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Bentley wins GOP nod for Alabama governor

July 14, 2010 —

State Rep. Robert Bentley, a retired dermatologist, won the runoff for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Alabama. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Bentley, who largely self-financed his campaign, had 56 percent to 44 percent for ex-state Sen. Bradley Byrne, the choice of the business community and a number of top Republicans. 

Bentley campaigned as “the nice guy,” avoiding attacks on other candidates, and may have gained from voters turned off by Byrnes’ negative campaigning in the June 1 primary. In addition, Byrnes’ attacks on Bentley in the runoff may have backfired on him.  

The GOP establishment was firmly behind Byrnes, including Gov. Bob Riley and US Reps. Spencer Bachus and Jo Bonner, as were most of the state’s newspapers. Indeed, Bentley sought to gain from the array of GOP “big mules” behind Byrne, charging that he had to fight his party’s establishment as well as Byrne. 

Although the two candidates who lost out in the first primary, businessman Tim James and former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, made no endorsement in the runoff, both of their campaign managers came out for Bentley and most of the James and Moore supporters appear to have gone for Bentley, in retaliation for Byrne’s attacks on James in particular. 

In the first primary on June 1, Byrne led with 28 percent, with Bentley close behind with 25 percent; James was third, also with 25 percent and only 208 votes behind Bentley, and Moore had 19 percent. 

The Alabama Education Association, which has long opposed Byrne from his tenure as head of the state’s junior college program, sponsored attack ads against Byrne. Byrne contended the group was trying to get Democrats to vote in the open primary in order to defeat their old foe. Bentley denied any knowledge of the ads and called on the AEA to withdraw them. Nevertheless, an Election Day get-out-the-vote text message from the Byrne camp proclaimed, “Do not let Democrats pick both candidates for governor.” According to media reports, there was no evidence that Democrats crossed over to vote in the GOP primary in significant numbers. 

In the 2^nd District (Montgomery, etc.), where two Republicans were in a runoff to determine who would oppose freshman US Rep. Bobby Bright (D), Montgomery City Council member Martha Roby, 33, won with 60 percent to 40 percent for Tea Party candidate and ex-Marine Rick Barber, 35. Roby almost won the GOP nod in the first primary, garnering 48.6 percent of the vote, just shy of a majority; Barber was second with 28 percent.  

In the 7^th District (Birmingham, etc.), where incumbent Artur Davis (D) stepped down to make a failed gubernatorial bid, attorney (Harvard Law School) and former congressional aide Terri Sewell won with 55 percent to 45 percent for Jefferson County Commissioner Shelia Smoot.  In the June 1 primary, Sewell led with 37 percent to Smoot’s 29 percent; Earl Hilliard Jr., son of the district’s former congressman, came in third. Hilliard stayed neutral in the runoff, but at least one survey showed his supporters were more inclined to support Sewell than Smoot. Sewell, who was at Princeton University at the same time as Michelle Obama, raised far more money than Smoot.  

In other statewide runoffs, in the Democratic runoff for Attorney General, Montgomery lawyer James Anderson defeated Birmingham lawyer and former executive director of the state Democratic Party Giles Perkins by 60 percent to 40 percent. 

In the Republican runoff for Agriculture Commissioner, the lead see-sawed back and forth; with 99 percent of precincts reporting, John McMillan had defeated Dorman Grace by 52 percent to 48 percent.  

And in the Republican runoff for Public Service Commissioner, incumbent Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh defeated challenger Stephen Evans by 62 percent to 38 percent.