MONTGOMERY, Ala. – U.S. Rep. Martha Roby won her primary runoff in convincing fashion Tuesday defeating former Congressman Bobby Bright by a 68 to 32 percent margin.
Roby will face Democratic nominee Tabitha Isner in the general election.
The race garnered significant national attention due to Roby withdrawing her support of Donald Trump before the 2016 presidential election. She called on Trump to step aside and allow Mike Pence to be the Republican nominee when audio surfaced of Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women.
Roby’s decision angered many Republican voters and help earn her primary challenges from four opponents, including Bright, an ex-Democrat whom Roby defeated in 2010.
In the weeks leading up to the election, Trump threw his support behind Roby, which surprised many because Roby never backtracked from her criticism as so many other Republicans who spoke out did. Trump called Roby a “consistent and reliable vote for our Make America Great Again agenda” and urged voters to support her over Bright.
With that endorsement, Roby smoothed over any lingering uncertainty with GOP voters in a heavily Trump-friendly district.
During her acceptance speech, Roby made sure to thank God, her family, her campaign team, “the hard-working people of the Second District,” as well as giving a “sincere thanks” to President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for their endorsement in the election.
“It has been a true privilege to have the support of the White House during this campaign, and I appreciate so much their endorsement,” Roby said during her speech.
Asked if she credited her success in this race to Trump and his endorsement she said, “look, this win is attributed to a lot of folks, but I am of course very grateful that the president and vice president came out and said that I was a consistent and reliable vote.”
“I’ve been saying to the folks of Alabama for the past 18 months, my job is to make sure that I am working closely with the administration on our shared conservative agenda and the fact that the president and vice president were willing to tell the people of the second district that I was that reliable vote was very helpful and I am very grateful for their support,” Roby said.
While Bright attempted to paint Roby as anti-Trump, his own pas as a Democrat came back to haunt him in deep a red GOP district. Roby’s camp frequently reminded voters about Bright’s support for former President Barack Obama and vote to make Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House.