(Roy) Moore candidates split court races (AL primary results)

[CShine]

Former Chief Justice Roy Moore backed four candidates in the Alabama Republican primary, but only one scored an outright victory Tuesday night. That candidate was Tom Parker, a former Moore aide who campaigned against Supreme Court Justice Jean Brown's vote to remove Moore's Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building. With of 2,469 of 2,583 boxes reporting statewide, Parker, though decisively outspent by Brown, outpaced the Place 1 incumbent, 105,642 votes to 102,441 votes, or 51 percent to 49 percent. Last year, Brown and other members of the GOP-dominated high court voted under threat of a federal court order to remove the monument Moore had placed in the judicial building rotunda. Moore was removed from office for refusing to obey the order, and has since pushed the acknowledgment of God in public buildings as a national issue. Parker faces Democrat Robert Smith, a Mobile lawyer, in the Nov. 2 general election.

Moore also backed two other high court hopefuls, Criminal Appeals Judge Pam Baschab in the Place 2 nomination race, and retired Covington County Circuit Judge Jerry Stokes in the Place 3 contest. Baschab, however, lost decisively to Shelby County District Judge Patti Smith. Incomplete returns showed Smith with 116,474 votes, or 58 percent, to 85,407, or 42 percent, for Baschab. Smith will face Democrat Roger Monroe, a former state appellate judge, in November.

Meanwhile, Jefferson County Probate Judge Mike Bolin was the pacesetter in a four-candidate race for the Place 3 nomination, but Stokes near midnight was close to getting enough votes to force the race into a runoff. The incomplete returns showed Bolin with 98,656, or 50 percent of the votes cast. Stokes was second, with 50,738 votes or 26 percent. Montgomery County District Judge Peggy Givhan had 34,056 or 17 percent, and Houston County Circuit Judge Denny Stokes had 13,798, or 7 percent. The winner faces Democrat John Rochester in November.

Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist, said Tuesday's results showed that Moore has political clout, but not as much as his supporters would like. "A powerhouse would have gotten three or four of his candidates elected," Sabato said. "But he did clearly help his close aide to win the highest profile election for the Supreme Court. Is Moore a one-issue wonder who will fade in time? We'll have to wait until 2006 to find that out."

http://www.al.com/election/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1086168027321380.xml

[struggle4progress]

1. Hey! I like it when Republicans fight Republicans! Thanks, Roy!

I always suspected some Republicans wanted to become the Party of inflexible extremists. :)

[DemoTex]

2. Meanwhile, Dr DemoTex is in Alabama making millions ...

Literally ... millions. All based on a poor decision by George Wallace in 1968. I might look at Porsches tomorrow (just kidding!).