugh won going away with 52 percent of the vote, while Glover took 33 percent and Ainsworth 14 percent. Baldwin County is also home to a runoff for a GOP State Senate race, which could turn out more voters than might typically vote in such an election.

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