BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After a hotly contested primary and runoff, Katherine Robertson has clinched the Republican nomination in Alabama’s attorney general race.
Robertson on Tuesday bested runoff opponent Jay Mitchell with 164,419 votes, or 55.18%, according to unofficial primary runoff results with 65 of 67 counties reporting. Mitchell, a former Alabama Supreme Court justice, earned 133,530 voters, or 44.82%.
If elected, Robertson would be the state’s first ever woman attorney general. She has worked as current AG Steve Marshall’s chief counsel for around the last decade.
Robertson declared victory at around 8:30 p.m. after the Associated Press called the race, celebrating her win with more than 100 supporters at Saw’s Juke Joint in Birmingham.
“Twelve months ago, I entered this race as the underdog, the spoiler or the unknown, depending on who you ask,” Robertson said to the crowd. “All I knew was that I wanted to outwork and outclass my opponents and offer Alabamians something different, not somebody who saw themselves as the next rightful anything, just somebody regular who cared enough to give it a shot.”
Full of traded attack ads and hoards of PAC money, the Republican attorney general race was one of the chippiest on the primary ballot.
Robertson and Mitchell repeatedly went after each other on the campaign trail. Robertson hit at Mitchell for his work defending an Uzbek prisoner in the early 2000s and called him a “woke lawyer.” Mitchell criticized Robertson for accepting money from out-of-state super PACs like the Frontline Victory Fund and the Club for Growth PAC.
Mitchell on Tuesday night released a statement conceding the election and thanking his supporters, including third-place finisher Pamela Casey who endorsed him.
“While tonight’s results were not what we hoped for, I rest knowing we gave this race everything we had,” Mitchell said. “My family sacrificed. My team worked tirelessly. And this campaign was truly built by Alabama, for Alabama. I am proud of that. Earlier this evening, I reached out to my opponent to congratulate her on the victory and wish her success moving forward. Tonight’s outcome does not diminish what this campaign stood for or the people who made it possible. More than anything else, I want to say thank you to them.”
Throughout the campaign, Robertson marketed herself as a natural successor for Marshall because of her experience in the office. She emphasized her connections with other Republican AGs across the country, often bringing up how rare it was for the Republican Attorneys General Association to endorse her.
Robertson also carried the endorsement of several of the most powerful groups in the state of Alabama, including the Alabama Farmers Federation’s FarmPAC and Coastal150.
She thanked her supporters for their role in lifting her polling from “negative zero percent” to enough to clinch the GOP nomination.
“There have been times on this campaign where it felt like it was me against the world, like the next attorney general had already been chosen, and I didn’t even have a right to run at all, but I have been underestimated my entire career, and that comes with advantages,” she said. “They never see you coming.”
Robertson will face Democrat Jeff McLaughlin in the general election. McLaughlin, a former state representative, was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
The general election is Nov. 3.
Alabama Daily News will update the vote totals as more counties report their results.