Alabama State Senate District 29

Incumbent

Donnie Chesteen

Assumed office: November 7, 2018

Alabama State Senate District 29 is represented byDonnie Chesteen (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Alabama state senators represented an average of143,716 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented137,228 residents.

About the office

Alabama's senators serve withoutterm limits forfour-year terms. Alabama's state senators assume office the day following their election.^[1]

Qualifications

See also:State legislature candidate requirements by state

Members of the Alabama State Senate must be at least 25 years of age at the time of their election, registered voters, U.S. citizens for at least one day, residents of the State of Alabama for at least three years, and residents of their district at least one year prior to the general election.^[2]

Salaries

See also:Comparison of state legislative salaries

Vacancies

See also:How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in theAlabama State Legislature, a special election must generally be conducted in order to fill the vacant seat. In the event that a vacancy occurs on or after October 1 in the year of a regular election, the seat will remain vacant until filled at the regular election. Otherwise, thegovernor must call for a special election if the vacancy happens before the next scheduled general election and the Legislature is in session.^[4][5][6] The governor has all discretion in setting the date of the election along with the nominating deadlines.^[6][7]

See sources:Alabama Code § 17-15-1

District map

Redistricting

2020 redistricting cycle

See also:Redistricting in Alabama after the 2020 census

On August 22, 2025, the district court struck down thestate senate map as a violation of Section 2 of theVoting Rights Act.^[8] On November 17, 2025, the court imposed a remedial map and ordered the state to use it in the 2026 and 2030 elections.^[9]

Alabama enacted state legislative maps for the state Senate and House of Representatives on Nov. 4, 2021, after Gov.Kay Ivey (R) signed the proposals into law.^[10] Senators approved the Senate map on Nov. 1 with a 25-7 vote.^[11] Representatives approved the Senate map on Nov. 3 with a 76-26 vote.^[10] For the House proposal, representatives voted 68-35 in favor on Nov. 1 and senators followed on Nov. 3 with a 22-7 vote.^[12] These maps took effect for Alabama's 2022 legislative elections.

How does redistricting in Alabama work? TheAlabama State Legislature is responsible for drawing both congressional and state legislative district lines. Both chambers of the state legislature must approve a single redistricting plan. State legislative district lines must be approved in the first legislative session following the United States Census. There is no statutory deadline for congressional redistricting. Thegovernor may veto the lines drawn by the state legislature.^[13]

TheAlabama Constitution requires that state legislative district lines be contiguous. In addition, the state constitution mandates that state Senate districts "follow county lines except where necessary to comply with other legal requirements."^[13]

In 2000, according toAll About Redistricting, the legislative committee charged with redistricting "adopted guidelines ... asking that [congressional] districts be contiguous, reasonably compact, follow county lines where possible, and maintain communities of interest to the extent feasible." In addition, the committee agreed to "attempt to avoid contests between incumbents." Similar guidelines apply to state legislative redistricting. At its discretion, the state legislature may change these guidelines, which are non-binding.^[13]

Elections

2026

See also: Alabama State Senate elections, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on May 19, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Alabama State Senate District 29

Jimmy McCray (D) is running in the Democratic primary for Alabama State Senate District 29 on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Jimmy McCray

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	There are noincumbents in this race.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 29

IncumbentDonnie Chesteen (R),Val Glasgow Paul (R), andZachary Hurst (R) are running in the Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 29 on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		Donnie Chesteen
	Submit photo	Val Glasgow Paul
	Submit photo	Zachary Hurst

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	Incumbents arebolded and underlined.
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2022

See also:Alabama State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Alabama State Senate District 29

IncumbentDonnie Chesteen defeatedNathan Mathis andFloyd McBroom in the general election for Alabama State Senate District 29 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donnie Chesteen (R)	81.4	31,576
		Nathan Mathis (D)	16.7	6,476
	Submit photo	Floyd McBroom (L)	1.9	737
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	20

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	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 38,809
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled.Nathan Mathis advanced from the Democratic primary for Alabama State Senate District 29.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. IncumbentDonnie Chesteen advanced from the Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 29.

2018

See also:Alabama State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Alabama State Senate District 29

Donnie Chesteen won election in the general election for Alabama State Senate District 29 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donnie Chesteen (R)	93.2	34,273
		Other/Write-in votes	6.8	2,492

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	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 36,765 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 29

Donnie Chesteen advanced from the Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 29 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Donnie Chesteen

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2014

See also:Alabama State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for theAlabama State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014; a runoff election took place where necessary on July 15, 2014. The general election was held onNovember 4, 2014. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 7, 2014.Melinda McClendon was unopposed in the Republican primary. IncumbentHarri Anne Smith (I) defeated McClendon in the general election. Although he filed to run,Mark Taylor did not appear on the Republican primary ballot.^{[14][15][16][17]}

Alabama State Senate District 29, General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Independent	Harri Anne SmithIncumbent	52.4%	17,830
	Republican	Melinda McClendon	47.4%	16,145
	NA	Write-In	0.2%	63
Total Votes				34,038

2010

See also:Alabama State Senate elections, 2010

Elections for the office ofAlabama State Senate consisted of a primary election on June 1, 2010, and a general election onNovember 2, 2010. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 2, 2010. IncumbentHarri Anne Smith defeatedGeorge Flowers (R) in the general election.^[18] Both candidates ran unopposed in the June 1 primary elections.^[19][20]

Alabama State Senate, District 29, General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Independent	Harri Anne SmithIncumbent	55.3%	23,800
	Republican	George Flowers	44.7%	19,225
Total Votes				43,025

Campaign contributions

From 2002 to 2022, candidates for Alabama State Senate District 29 raised a total of $4,069,560. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $271,304 on average. All figures come fromFollow the Money

See also

Suggest a link

• Alabama State Legislature
• Alabama State Senate
• Alabama House of Representatives

External links

• The Alabama State Legislature

Footnotes

	v • e State ofAlabama Montgomery (capital)
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