Alabama’s three most competitive GOP runoff races this cycle produced a combined $43.8 million in campaign spending.
Finance records from the June 16 U.S. Senate, attorney general, and lieutenant governor runoffs reveal vastly different financial foundations behind each contest, but one constant: all three winners led in both spending — and votes.
U.S. Senate: $26.9 million
The Senate race between Barry Moore and Jared Hudson accounted for nearly 61% of all tracked spending and was as lopsided financially as it was at the ballot box. Moore won 56% to 44%.
The pro-Moore effort reached $24 million, including $3.9 million from his campaign committee, $17.1 million from supporting PACs, and $3 million spent attacking Hudson. A single outside group, the Club for Growth-aligned Defend American Jobs, spent $12.2 million on Moore’s behalf, more than a quarter of all money spent across all three races combined. The Alabama Freedom Fund added $5.4 million. Hudson’s side totaled $2.9 million.
Roughly three-quarters of all Senate race money went to television.
Attorney General: $11.6 million
Katherine Robertson defeated Jay Mitchell 55% to 45% in the second-costliest race of the cycle. The spending gap was narrower: $6.2 million on Robertson’s side against $5.3 million for Mitchell.
Both candidates leaned heavily on PAC money but from different worlds. Robertson drew nearly $2.9 million from three national conservative action groups: First Principles Action ($1.2 million), Frontline Leaders Action ($1.05 million), and the Rule of Law Action Fund ($680,000). She also benefited from $456,062 spent independently by Alabama Families for IVF in opposition to Mitchell over his 2024 IVF ruling.
Mitchell tapped Alabama’s business community and legal establishment. His largest PAC donor was Progress PAC at $325,000, and he transferred $638,538 from his prior Alabama Supreme Court campaign account.
Lt. Governor: $5.3 million
The lieutenant governor race between John Wahl and Wes Allen was the tightest of the three on spending: $2.77 million for Allen against $2.54 million for Wahl. Wahl won 57% to 43%.
The two candidates built their campaigns on completely different financial foundations. Allen ran on Alabama industry and trade PACs, which gave him $1.61 million, more than three times his individual donor total.
Wahl ran on wealthy individual donors and the Club for Growth network. A single $450,000 gift from Christopher Drummond headlined his individual haul of $1.79 million, while the Club for Growth gave $620,000 across two PAC entities.
Across all three races, the combined $43.8 million in Alabama runoff races spending reached a relatively small audience. Statewide turnout for the June 16 runoff fell to just 11%, meaning the most expensive primary cycle in recent Alabama history played out before a fraction of the state’s registered voters.
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
