June 2018 Group Watch: News & Views from the State House

• Gov. Ivey Faces Maddox: Governor Kay Ivey and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox will face each other in the general election in November. Ivey clinched the Republican nomination for governor without a runoff, after beating back a field of GOP challengers. Maddox defeated former Alabama Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb for the Democratic nomination. Ivey received more votes than the combined Democratic field. Alabama hasn’t elected a Democrat to the governor’s office since 1998.
• Runoff for Lt. Governor: After a close race, Twinkle Cavanaugh and Will Ainsworth will face each other once more in a runoff for lieutenant governor. Cavanaugh, president of the Public Service Commission, currently has a slight lead over Representative Ainsworth, R-Guntersville. Cavanaugh and Ainsworth will be vying for the vacant seat of lieutenant governor, which serves as the backup to the Alabama governor. The last lieutenant governor, Kay Ivey, was sworn in as governor following the resignation of former Governor Robert Bentley.
• Runoff for Attorney General: Current Attorney General Steve Marshall and former Attorney General Troy King will meet in a runoff for the GOP nomination for attorney general following a spirited primary campaign. Marshall’s campaign tied Donald Trump with his own work on shortening death penalty appeals and joining lawsuits over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, designed to extend legal status to those brought to this country as children. King’s campaign focused mostly on fighting crime.
• Runoff for AL’s 2nd District: U.S. Representative Martha Roby will face former Democratic Congressman turned Republican Bobby Bright in a runoff for Alabama’s conservative 2^nddistrict. Roby, who is a four-term incumbent, emphasized her record and working relationship with the White House. Bright is a former mayor of Montgomery and represented the district as a Democrat for two years before losing to Roby in 2010.

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