Alabama

ALABAMA

9 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Alabama Secretary of State)

Total Population, July 1, 2008 est.	4,661,900
Total Registration, Oct. 31, 2008 (active)	2,841,195

Alabama has: 67 counties.
Largest counties: Jefferson, Mobile, Madison, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa. >
Largest cities: Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, Huntsville. >

Government
Governor: Bob Riley (R) re-elected to a second term in 2006.
State Legislature: Alabama Legislature    House 105 seats, Senate 35 seats
Local: Cities, Counties   NACO Counties
U.S. House: 5R, 2D - 1. J.Bonner (R) | 2. T.Everett (R) | 3. M.Rogers (R) | 4. R.Aderholt (R) | 5. B.Cramer (D) | 6. S.Bachus (R) | 7. A.Davis (D).
U.S. Senate: Jeff Sessions (R) up for re-election in 2008, Richard C. Shelby (R) re-elected in 2004.

2008
update
U.S. Senate: Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) easily defeated State Sen. Vivian Davis Figures (D) in his bid for a third term.
U.S. House: The 2nd and 5th CD U.S. House seats were open. Democrats picked up the 2nd CD (Southeast corner, Montgomery) seat held by Rep. Terry Everett (R), as Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright (D) defeated State Rep. Jay Love (R) by 50.23% to 49.61% (1,790 votes out of 287,394). In the 5th CD (Northern AL) seat held by Rep. Robert E. “Bud” Cramer (D), State Sen. Parker Griffith (D) defeated businessman Wayne Parker (R). Alabama's U.S. House delegation goes from 5R, 2D in the 110th Congress to 4R, 3D in the 111th.

    > Democrats pick up one U.S. House seat. MORE

State of Alabama
Secretary of State

AL Democratic Party
AL Green Party
AL Republican Party
Libertarian Party of AL
Constitution Party of AL

Alabama Live
Media (Newsp.)
TV, Radio

Alabama Live Pol.
Doc's Political Parlor
Politics1-AL

Heart of Dixie

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Voting Eligible Population*: 3,398,289.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 61.8%.

Total Registration: 2,841,195 (active).
(169,443 inactive) >
Voter Registration Deadline: Oct. 24, 2008.

Official Results >
Obama/Biden (Dem.)	813,479	(38.74)
+McCain/Palin (Rep.)	1,266,546	(60.32)
Baldwin/Castle (Ind.)	4,310	(0.21)
Barr/Root (Ind.)	4,991	(0.24)
Nader/Gonzalez (Ind.)	6,788	(0.32)
w/ins	3,705	(0.18)
Total........2,099,819

2008 Overview
The McCain-Palin ticket won Alabama with a plurality of 453,067 votes (21.58 percentage points), carrying 54 of the state's 67 counties. Although the candidates bypassed Alabama in the Fall (the only principal event was Michelle Obama's appearance at a fundraiser in Mountain Brook (Birmingham) on June 23), Alabama activists helped out in neighboring Florida. Obama campaign volunteers made calls daily and traveled to Florida and knocked on doors every weekend. Turnout inspired by the Obama campaign contributed to Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright's (D) narrow win in the 2nd CD. Also of note, voter registration increased by more than 280,000 in the nine months between the presidential primary and the general election.
Obama/Allies | McCain/Allies | Nader

[Primary Election: June 3, 2008]

Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Registration, Jan. 31, 2008 (active): 2,557,021.

"Super Tuesday in Alabama was just that – super. With 40% of registered voters casting their votes in the Presidential Primary, there was historic voter turnout. The last Presidential Primary attracted only 17% of Alabamians and the largest percentage voting in a Presidential Primary prior to this one was 29%." - Feb. 7, 2008 press release from Secretary of State Beth Chapman.

Democrats
60 Delegates (52 Pledged, 8 Unpledged) and 9 Alternates. 1, 2
1.48% of the 4,049 Delegate Votes. 1.42% of the 4,234 Delegate Votes.

Clinton | Obama

Official Results

Joe Biden
1,174

0.22%

Hillary Clinton
223,089

41.57%

Chris Dodd
523

0.10%

John Edwards
7,841

1.46%

+Barack Obama
300,319

55.96%

Bill Richardson
1,017

0.19%

Uncommitted
2,663

0.50%

Total
536,626

Republicans
48 Delegates: 3 RNC; 24 at-large; 21 by CD (3 x 7 CDs).
2.02% of the 2,380 Delegates.

At-large delegate allocation - Winner-take-all if candidate receives 50% statewide primary vote; if not, then proportional w/ 20% threshold.
CD delegate allocation - Winner-take-all if candidate receives 50% in CD during
primary; if not, 2 delegates to plurality candidate with remaining delegate to 2nd
place (w/ 20% threshold).

Huckabee | McCain | Paul | Romney

Official Results

Hugh Cort
228

0.04%

Rudy Giuliani
2,134

0.39%

+Mike Huckabee
227,766

41.25%

Duncan Hunter 391

0.07%

Alan Keyes
778

0.14%

John McCain
204,867

37.10%

Ron Paul
14,810

2.68%

Mitt Romney
98,019

17.75%

Tom Tancredo
93

0.02%

Fred Thompson
1,835

0.33%

Uncommitted
1,234

0.22%

Total
552,209

Setting the Primary Date
The presidential preference primary has historically been held with the state primary on the first Tuesday in June. In 2005 Rep. Ken Guin (D-Carbon Hill) introduced a bill, HB100, to move the presidential primary forward; the House passed the bill on April 6, but the Senate failed to pass the bill by the close of session on May 16. In January 2006 Guin reintroduced his bill, HB51, to establish a separate presidential primary "on the Saturday immediately following the New Hampshire presidential preference primary." The bill, amended to set the presidential primary on first Tuesday in February, passed the House and the Senate and was delivered to Gov. Bob Riley (R) on April 17, 2006. Riley signed the bill on April 27. According to a fiscal note, HB51 "would increase the election expenses of the state, paid from the State General Fund, by an estimated $3.3 million for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008 and every fourth year thereafter." State primary remains in June.

[Also note. In the first part of 2006 the Democratic National Committee sought proposals from state parties to hold presidential caucuses or primaries early, in the pre-window period (i.e. before February 5, 2008), in an effort to increase diversity in the early stages of its nominating process. Alabama Democrats were among several state parties that applied to the DNC by the April 14, 2006 deadline seeking to hold their primary early. However the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee, meeting on July 22, 2006, recommended South Carolina for the new pre-window primary position].

Qualifying for the Presidential Primary Ballot
Petitions signed by a total of not less than 500 qualified electors of the state, or petitions signed by not less than 50 qualified electors of each congressional district of the state submitted to respective state party chairman no later than Nov. 7, 2007.

Voter Registration
Jan. 25, 2008 - Voter registration deadline in all counties except Baldwin and Mobile Counties. (Jan. 30 Early voting day in Baldwin and Mobile Counties).

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Voting Eligible Population: 3,292,608.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 57.2%.

According to the Census Bureau (1), Alabama had the highest percentage of any state of people voting in person on Election Day, 96.7%.

Total Registration: 2,597,629.
Voter Registration Deadline: Oct. 22, 2004.

Official Results

Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
693,933

(36.84)

+Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 1,176,394
(62.46)

Badnarik/Campagna (Ind.)
3,495
(0.19)

Nader/Pierce (Ind.) 6,701 (0.36)

Peroutka/Baldwin (Ind.) 1,994
(0.11)

w/ins
898

(0.05)

Total........1,883,415

2004 Overview
The last Democrat to win in Alabama was Jimmy Carter in 1976. Bush-Cheney padded upon their 2000 showing and continued the Republican winning streak. Bush-Cheney gained a plurality of 482,461 votes (25.62 percentage points) over the Kerry-Edwards ticket and finished ahead in 56 of the state's 67 counties.
General Election Details
Kerry/Allies | Bush-Cheney '04

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population: 3,241,682.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 51.6%.

Voter Registration: 2,528,963.

Official Results

Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
692,611

(41.57)

Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
5,893

(0.35)

+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
941,173

(56.48)

Buchanan/Foster (Ind.)
6,351

(0.38)

Hagelin/Goldhaber (Ind.)
447

(0.02)

Nader/LaDuke (Ind.)
18,323

(1.10)

Phillips/Frazier (Ind.)
775

(0.05)

Write-ins
699

(0.04)

Total........1,666,272

2000 Overview
Bush consistently had a comfortable lead in the polls, and there were no surprises on Election Day as the Bush-Cheney ticket won with a plurality of 248,562 votes (14.91 percentage points) and finished ahead of Gore-Lieberman in 49 of the state's 67 counties. In other races, "Ten Commandments" judge Roy Moore handily won the race for chief justice of the state Supreme Court, and voters approved Amendment 2 to remove the state's ban on interracial marriages.
General Election Activity

1992 and 1996 General Elections

1992

Bush (Rep.)..........804,283	(47.64)
Clinton (Dem.)......690,080	(40.88)
Perot (Ind.)...........183,109	(10.85)
Others (5+w/ins).....10,588	(0.63)
Total........1,688,060

1996

Dole (Rep.)...........769,044	(50.12)
Clinton (Dem.)......662,165	(43.16)
Perot (Ind.).............92,149	(6.00)
Others (4+w/ins).....10,991	(0.72)
Total........1,534,349

2004 page >
2000 page >