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Daily News Digest – June 6, 2018

Good morning!  Today marks 74 years since American & Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. People don’t talk like this anymore. Here’s your Daily News for Wednesday, June 6, 2018. 

1. Here’s what we know. 

Governor

  • Kay Ivey and Walt Maddox are your Republican and Democratic nominees, respectively.
  • Ivey won by focusing on doing the job and avoiding pitfalls versus opponents. Maddox won by stock-piling endorsements and allowing his competition to implode.
  • We’re going to hear a lot about how this will be a close race in November, and that may be true. It will be up to Maddox and his many allies to make it so.
  • But, all things being equal, it’s still a Republican state, and that means Ivey has a strong advantage.

Chief Justice

  • Tom Parker defeated Lyn Stuart for the GOP nomination. He’ll face Democrat Robert Vance in November.
  • Same holds true about Republican state and all, but this will be a little different.
  • Parker is a Roy Moore acolyte, and some Republicans could cross over for that reason.

Supreme Court Place 4

Jay Mitchell won the GOP nomination and will face Democrat Donna Wesson Smalley in November.

Treasurer

  • John McMillan won the GOP nomination going away and, since no Democrats are running, he is pretty much our new State Treasurer. Congratulations, sir.

Public Service Commission

  • Jeremy Oden managed to win over Jim (not Jo) Bonner. He’ll face Democrat Cara McClure in November.
  • Chip Beeker also won. He’ll face Kari Johnson in the fall.

Criminal Appeals

  • Richard Minor defeated Riggs Walker for Place 1 on the Court of Criminal Appeals. There is no Democrat, so he’s in.
  • Chris McCool and Richard Anderson will now head to a runoff for Place 2 on the Court.
  • Bill Cole defeated Donna Beaulieu for Place 3, and he won’t have Democratic opposition either.

Civil Appeals

State School Board

2. Here’s what we don’t know. 

Attorney General

  • Current Attorney General Steve Marshall and former Attorney General Troy King will face each other in a runoff on July 17.
  • Most thought King would far out pace the field with his high name recognition, but he actually trailed Marshall by a small margin.
  • Chances are this race will get even nastier than it has. But, seeing as how the attacks against Marshall didn’t have the effect most thought (and in some cases might have backfired), there could be a recalibration at play.

Lieutenant Governor

  • Twinkle Cavanaugh and Will Ainsworth were separated by a little over six percent of the vote, so this runoff will also be a hot one.
  • Blanket television ads become less effective in runoff elections, though, so it will be interesting to see how the campaigns steer their resources.

Agriculture Commissioner

  • Gerald Dial’s “Dial Time” ads weren’t enough to win the Ag Commish race. In fact, his down-to-earth opponent Rick Pate out-paced him by 10 points.
  • Now going to a runoff, I would imagine Pate’s favor with Alabama Farmer’s Federation could be a big advantage for him.

Supreme Court Place 1

  • Brad Mendhiem and Saras Stewart will face off in the the July 17 runoff.

3. Roby v. Bright

  • So, as predicted for months, Martha Roby will face Bobby Bright in a runoff for the GOP nomination for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District.
  • In case you weren’t aware, these two famously faced off in 2010. Bright was the sitting Democratic Congressman. Roby was a Republican city councilman. She won.
  • Now Bright is running as a Republican, retailored red hat and all.
  • National media is going to be all over this, and I don’t blame them. It’s too easy a storyline.
  • I think the advantage is with Roby given that a runoff electorate is full of meeting-attending GOP voters who worked to unseat Bright eight years ago.
  • If those types now favor someone who actively voted for Obama and Pelosi over someone who decided not to vote for Trump, then it will tell us how far the GOP has come (or gone, as it were).

4. Legislative races. 

Of those notable legislative races we were watching…

  • Garland Gudger defeated State Senator Paul Bussman in District 4 (Cullman). Hard to beat incumbents, so that’s significant.
  • Sam Givhan defeated Mary Scott Hunter in Senate District 4 (Madison).
  • Andrew Jones defeated State Rep. Mack Butler for Senate District 10 (Cherokee, Cleburne).
  • Will Barfoot defeated Ronda Walker Senate District 25 (Montgomery)
  • David “Coach” Burkette will head to a runoff with John Knight in Senate District 26. Because we need to count votes for a fourth time between these gentlemen.
  • The Senate District 32 (Baldwin) race is headed for a runoff between Chris Elliot and David Northcutt (this runoff could affect turnout for other statewide runoffs).
  • Parker Moore defeated Tom Fredricks in House District 4 (Limestone).
  • Ginny Shaver defeated TJ Maloney in House District 39 (Cherokee, Dekalb, Cleburne)
  • Dickie Drake defeated Ted Crockett in House District 45 (Jefferson, Shelby).
  • And in House District 88 (Autauga), newcomer Will Dismukes surprised many by leading the field with 44 percent of the vote. He’ll face Al Booth in the runoff.

5. Go deeper. 

  • If you want to check out all the data from the election, I encourage you to use the New York Times ticker HERE.
  • It has county-by-county results for the big races, and is really just a good resource.
  • I promise to be back with some more news and pith tomorrow, but right now I’m going to get a little sleep.

Headlines.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – It’s #SnapperSZN.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Governor: Ivey, Maddox win, will face off in November.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Attorney General: Marshall, King head to runoff.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS: Lt. Governor: Cavanaugh, Ainsworth head to runoff.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Congress: Roby, Bright headed to runoff.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – School Board: Reynolds wins; Hill, West headed to a runoff.  

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Supreme Court: Parker wins Chief Justice, Mitchell wins Place 4, Place 1 heads to runoff.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Criminal Appeals: Minor, Cole win, McCool and Anderson head to runoff.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Public Service Commission: Oden, Beeker prevail.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Civil Appeals: Edwards and Thomason head for runoff, Hanson and Moore win.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Treasurer: John McMillan wins.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Agriculture Commissioner: Pate, Dial headed to runoff.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Auditor: Zeigler wins, will face Joseph.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Auburn researchers find Zika-spreading mosquito species in state.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – House District 88 thrown into Republican runoff between Dismukes, Booth.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Dé·jà vu: Senate District 26 headed for runoff … again.

DOTHAN EAGLE – Columnist Steve Flowers’ Inside the Statehouse:  Losing candidates head for Buck’s Pocket.

AL.COM – Walt Maddox wins Democratic bid for governor, wants ‘results over rhetoric’.

AL.COM – Cavanaugh, Ainsworth head into a runoff for lieutenant governor.

AL.COM – Challenger forces U.S. Rep. Martha Roby into runoff

AL.COM – Huntsville road honoring civil rights icon now fully open.

AL.COM – Alabama Supreme Court, appeals courts primary race results.

AL.COM – Sue Bell Cobb calls for Democratic unity after losing gubernatorial primary to Walt Maddox.

AL.COM – Sessions defends separating immigrant parents, children.

AL.COM – Alabama Board of Education primary election results.

AL.COM – Steve Marshall, Troy King headed for attorney general runoff.

AL.COM – PSC candidate who shared Hitler Valentine gets nearly half the vote.

AL.COM – Roy Moore’s wife, Kayla Moore, loses bid for state Republican Executive Committee.

AL.COM – Incumbent Alabama Sen. Paul Bussman defeated.

AL.COM – Hoover in running for $300 million project.

AL.COM – Oprah recommends former Alabama Death Row inmate’s book.

AL.COM – Which kids pose risk of school attack? Expert weighs in.

AL.COM – Oprah recommends former Alabama Death Row inmate’s book.

AL.COM – Trump trashes Sessions on Twitter over ‘Russian Witch Hunt Hoax’.

AL.COM – Building (it) Together could transform Birmingham, groups say.

AL.COM – Contributor Clete Wetli:  Republicans ditch values to join ‘Trumpservative’ bandwagon.

DECATUR DAILY – House District 4: Moore wins Republican nomination.

DECATUR DAILY – GOP incumbents lose, face runoff in state Senate races.

DECATUR DAILY – Brooks defeats Hinchman in GOP primary; Aderholt easily wins in Dist. 4.

TUSCALOOSA NEWS – West Alabama voters choose incumbents.

GADSDEN TIMES – Jones upsets Butler in GOP District 10 race.

ANNISTON STAR – Marsh wins GOP primary for state Senate seat.

ANNISTON STAR – Incumbent Barbara Boyd easily wins Democratic primary for House District 32 seat.

 

ANNISTON STAR – Who can lead Alabama?

ANNISTON STAR – Editor Phillip Tutor: What’s Alabama’s deal with women’s rights?

OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS – Former Miss America Hagan will challenge Rogers for Congress.

OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS – GOP races of interest: Dial, West each appear headed for runoffs next month.

OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS – Lee County remembers former State Chief Justice Torbert, a ‘beloved’ native son.

WASHINGTON POST – It’s time for Congress to take back trade.

WASHINGTON POST – Mexico makes good on threats to impose tariffs on $3 billion worth of US cheese, pork, and other products.

WASHINGTON POST – Trump readies new VA health plan as report slams defective Choice Program.

NEW YORK TIMES – Contributor Quin Hillyer:  A Roy Moore-Less Campaign in Alabama Was Still Pretty Crazy

NEW YORK TIMES – Why Is Trump Mad at Sessions? A Tweet Provides the Answer

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