The News in 90 Seconds is a Yellowhammer feature that takes a complex issue and boils it down into a short video to make it more understandable. Today we’re recapping Alabama’s 2014 Alabama primary elections.
Check out the video above. The transcript of the voiceover is below and includes links to Yellowhammer’s coverage of each race mentioned. Interested in more News in 90 Seconds? Click over the Yellowhammer TV.
Politically active Alabamians may remember 2014’s primary campaigns as an epic struggle between warring political factions, but most Alabamians shrugged it off. Voters went to the polls in the lowest numbers in recent memory.
Part of the reason for that was the lack of drama at the top of the ticket.
Gov. Bentley coasted to victory, receiving an eye-popping 89% of the vote.
That made the race for Alabama’s 6th Congressional District seat the state’s marquee matchup.
Frontrunner Paul DeMarco easily advanced, but the race for second was a nail-biter.
Businessman Will Brooke and Dr. Chad Mathis went after each other with a flurry of negative ads. That allowed Gary Palmer to fly through unscathed and join DeMarco in the runoff.
Races for the Alabama Public Service Commission don’t usually make headlines. But after incumbent commissioner Terry Dunn sided with environmental groups on a series of issues, three Republicans stepped up to challenge him. Chip Beeker got the most votes, but Dunn held on to force a runoff.
The biggest story of the night was that the Alabama Education Association spent roughly $7 million in the Republican primary, but won ZERO statewide races, ZERO state senate races, and only a handful of low-profile state house races.
They spent an unprecedented amount of money to take down Republican House & Senate leaders, but lost both races by 20 points each.
Teachers around the state woke up Wednesday morning wondering what they got in return for giving the AEA their hard-earned dues. The answer appears to be, “not much.”
That’s a recap of Alabama’s 2014 primary elections, and this is the News in 90 Seconds.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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