Alabama Democrat Party Vice Chair Tabitha Isner is once again hoping that Democrats will end up voting in the upcoming Republican Party primary in order to change the outcome of the election.
Isner made the comments on Facebook Tuesday, calling on Democrats to vote and “knock off” certain Republicans.
“The numbers are in and we can see who the frontrunners are in the Republican Primary on August 11. These are the folks we want to knock off the Republican ticket:
– District 1: Jerry Carl
– District 2: Rhett Marques
– District 7: Ammie Akin”
This echoes a statement she made earlier this month, but now she is mentioning specific candidates she doesn’t want to win. Usually Democrats would be unable to switch ballots if they recently voted in a primary, but are legally able to this time because it is a special election.
Alabama Republican Party Chairman Scott Stadthagen reacted to this push on a recent appearance on “The Rightside” with Allison Sinclair and Amie Beth Shaver, in partnership with Yellowhammer News.
“They’re going to vote for the worst ones to make a difference and change from our starting lineup,” Stadthagen argued. “We have a starter in all these races that they’re scared of. So what they’re going to do is is they’re going to vote for the person who is not going to do well and they can be successful. I think that’s the most frustrating part about all this is we as a party in a primary election get to pick our best gladiator, best starter for the big game, and now they’re meddling it, and this is just you know and like it’s so frustrating.”
A closed primary bill died in the Senate on the final day of the 2026 legislative session, after failing to receive a floor vote. Under the bill, voters would have been required to declare a party affiliation to vote in that party’s primary or runoff. A 60-day blackout period before each election would have prevented voters from switching affiliations at the last minute.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
