By CAROLINE BECK, Alabama Daily News
DOTHAN, Ala. – Dothan businessman Jeff Coleman is heading to a GOP runoff in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, but a tight contest for the second runoff spot was too close to call early Wednesday morning.
The latest, unofficial results from the Alabama Secretary of State’s website showed Coleman with about 38% of the vote. Former state Rep. Barry Moore had 21% and Prattville businesswoman Jessica Taylor had 20%.
Phyllis Harvey-Hall won the Democratic nomination with 59% percent of the vote, while farmer Nathan Mathis finished with 41%.
Tuesday night, Coleman said he felt confident heading into the March 31 GOP runoff.
“We’re ready to go to work and the people of district two have seen that,” Coleman told ADN. “I’m not a politician. I’m a business man just like President (Donald) Trump and I think that’s what the people want to see in our government today.”
Former Alabama Attorney General Troy King came in fourth with about 14% of the vote.
According to the Alabama Secretary of State’s office, voter turnout Tuesday of 33% and 101,188 votes were cast for Republicans in the 2nd Congressional District.
Coleman was the biggest spender in the race, mostly due to his ability to self fund. He reportedly raised $1.9 million through Feb. 12.
Coleman also racked up a few significant endorsements, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Council of Alabama, which rarely gets involved in federal races.
The Republican candidates were largely indistinguishable from each other when it comes to policy and all have stated their devout support for Trump.
Taylor made a big splash coming out of the gate with a viral campaign ad that focused on countering “the squad,” a reference to a group of House Democratic congresswomen, by creating her own “conservative squad.”
This is Taylor’s first run for office and she had raised $307,436 through Feb. 12.
Moore is a business owner from Enterprise and was a state representative from 2010-2018 and ran for the 2nd District Republican nomination in 2018.
Moore has run heavily on his status of being the only veteran in the field and said he hoped to build on the momentum he created when running in 2018. He raised $283,317 through Feb. 12.
The other Republican candidates were Thomas Brown, a 25 year old from Dothan; Terri Hasdorff a nonprofit executive from Montgomery; and Bob Rogers, a electric contractor from Montgomery.
Democrat Harvey-Hall is an education consultant from Montgomery and has reported to have raised $6,298 through Feb. 12. She has run for the Montgomery City Council in 2015 and 2019 and also ran for the Montgomery County Board of Education in 2016.
The 2nd District stretches from Autauga and Elmore counties, parts of Montgomery County and the Wiregrass region of southeast Alabama. It has been a reliably Republican district with only one Democrat winning in the district in the last 50 years.
Current Congresswoman Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, announced last year she would not be seeking a sixth term in the House of Representatives.