The last few weeks of campaigning have been relentless, brutal, and at times, heartbreaking.
Today’s primary runoff will bring some resolution to all that, though surely, some rough-and-tumble will continue in many races on the road to November’s general election.
Here’s the anatomy of two major races and what a win might mean:
Attorney General
Attorney General Steve Marshall faces off against former Alabama Attorney General Troy King to become the Republican nominee for the role as Alabama’s top law enforcement officer.
The campaign has been riddled with arguments over campaign contribution money, namely whether the money that Marshall has been given by the Republican Attorneys General Association is illegal due to Alabama’s campaign finance laws (a judge ruled last week that he has no grounds for calling the contributions illegal. Read more here).
King has gone after Marshall’s allegiance, decrying the attorney general for being a former Democrat. Marshall has gone after King for his alleged ties to gambling interests, citing King’s treatment of the illicit industry both as attorney general and candidate.
A win for Marshall would be a win for candidates who accept money from large, federal political action committees, as it would demonstrate that a candidate can receive ‘PAC-to-PAC transfer’ money without losing favor with the electorate.
A win for King might show that Alabama doesn’t appreciate Marshall’s former party affiliation and doesn’t accept his job performance as a non-elected attorney general. It also might demonstrate a rekindled trust of the former attorney general.
U.S. House District 2
Rep. Martha Roby faces off against former representative Bobby Bright.
Roby has run a race touting her strong conservative record and, much like King, trying to discredit her former opponent for being a former Democrat.
Roby’s campaign has been overshadowed because of her inability to beat Bright outright in the June primary, which has been attributed a hundred times over by analysts across the country to her withdrawal of support for President Trump just days before the 2016 presidential election.
President Trump and Vice President Pence have both endorsed Roby.
A win for her would be a seal of approval of her job performance in Congress, and it would reiterate the strength of a presidential endorsement.
A win for Bright would demonstrate that Roby’s strong conservative record doesn’t outweigh her wavering support for President Trump. It would also demonstrate that conservative voters are willing to forgive Bright’s past life as a Democrat who supported Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s House speakership.
@jeremywbeaman is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News
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