McAlpine falls in Primary; Farrior prevail

Published 3:00 pm Thursday, March 5, 2020

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Lowndes County took to the polls Tuesday, along with the rest of the state and a sizable portion of the nation to help decide a series of local, state and national primaries.

Of the county’s 10,180 registered voters, only 4,442 ballots were cast, according to unofficial results provided by Lowndes County Probate Judge Lashandra Myrick, making for a total voter turnout of 43.63 percent.

Several local primaries, including County Commission seats and a Board of Education seat, were at stake.

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Local Races

The first county commission seat at stake was District 2. Incumbent Carnell McAlpine faced off in the Democratic primary with former commissioner Charlie King Jr. The challenger prevailed, winning 629 votes or 52.95 percent, while McAlpine gathered 559 votes or 47.05 percent.

District 3 Commissioner Joshua Simmons also faced several Democratic challengers for that seat. Simmons garnered 341 votes or 45.96 percent, while Brenson Crenshaw Sr. finished second with 257 votes or 34.64 percent. Another candidate, Lee Coleman, ended with 144 votes for 19.41 percent of ballots cast.

Simmons and Crenshaw Sr. will now face off head-to-head in a runoff on March 31.

In the District 5 race, incumbent W. Dickson Farrior faced off with John E. Hulett in the Democratic primary. Farrior came out on top of that race with 590 votes or 60.82 percent to Hulett’s 380 or 39.18 percent.

In the Board of Education member race, incumbent Robert J. Grant faced challenger Rodney Rudolph. Grant received 657 votes or 55.87 percent to defeat Rudolph, who received 519 votes or 44.13 percent.

Statewide Races

Several statewide primary races were at stake on Lowndes County Republican ballots, although a Board of Education seat was decided in part by Lowndes Democratic voters.

Lowndes County voted relatively closely with the state at large in the race for the Republican U.S. Senator nominee.

Former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville managed to defeat his opposition among Lowndes County Republican voters, receiving 253 votes or 38.80 percent. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions followed, receiving 199 votes or 30.52 percent.

Trailing behind in the large field was Bradley Byrne, who got 143 votes or 21.93 percent.

Sessions and Tuberville will face off again in a statewide run-off on March 31.

Lowndes County Republican voters also voted for the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Lowndes voters favored Ward, who received 324 votes or 57.24 percent, while Greg Shaw received 242 votes or 42.76 percent.

Statewide, Shaw won that race with 58.38 percent of the vote.

Also on the Republican ballot was Court of Civil Appeals Judge, Place 2. Lowndes voters went largely for Matt Fridy, who received 272 votes, 59.78 percent. His opponent, Phillip Bahakel, received 183 in-county votes, 40.22 percent.

Fridy also swept that race statewide, receiving 66.03 percent of votes cast.

Lowndes Republican voters heavily favored Mary Windam in the race for Court of Criminal Appeals Judge, Place 1. Windam received 412 Lowndes County votes or 79.54 percent. Her challenger, Melvin Hasting, received 106 votes or 20.46 percent.

Windam also won that race statewide, gathering 69.46 percent of all votes cast.

Lowndes County Republican voters helped decide the race for Court of Criminal Appeals Judge, Place 2. Beth Kellum won that race in-county with 244 or 49.80 percent of all votes. Will Smith received 160 votes or 32.65 percent, while Jill Ganus received 86, 17.55 percent.

Kellum received 43.37 percent of votes state-wide.

Democratic voters had the opportunity to vote for their nominee president of the state Public Service Commission.

Lowndes voters favored Laura Casey heavily, voting 81.87 percent, or 1,653 ballots, in her favor. Challenger Robert L. Mardis, Jr. received 366 votes for 18.13 percent.

Republican voters also voted for their Public Service Commission nominee. Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh garnered the most Lowndes votes with 478 or 78.88 percent, followed by Robin Litaker with 128 or 21.12 percent of votes.

Casey and Cavanaugh both also won their contests statewide.

The race for State Board of Education member, District 5 was also at stake on the Democratic ballot.

Fred Bell received the majority in Lowndes County with 66.14 percent or 2,024 votes. The next closest in a wide field was Tonya Smith Chestnut, who received 538 votes or 19.05 percent. Bell and Chestnut, who received 30.35 and 19.80 percent of statewide votes respectively, will now face off in a run-off on March 31.

Also at stake on every ballot was Alabama Constitutional Amendment One, which would have changed the state Board of Education into a governor-appointed entity rather than a voter-decided one.

Lowndes County voters turned down the measure, along with the majority of the rest of the state, voting 74.04 percent against it.

National Races

The prominent national race on each ballot was, of course, the Presidential nominee for each party.

Lowndes County Democratic and Republican voters casted their ballots largely in line with the rest of the state.

Democratic voters heavily favored former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, with 69.74 percent of ballots or 2,406 votes going in his favor.

Republican voters also heavily favored incumbent President Donald Trump, who received 652 votes or 98.64 percent.

Biden received 63.28 percent of votes in Alabama, while Trump received 96.22 percent.