MONTGOMERY, Ala. – John Wahl, former chair of the Alabama Republican Party and Secretary of State Wes Allen are headed to a runoff for the Republican nomination in the race to be Alabama’s next lieutenant governor.
Wahl led the field with 192,431 votes, or 40.6%, as of Wednesday morning. Secretary of State Allen was behind him with 180,286 votes, or 38%.
Wahl was thrust into the race just before qualifying closed with a surprise endorsement from President Donald Trump. A former lawmaker challenged Wahl’s residency status in January, but the ALGOP dismissed the challenge and kept Wahl on the ballot.
Allen has a larger war chest heading into the runoff. He has $387,600 on hand after spending $1.51 million on the campaign trail.
Wahl has a reserve of $382,500 after doling out $1.52 million over the course of the race.
The lieutenant governor runoff will take place in less than a month. The winner of that contest will face Democrat Phillip Ensler in the November general election.
Ensler, who currently serves as a state representative out of Montgomery, easily defeated Darryl Perryman in the Democratic primary. Ensler earned 196,526 votes, or 57.7%. Perryman won 144,216, or 42.3%.
Ensler appeared on Tuesday night at Democratic gubernatorial candidate Doug Jones’ victory party.
The race was one of the most crowded fields on the ballot, with seven candidates on the Republican side.
The other five Republican candidates on the ballot split the remaining 21% of the vote share.
Here’s how they did.
- Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate – 34,608 votes, or 7.3%
- Nicole Jones Wadsworth – 27,905, or 5.9%
- Pat Bishop – 15,404 votes, or 3.3%
- Stewart Hill Tankersley – 13,523 votes, or 2.9%
- George Childress – 10,318 votes, or 2.17%
The runoff election is June 16. The general election will take place on November 3.