MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Jim “Zig” Zeigler is one step closer to the Alabama Public Service Commission nearly five decades after his first term.
Zeigler, a former PSC member and state auditor, ousted incumbent Chris Beeker and won the GOP nomination for Place 2 on the board tasked with regulating some of the state’s utilities.
Zeigler earned 152,633 votes, or 51.34%, according to unofficial election night results. Beeker got 144,640 votes, or 48.66%.
Beeker has served on the board since 2024 when Gov. Kay Ivey appointed him to fill his father’s position on the PSC.
Zeigler will face Democrat Sheila McNeil in the general election for Place 2 on Nov. 3.
Place 1 incumbent Jeremy Oden was also ousted by a primary challenger.
The PSC races are usually relatively quiet, but the role of the PSC has been elevated this year after a major legislative effort to overhaul its structure and rein in electricity rates became one of the most high profile issues of the 2026 session.
The final bill expanded the PSC from three to seven members and created a governor-appointed secretary of energy position.
Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday also made appointments for the four new seats on the PSC. Ron Burgess, Fred Johnson, Demarcus Joiner and Quinton Ross will begin their terms of office on Jan. 18.
Ivey picked from a list of candidates recommended by the lieutenant governor, speaker of the House, Senate president pro tempore and minority leaders from both chambers. Republicans recommended Burgess and Johnson, and Democrats put forward Joiner and Ross.
All PSC seats will eventually be up for election in the state’s seven congressional districts, but the PSC reform bill required Ivey to fill the vacancies.
“For Alabama to remain the best state in which to live, work and raise a family, we need good people serving in public office, including on our Public Service Commission,” Ivey said in a statement. “I am proud to tap these four experienced leaders to serve their fellow Alabamians in this capacity.”
The PSC’s President Cynthia Almond will be the only returning member of the board. Ivey tapped her for the board in 2025.