Straight ticket voters rule the roost in Alabama elections
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Eye on Politics
Paul DeMarco
What a year it has been in politics, and we still have a long way to go before we get to 2025. The presidential election this year will be one for the history books, but folks will also be watching Alabama, as well, to see how state voters turn out.
Republicans have held true power in Alabama since 2019 when the Alabama Legislature flipped and Republicans took the majority in both the state House and Senate after more than 136 years of rule by Democrats.
While we are still two years away from the election for all Alabama constitutional offices, this fall we will see a lot of local officials on the ballot. And if history is any indication at least two-thirds of those votes will be straight ticket votes.
In 2022, there were more than 1.4 million total ballots cast. Of those straight ticket voters, 647,000 were Republican and 297,000 Democrat.
Thus, when you add it up, about 67 percent of Alabama voters stick to their party candidates when they go to the polls. This could be the determining factor in the very competitive race for the new Congressional District that runs from Mobile to Phenix City.
Polling shows the Republican and Democratic candidates campaigning are neck and neck. Thus, it will really be something to watch if voters stray from their party to select a candidate from the other party.
With this year’s high stakes presidential race at the top of the ticket, you can absolutely count on another significant straight ticket vote in Alabama’s elections.
Paul DeMarco is a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives and judiciary chair of the House Judiciary Committee. He can be found on X, formerly Twitter, at @Paul_DeMarco.