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All 35 seats in theAlabama State Senate 18 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Winners by party Winners by vote share Democratic hold Democratic gain Democratic: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% 90–100% Unopposed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1970 Alabama Senate election took place on Tuesday, November 3, 1970, to elect 35 representatives to serve four-year terms in theAlabama Senate. The result was anelectoral wipeout, as all 35 candidates elected were members of theDemocratic Party. Every single seat was won by a white male Democrat.[1] In the previous general election, oneRepublican, Leland Childs, was elected, but had unsuccessfully sought re-election as a Democrat.[2]
The Democratic primaries were held on May 5 with runoffs on June 2, which candidates had until February 28 to qualify for. Neither theRepublican Party nor theNDPA held primaries for state office, instead opting to nominate byparty convention. The Republican convention took place inBirmingham on July 17.[3]
This was the last state senate election inAlabama before a 1973 federal court order mandated a new legislative map withsingle-member districts. At this point, the state had used a mixed system of single-member and multi-member districts to allocate seats in the legislature, all based on pre-existing county lines.[4]
| Single-member: 1-county 2-county 3-county 4-county 5-county (District 10) | Multi-member: |
| Party | Candidates | Seats | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Num. | Vote | % | Before | Won | +/– | ||||
| Democratic | 35 | 1,246,646 | 82.51% | 34 | 35 |  1 | |||
| NDPA | 13 | 188,808 | 12.50% | 0 | 0 |  | |||
| Conservative | 9 | 51,668 | 3.42% | 0 | 0 | | |||
| Independent Party | 2 | 13,359 | 0.88% | 0 | 0 | | |||
| Republican | 2 | 7,469 | 0.49% | 1 | 0 |  1 | |||
| Whig | 1 | 2,877 | 0.19% | 0 | 0 | | |||
| Write-in | — | 7 | 0.0005% | — | 0 | | |||
| Total | 62 | 1,510,827 | 100% | 35 | 35 | | |||
†: Incumbent did not run for reelection.‡: Lost re-nomination.
| District | Incumbent | Party | Elected Senator | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Stewart O'Bannon | Dem | Stewart O'Bannon | Dem | ||
| 2nd | Bob Harris | Dem | Bob Harris | Dem | ||
| 3rd | Jack Giles | Dem | Gene McLain | Dem | ||
| 4th | Dan Stone‡ | Dem | Kenneth Hammond | Dem | ||
| 5th | Emmet Oden † | Dem | Joe Fine | Dem | ||
| 6th | Fred Folsom † | Dem | Bob Wilson | Dem | ||
| 7th | Aubrey Carr | Dem | Aubrey Carr | Dem | ||
| 8th | Ollie Nabors † | Dem | Richard Malone | Dem | ||
| 9th | Woodrow Albea‡ | Dem | Fred Ray Lybrand | Dem | ||
| 10th | Jimmy Branyon | Dem | Jimmy Branyon | Dem | ||
| 11th | E. W. Skidmore † | Dem | Richard Shelby | Dem | ||
| 12thp. 1 | Pat Vacca | Dem | Pat Vacca | Dem | ||
| 12thp. 2 | Leland Childs | Rep[b] | Tom King | Dem | ||
| 12thp. 3 | John Hawkins | Dem | John Hawkins | Dem | ||
| 12thp. 4 | Richard Dominick | Dem | Richard Dominick | Dem | ||
| 12thp. 5 | George L. Bailes | Dem | George L. Bailes | Dem | ||
| 12thp. 6 | Eddie H. Gilmore | Dem | Eddie H. Gilmore | Dem | ||
| 12thp. 7 | Hugh Morrow † | Dem | Doug Cook | Dem | ||
| 13th | G. Kyser Leonard † | Dem | Robert Weaver | Dem | ||
| 14th | Walter C. Givhan | Dem | Walter C. Givhan | Dem | ||
| 15th | W. G. McCarley † | Dem | Obee J. Littleton | Dem | ||
| 16th | Tom Radney | Dem | Robert H. Wilder | Dem | ||
| 17th | Bo Torbert † | Dem | Don Horne | Dem | ||
| 18th | Pat Lindsey | Dem | Pat Lindsey | Dem | ||
| 19th | Roland Cooper | Dem | Roland Cooper | Dem | ||
| 20th | Alton Turner † | Dem | Crum Foshee | Dem | ||
| 21stp. 1 | Junie Pierce | Dem | Junie Pierce | Dem | ||
| 21stp. 2 | O. J. Goodwyn | Dem | Tom Jones | Dem | ||
| 22nd | W. Ray Lolley‡ | Dem | L. L. Dozier | Dem | ||
| 23rd | James S. Clark | Dem | James S. Clark | Dem | ||
| 24thp. 1 | L. W. Noonan | Dem | L. W. Noonan | Dem | ||
| 24thp. 2 | Pierre Pelham | Dem | Pierre Pelham | Dem | ||
| 24thp. 3 | William McDermott | Dem | Robert W. Edington | Dem | ||
| 25th | J. Ernest Jackon † | Dem | Dick Owen Jr. | Dem | ||
| 26th | Jim Adams † | Dem | Larry Register | Dem | ||
The following incumbent senators sought and won re-election:
The following incumbent senators were defeated at their respective Democratic primary:
The following incumbent senators did not seek re-election:
| District | Democratic | National Democratic | Others | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | Maj. | Mrg. | |
| 2nd | Bob Harris (inc.) | 18,235 | 95.10% | Tom King | 940 | 4.90% | — | — | — | 19,175 | +17,295 | +90.20% |
| 7th | Aubrey Carr (inc.) | 19,184 | 94.98% | Lynn Ridgeway | 1,014 | 5.02% | — | — | — | 20,198 | +18,170 | +89.96% |
| 9th | Fred Ray Lybrand | 14,599 | 77.13% | — | — | — | Robert Simmons Jr. (Rep.) | 4,329 | 22.87% | 18,928 | +10,270 | +54.26% |
| 10th | Jimmy Branyon (inc.) | 17,989 | 76.62 | Rev. H. Western | 5,490 | 23.38% | — | — | — | 23,479 | +12,499 | +53.23% |
| 12thp. 1 | Pat Vacca (inc.) | 93,826 | 74.39% | John Billingsley | 25,917 | 20.55% | William Mori (Con.) | 6,380 | 5.06% | 126,123 | +67,909 | +53.84% |
| 12thp. 2 | Tom King | 91,650 | 72.30% | T. L. Crowell | 24,001 | 18.93% | Lionel Ledbetter (Con.) | 11,104 | 8.76% | 126,755 | +67,649 | +53.37% |
| 12thp. 3 | John Hawkins (inc.) | 98,577 | 79.56% | Herbert Johnson | 22,448 | 18.12 | Virginia Davis (Whi.) | 2,877 | 2.32% | 123,902 | +76,129 | +61.44% |
| 12thp. 4 | Richard Dominick (inc.) | 90,759 | 72.56% | William. M. Pruitt | 23,062 | 18.44% | William L. Gann (Con.) | 11,255 | 9.00% | 125,076 | +67,697 | +54.12% |
| 12thp. 5 | George L. Bailes (inc.) | 87,568 | 68.52% | Georgia Price | 23,816 | 18.64% | 2 others[c] | 16,412 | 12.85% | 127,796 | +63,752 | +49.89% |
| 12thp. 6 | Eddie H. Gilmore (inc.) | 96,054 | 77.00% | Charles F. Williams | 23,160 | 18.57% | Homer Sanders (Con.) | 5,534 | 4.44% | 124,748 | +72,894 | +58.43% |
| 12thp. 7 | Doug Cook | 95,265 | 76.25% | Emory. L. Whittaker | 24,424 | 19.55% | Wesley Jacobs (Con.) | 5,242 | 4.20% | 124,931 | +70,841 | +56.70% |
| 14th | Walter C. Givhan (inc.) | 16,247 | 81.30% | L. L. Anderson | 3,736 | 18.70% | Carl Morgan (write-in) | 1 | 0.01% | 19,983 | +12,511 | +62.61% |
| 16th | Robert H. Wilder | 6,290 | 84.17% | — | — | — | Bill Lacy (Con.) | 1,183 | 15.83% | 7,473 | +5,107 | +68.34% |
| 18th | Pat Lindsay (inc.) | 14,533 | 58.13% | O. B. Wilson | 7,328 | 29.31% | E. T. Rolison Jr. (Rep.) | 3,140 | 12.56% | 25,001 | +7,205 | +28.82% |
| 19th | Roland Cooper (inc.) | 17,120 | 83.14% | Damon Kiel | 3,472 | 16.86% | — | — | — | 20,592 | +13,648 | +66.28% |
| 21stp. 2 | Tom Jones | 27,766 | 95.35% | — | — | — | Virgil Chrane (Con.) | 1,355 | 4.65% | 29,121 | +26,411 | +90.69% |
| 23rd | James S. Clark (inc.) | 12,751 | 93.21% | — | — | — | Zeke Calhoun (AIP) | 929 | 6.79% | 13,680 | +11,822 | +86.42% |
| 24thp. 3 | Robert W. Edington | 48,186 | 90.39% | — | — | — | W. C. Boykin (Con.) | 5,123 | 9.61% | 53,309 | +43,063 | +80.78% |
| Source: 1975 Alabama Official and Statistical Register (p. 215–217)[7] | ||||||||||||
The following candidates were the only candidates to file for their district's general election:
FiveBlack Americans ran in the state senate primaries. Henry Parker, Larry F. Haygood and Austin Sumbry were eliminated in the first round in May, while L. H. Pitts and L. L. Anderson advanced to the June runoff.[8] Neither won the Democratic nomination.
Three incumbent senators won re-nomination in the runoff, while three lost re-nomination.[9] Robert H. Wilder initially faced a runoff in District 16 against L. L. Still, but Still declined to participate in the runoff, allowing Wilder to advance to the general election.[10]
Candidates inboldface advanced to the general election. An asterisk (*) denotes a runoff winner who was the runner-up in the first round.
| District | Winner | Loser | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | Maj. | Mrg. | |
| 1st | Stewart O'Bannon (inc.) | 16,639 | 50.27% | Murry Beasley | 16,459 | 49.73% | 33,098 | +180 | +0.54% |
| 4th | Kenneth Hammond | 16,999 | 58.23% | Dan Stone (inc.) | 12,193 | 41.77% | 29,192 | +4,806 | +16.46% |
| 6th | Robert Wilson | 21,088 | 54.13% | Hubert Taylor | 17,871 | 45.87% | 38,959 | +3,217 | +8.26% |
| 8th | Richard Malone* | 14,922 | 50.55% | Gary Burns | 14,599 | 49.45% | 29,521 | +323 | +1.09% |
| 9th | Fred Lybrand | 13,878 | 50.49% | Woodrow Albea (inc.) | 13,607 | 49.51% | 27,485 | +271 | +0.99% |
| 12thp. 1 | Pat Vacca (inc.) | 98,051 | 56.91% | Lucius Pitts | 74,234 | 43.09% | 172,285 | +23,817 | +13.82% |
| 12thp. 2 | Tom King | 94,455 | 57.01% | Leland Childs (inc.) | 71,240 | 42.99% | 165,695 | +23,215 | +14.01% |
| 13th | Robert Weaver | 13,440 | 62.97% | Mallory Hammonds | 7,903 | 37.03% | 21,343 | +5,537 | +25.94% |
| 14th | Walter C. Givhan (inc.) | 14,560 | 65.56% | L. L. Anderson | 7,650 | 34.44% | 22,210 | +6,910 | +31.11% |
| 21stp. 2 | W. Tom Jones* | 23,423 | 53.13% | James W. Cameron | 20,662 | 46.87% | 44,085 | +2,761 | +6.26% |
| 22nd | L. L. Dozier* | 15,607 | 51.63% | Neil Metcalf | 14,619 | 48.37% | 30,226 | +988 | +3.27% |
| 26th | Larry Register* | 15,489 | 55.62% | William Matthews | 12,358 | 44.38% | 27,847 | +3,131 | +11.24% |
| Source:The Huntsville Times[9] | |||||||||
Candidates inboldface advanced to either the general election or a runoff, first-place winners with an asterisk (*) did not face a runoff.
| District | First place | Runners-up | Others | Total | Ref. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | Maj. | Mrg. | ||
| 1st | Stewart O'Bannon (inc.) | 6,025 | 39.53% | Bob Broadfoot | 3,586 | 23.53% | 2 others[d] | 5,632 | 36.95% | 15,243 | +2,439 | +16.00% | [11] |
| 3rd | Gene McLain* | 22,548 | 60.39% | Harry L. Pennington | 14,790 | 39.61% | — | — | — | 37,338 | +7,758 | +20.78% | [12] |
| 4th | Kenneth Hammond | 11,188 | 42.69% | Dan Stone (inc.) | 7,965 | 30.39% | Bernard Cabiness | 7,053 | 26.91% | 26,206 | +3,223 | +12.30% | [13] |
| 5th | Joe Fine* | 4,162 | 58.50% | Thomas E. Snoddy | 1,261 | 17.73% | 3 others[e] | 1,691 | 23.77% | 7,114 | +2,901 | +40.78% | [11] |
| 6th | Hubert Taylor | 16,864 | 46.36% | Robert T. Wilson | 15,858 | 43.59% | Leonard Wilson | 3,658 | 10.05% | 36,380 | +1,006 | +2.77% | [14] |
| 7th | Aubrey J. Carr (inc.)* | 10,905 | 52.58% | John W. Starnes | 9,835 | 47.42% | — | — | — | 20,740 | +1,070 | +5.16% | [11] |
| 8th | Gary F. Burns | 8,431 | 44.00% | Richard Malone | 7,275 | 37.96% | Birch Anderson | 3,457 | 18.04% | 19,163 | +1,156 | +6.03% | |
| 9th | Fred Lybrand | 10,448 | 45.07% | Woodrow Albea (inc.) | 8,861 | 38.22% | L. S. Suggs | 3,875 | 16.71% | 23,184 | +1,587 | +6.85% | [15] |
| 11th | Richard C. Shelby* | 14,006 | 59.55% | Olin W. Zeanah | 9,513 | 40.45% | — | — | — | 23,519 | +4,493 | +19.10% | [11] |
| 12thp. 1 | Paul Vacca (inc.) | 73,296 | 49.90% | Lucius H. Pitts | 57,906 | 39.42% | M. L. Roton | 15,693 | 10.68% | 146,895 | +15,390 | +10.48% | [16] |
| 12thp. 2 | Tom King | 66,782 | 47.06% | Leland Childs (inc.) | 62,973 | 44.37% | Curtis Belcher | 12,166 | 8.57% | 141,921 | +3,809 | +2.68% | |
| 12thp. 4 | Richard Dominick (inc.)* | 67,287 | 51.21% | Jack H. Harrison | 57,952 | 44.10% | Robert S. Watters | 6,157 | 4.69% | 131,396 | +9,335 | +7.10% | |
| 12thp. 5 | George L. Bailes (inc.)* | 70,391 | 51.12% | Don Watts | 50,852 | 36.93% | H. L. Parker | 16,442 | 11.94% | 137,685 | +19,539 | +14.19% | |
| 12thp. 7 | Doug Cook* | 85,516 | 66.36% | Louis Moore | 31,810 | 24.68% | Sam L. Chestnut | 11,540 | 8.96% | 128,866 | +53,706 | +41.68% | |
| 13th | Robert Weaver | 13,752 | 49.80% | Mallory W. Hammonds | 9,035 | 32.72% | Sam Venable | 4,829 | 17.49% | 27,616 | +4,717 | +17.08% | [17] |
| 14th | Walter C. Givhan (inc.) | 6,865 | 44.22% | Louis Lloyd Anderson | 4,820 | 31.05% | Carl C. Morgan | 3,839 | 24.73% | 15,524 | +2,045 | +13.17% | [18] |
| 15th | Obie Littleton* | 12,786 | 59.52% | Alex Hayes | 6,622 | 30.82% | H. A. Rubin | 2,075 | 9.66% | 21,483 | +6,164 | +28.69% | [11] |
| 16th | Robert H. Wilder | 9,285 | 35.26% | L. L. Still | 5,523 | 20.97% | 3 others[f] | 11,527 | 43.77% | 26,335 | +3,762 | +14.29% | |
| 17th | Don Horne* | 6,011 | 66.24% | Charles E. Fuller | 3,063 | 33.76% | — | — | — | 9,074 | +2,948 | +32.49% | |
| 19th | Roland Cooper (inc.)* | 7,874 | 58.16% | Gene Garrett | 4,443 | 32.82% | Rob Andress | 1,222 | 9.03% | 13,539 | +3,431 | +25.34% | [19] |
| 20th | E. C. Foshee* | 15,477 | 56.88% | Fletcher Jones | 11,735 | 43.12% | — | — | — | 27,212 | +3,742 | +13.75% | [20] |
| 21stp. 1 | Junie Pierce (inc.)* | 19,898 | 56.36% | J. C. Snowden | 12,155 | 34.43% | James V. Scoma | 3,251 | 9.21% | 35,304 | +7,743 | +21.93% | [21] |
| 21stp. 2 | James W. Cameron | 11,975 | 32.74% | W. Tom Jones | 11,666 | 31.89% | 2 others[g] | 12,939 | 35.37% | 36,580 | +309 | +0.84% | |
| 22nd | Neil Metcalf | 7,522 | 34.50% | L. L. Dozier | 6,269 | 28.75% | 2 others[h] | 8,011 | 36.74% | 21,802 | +1,253 | +5.75% | [11] |
| 23rd | James S. Clark (inc.)* | 2,585 | 75.70% | Austin Sumbry | 830 | 24.30% | — | — | — | 3,415 | +1,755 | +51.39% | [22] |
| 24thp. 3 | Robert S. Edington* | 32,256 | 55.33% | Rassie G. Smith | 26,045 | 44.67% | — | — | — | 58,301 | +6,211 | +10.65% | [11] |
| 26th | William Matthews | 9,660 | 43.14% | Larry Register | 8,109 | 36.21% | 2 others[i] | 4,624 | 20.65% | 22,393 | +1,551 | +6.93% | |
The following candidates were the only candidates to file for their district's Democratic primary, which automatically gave them the nomination:[23]
On July 17–18, the Republican state convention nominated three candidates for state senate:[25]
Cook, however, had withdrawn as a candidate a few days before the convention. An attempt was made to get Democratic incumbent Bo Torbert to run as a Republican, he rejected the offer.[26]
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See also:Political party strength in Alabama | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
