MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is weathering another round of attempts to have him removed from the bench, but he still enjoys the support of a majority of Alabama Republicans.
The Alabama Forestry Association, one of the state’s most influential conservative groups, commissioned a survey of 600 likely Republican primary voters and found that Moore’s sky-high name recognition makes him the GOP’s current top choice for governor in 2018 in what promises to be a crowded field.
If the 2018 Republican Primary were held today, here’s who GOP primary voters say they would support:
Chief Justice Roy Moore: 28%
Undecided: 24%
Attorney General Luther Strange: 19%
Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle: 9%
Congresswoman Martha Roby: 6%
Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan: 3%
Secretary of State John Merrill: 3%
Tim James: 3%
Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh: 2%
State Treasurer Young Boozer: 2%
If Republican primary voters’ first choice does not make the runoff, here’s who they say their second pick would be:
Undecided: 31%
Luther Strange: 23%
Roy Moore: 10%
Tim James: 7%
Young Boozer: 6%
Martha Roby: 6%
Tommy Battle: 6%
John McMillan: 5%
John Merrill: 4%
Del Marsh: 3%
Although Moore is currently Republicans’ top pick at 28%, he is the second choice of only 10% of GOP primary voters, suggesting he may have trouble making it to the 50%+1 threshold needed to secure his Party’s nomination. However, that appeared to be a problem for him in his last run for Chief Justice as well, and he managed to pull it off.
Attorney General Luther Strange, the second most well-known of the field that was polled, is the second choice of almost a quarter of GOP primary voters, indicating that he could be in a strong position if he were able to get into the runoff.
Other potential candidates have a lot of ground to make up when it comes to name recognition, but current Gov. Robert Bentley overcame a similar issue in his first run, proving that it’s possible.
One other interesting number from the survey shows just how short voters’ memories can be.
Conservative businessman Tim James, son of former Gov. Fob James, and a two-time gubernatorial candidate himself (2002 and 2010), is currently known by less than half of the GOP electorate.
The favorability of each candidate polled can be found below (in alphabetical order).
HUNTSVILLE MAYOR TOMMY BATTLE
Favorable: 22%
Unfavorable: 5%
Heard of – No Opinion: 13%
Never Heard of: 60%
STATE TREASURER YOUNG BOOZER
Favorable: 27%
Unfavorable: 9%
Heard of – No Opinion: 35%
Never Heard of: 30%
TIM JAMES
Favorable: 14%
Unfavorable: 12%
Heard of – No Opinion: 21%
Never Heard of: 53%
SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEM DEL MARSH
Favorable: 20.1
Unfavorable: 13.8
Heard of – No Opinion: 25
Never Heard of: 41
AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER JOHN MCMILLAN
Favorable: 24%
Unfavorable: 7%
Heard of – No Opinion: 31%
Never Heard of: 38%
SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN MERRILL
Favorable: 16%
Unfavorable: 7%
Heard of – No Opinion: 30%
Never Heard of: 47%
CHIEF JUSTICE ROY MOORE
Favorable: 58%
Unfavorable: 29%
Heard of – No Opinion: 11%
Never Heard of: 2%
CONGRESSWOMAN MARTHA ROBY
Favorable: 23%
Unfavorable: 9%
Heard of – No Opinion: 15%
Never Heard of: 53%
ATTORNEY GENERAL LUTHER STRANGE
Favorable: 44%
Unfavorable: 19%
Heard of – No Opinion: 30%
Never Heard of: 7%
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