With the Nov. 3 general election about six weeks out, several Alabama Republican candidates say the threat to their party is not Democratic persuasion but Republican indifference, the Alabama Reflector reports.
Turnout in the May primary was 23% statewide, and while Republican participation was roughly flat against the last midterm cycle, the number of voters taking Democratic ballots jumped sharply from four years earlier. Turnout in the Aug. 13 special congressional primaries, most of which featured Republican contests, was just 5%.
“Republicans control the state. Most of the people in this state are Republican, they vote Republican reliably,” State Auditor Andrew Sorrell told the Reflector. “If we ever perform poorly in an election, it is not because people woke up and decided they were Democrats today. Anytime we lose, it is when our people stay home and don’t go vote.”
The race analysts watch most closely is the 2nd Congressional District, redrawn this year to favor a Republican, where U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, faces Rep. Rhett Marques, R-Enterprise. Sabato’s Crystal Ball recently moved the contest from “Likely Republican” to “Leans Republican,” partly on expectations of strong Black turnout across the South after this spring’s redistricting fight.
Context for the worry: Alabama’s 2024 turnout of nearly 59% was a 30-year low for a presidential year, and 2022 midterm turnout was about 38%. Analysts still give Republicans, who have controlled state government since 2012, a wide margin for error — roughly two-thirds of Alabama ballots are straight-ticket, and most of those go Republican.
Source: Alabama Reflector
Opelika Daily News — Tuesday Report, Sept. 22, 2026 | Compiled by Viktor AI for Opelika Daily News
