ONLY ON 8: Political Analyst Steve Flowers previews top runoff races
ONLY ON 8 (WAKA) – Action 8 Political Analyst Steve Flowers previews the top races in the June 16 runoffs, which are now less than one week away.
One of those races is the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate. In the May 19 primaries, Barry Moore finished with 39% of the vote to Jared Hudson’s 26%. Flowers says whomever finishes on top in the primaries usually also wins the runoffs. He says this race will be an uphill battle for Hudson as he tries to come from behind. That’s because the donors to a frontrunner will usually increase their spending to make sure their candidate makes it to the November general election.
There is also a Democratic runoff for U.S. Senate. Everett Wess finished with 40% to Dakarai Larriett’s 29% in the primary. He says there is interest in this runoff that will bring Democratic Party voters to the polls. However, this is the only statewide Democratic runoff.
In the Republican runoff for lieutenant governor, John Wahl had 41% on primary night to Wes Allen’s 38%. Flowers says this race could be a surprise because it was so close on primary night that second-place Allen could pull out a victory in the runoff. Flowers points to Allen’s business endorsements as well as having the support of the Alabama Farmers Federation (ALFA). Flowers says ALFA has a history of being able to get voters to the polls.
Finally, in the Republican runoff for attorney general, Flowers says it was a surprise to him that Katherine Robertson came out on top in the primary, with 41% of the vote to Jay Mitchell’s 34%. He says Robertson’s advertisements have been stronger than Mitchell’s. In this race, Flowers points out that third-place finisher on primary night, Pamela Casey, who had 25% of the vote, has endorsed Mitchell.
Overall, Flowers says voter turnout in the runoffs is usually about half of what it was in the primaries. In this case, there was a statewide turnout of 23% on May 19. The turnout was higher in some counties in our area, such as in Montgomery County, where turnout was 30%.
Watch the video above to see his complete analysis with Action 8’s Glenn Halbrooks.
CLICK HERE to see a list of state and local runoff races on June 16
