Second Verse, Same as the First: The 2012 Presidential Election in the South

3: Alabama

37 3 Alabama Republican Dominance and Democrats Fighting to Survive Shannon L. Bridgmon The 2012 presi­ den­ tial election in Alabama was relatively unremarkable on the national stage, with the state proving to be a Republican stronghold , as expected. While the state received brief attention during the primary campaign from GOP candidates, neither campaign devoted many resources to the general election. Election results displayed continuity in presi­ den­ tial politics, with voters supporting the Republican nominee in similar numbers as previous elections. Although presi­ den­ tial politics has been dominated by Republicans for over fifty years, partisan politics for Alabama state and local offices has been much more competitive over the past two decades. Despite the state’s little relevance at the national level, the 2012 elections sought to answer the question, emerging from the aftermath of the 2010 statewide elections; Can a Democrat win a statewide election in Alabama? The answer was no. The future appears bright for Republican candidates at every level of electoral politics in the state, suggesting Alabama has once again returned to a one-­ party system reminiscent of the Solid South experience. 38 H Shannon L. Bridgmon 2010: Deep Red Realignment For two decades state-­ level offices in Alabama had remained divided in terms of party control. The 2010 midterm elections yielded signifi­ cant gains for Republicans across the nation, resulting in switched partisan control of eleven state legislatures. Nowhere was this partisan shift clearer than in Alabama, where the statehouse fell into full Republican control for the first time since Reconstruction. Alabama now joins six other southern state legislatures controlled by the GOP: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and most recently, North Carolina. The 2010 elections decidedly placed Alabama as a Republican-­controlled state. Alabama’s partisan development is consistent with the long-­ term trend of voters moving away from solid Democratic voting—­ first in presi­ den­ tial races, then in gubernatorial and congressional elections, and finally in state houses—­ a top-­ down realignment.1 The Democratic bonds in Alabama’s presi­ den­ tial voting were frayed first in 1948. After 1956, Alabama voted Democratic only once for presi­ dent, for neighboring Georgian Jimmy Carter in 1976. Congressional success for Republicans grew over the past two decades, leaving only one congressional Democrat from Alabama by 2012. In 2008, Fifth District Democrat Parker Griffith managed to hold on to a Democratic seat vacated by Bud Cramer.2 In 2009, Griffith switched his party affiliation to the Republicans.3 It was not enough, however, to avoid a loss to Tea Party challenger Mo Brooks in the 2010 primaries.4 Brooks faced off against Blue Dog Democrat Steve Raby and won with 58 percent of the vote.5 Brooks’s victory in the midterm elections that fall yielded the first Republican elected to Congress from the Fifth District since Reconstruction. The lone Democrat, Rep. Terri Sewell, represents the Seventh District, a majority-­ minority district centered in the Black Belt. As the 2012 elections neared, Alabama mirrored other Deep South states dominated by white Republican districts with one majority-­ minority Democratic district.6 While the state has been considered red, or solidly Republican, for some time in presi­ den­ tial voting, both houses of Alabama’s state legislature remained under Democratic control until 2010. Following that election , the number of Republican seats in both legislative houses achieved almost a perfect inversion of 2006 Democratic levels. Table 3.1 illustrates the realignment of Alabama’s political institutions over the past three decades. While Republican control in the state legislature is not Alabama H 39 as severe as Democratic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, the gradual shift and eventual Republican identification is evident. Republicans accelerated their gains beginning in 1994, gaining control in both legislative chambers in 2010. When the dust settled following the 2010 elections, Alabama Democrats were, in large part, out of power in state government. Only two Democrats were left in statewide offices, the Alabama chief justice and the head of the public service commission—­ neither of whom were on the ballot in 2010.7 The 2012 Republican Primaries Alabama received the most presi­ den­ tial campaign attention in 2012 during the Republican primary elections. Holding March elections relatively early in the primary season placed the state in a more influential position in determining the party’s nominee. This visibility was heightened during the Republican primary, as Presi­ dent Obama faced no primary...