Britt, Allen win Republican runoffs
Enterprise native Katie (Boyd) Britt is officially the Republican nominee for the United States Senate, defeating Mo Brooks in the Republican runoff election on June 21.
Britt won the race handedly, earning 63 percent of the vote with 252,881 total votes compared to Brooks’ 148,425 votes for 37 percent of the vote, according to the Associated Press.
Britt won every county in the state except for Shelby County. In Pike County, Britt took 81.9 percent of the vote and in her home county of Coffee County, Britt won 80.3 percent of the vote. In fact, Britt won all Wiregrass counties by 77 percent or more.
Britt also won Alabama’s biggest counties, taking 52.9 percent of the vote in Jefferson County, 72.2 percent of the vote in Mobile County, 68.6 percent of the vote in Baldwin County, 51.3 percent of the vote in Madison County and 68 percent of the vote in Montgomery County.
Brooks conceded the race to Britt at around 8:30 p.m. on June 21 but wasn’t exactly congratulatory in his concession, even taking some parting shots at voters.
“We are sending to Washington D.C. the exact opposite of what we need in the United States Senate,” Brooks said. “But the voters have spoken. They might not have spoken wisely.
“They have been seduced by brazenly false advertising. But nonetheless, they have spoken and I respect that. Congratulations to the Alabama Democratic Party, they now have two nominees in the general election, Will Boyd and (Britt), who they endorsed and helped push over the finish line both in the primary and in the runoff. So, congratulations to you.”
Britt officially accepted the nomination from the GOP with a speech to her supporters in Montgomery.
“I was told, ‘You’re too young, wait your turn.’ One thing is clear, Alabama has spoken,” Britt said. “We want new blood. We want fresh blood. We want someone who will fight for Christian conservative values, who will fight for the freedoms and liberties this nation was founded on and will fight for the American dream for the next generation and the next generation.”
Britt, who was endorsed by former U.S. President Donald Trump in recent weeks, will now go on to face Democratic nominee, and Lauderdale County pastor, Will Boyd in the general election in November. Britt is expected to win the general election in a very red state and if she does, she will become one of the youngest Alabama senators ever elected and the first woman to ever be elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama.
Additionally, State Representative Wes Allen won the Republican nomination for Secretary of State by winning his runoff with outgoing State Auditor Jim Zeigler by capturing 65.4 percent of the vote. Allen overwhelmingly took Pike County, earning 90.1 percent of the vote with Zeigler managing just 300 votes in the county compared to Allen’s 2,737 votes. The Troy native now moves on to face Democrat Pamela J. Laffitte, an Air Force veteran, in the general election in November.
Also in the runoff for the Democratic candidate for the Governor’s runoff, Yolanda Flowers won 55.1 percent of the vote over Malika Sanders-Fortier, meaning Flowers will now face incumbent Gov. Kay Ivey in November. Flowers is a Birmingham native and works as a therapist and rehabilitation specialist.