1982 Alabama Senate election
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The 1982 Alabama Senate election took place on Tuesday, November 2, 1982, to elect 35 representatives to serve four-year terms in the Alabama Senate. Primary elections were held on September 7 with runoff elections on September 28. The state's three Black senators, Michael Figures, Earl Hilliard, and J. Richmond Pearson, all won re-election. The Republicans won three seats at the general election, its best showing of the entire century up to that point.
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November 2, 1982
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All 35 seats in the Alabama State Senate 18 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 37.48% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 District results Democratic: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% 90–100% Unopposed Republican: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This was the first time a Republican had been elected to the state senate since Leland Childs was elected in 1966, who himself had been the first Republican elected to the chamber since the Reconstruction Era. The Republicans also made history by electing Ann Bedsole of Mobile to District 34, the state's first-ever female state senator. Across both houses, Republicans were elected to 11 of the 140 legislative seats, the most since Reconstruction.[1]
Democrat John Teague was unanimously elected President pro tempore on January 11, 1983.[2] The map used in the 1982 general election was struck down the next year for violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965, requiring a new map to be drawn. A special election for every seat in the legislature was held in November 1983.
Summary
| Party | Candidates | Seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Num. | Vote | % | Before | Won | +/– | ||
| Democratic | 35 | 683,395 | 85.37% | 35 | 32 |  3 | |
| Republican | 10 | 115,303 | 14.40% | 0 | 3 |  3 | |
| NDPA | 1 | 1,734 | 0.22% | 0 | 0 |  | |
| Write-in | 42 | 0.01% | — | 0 | | ||
| Total | 46 | 800,474 | 100% | 35 | | ||
| Registered[3] / turnout | 2,135,724 | 37.48 | |||||
Incumbents
Won re-election
- District 1: Bobby E. Denton (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 7: Bill Smith (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 9: Hinton Mitchem (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 10: Larry Keener (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 13: J. Richmond Pearson (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 14: Mac Parsons (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 15: Earl Hilliard (Democratic) won re-election. Hilliard succeeded Democratic senator U. W. Clemon after a September 1980 special election.
- District 16: Ryan deGraffenried (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 18: Lister Proctor (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 19: John Teague (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 20: Donald Holmes (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 21: T. D. Little (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 24: Chip Bailey (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 26: Don Harrison (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 29: Earl Goodwin (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 30: Edward Robertson (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 31: Reo Kirkland Jr. (Democratic) won re-election.
- District 33: Michael Figures (Democratic) won re-election.
Eliminated in primary
- District 8: James Lemaster (Democratic) lost renomination to Lowell Barron.
- District 17: Doug Cook (Democratic) lost renomination to Lucile White.
- District 22: G. J. Higginbotham (Democratic) lost renomination to Danny Corbett.
- District 23: Mike Weeks (Democratic) lost renomination to Foy Covington Jr.
- District 25: Wallace Miller (Democratic) lost renomination to Crum Foshee.
- District 27: Barry Teague (Democratic) lost renomination to Larry Dixon. Teague succeeded Democratic senator Bishop Barron after an April 1982 special election.
- District 28: Cordy Taylor (Democratic) lost renomination to Wendell Mitchell.
- District 32: Bob Gulledge (Democratic) lost renomination to Jerry Boyington, who was subsequently defeated by Republican Perry Hand.
Did not seek re-election
- District 2: Charlie Britnell (Democratic) did not seek re-election.
- District 3: Charles Martin (Democratic) was elected to the 8th state house district.[4]
- District 4: Finis St. John III (Democratic) did not seek re-election.
- District 5: Robert Hall (Democratic) did not seek re-election.
- District 6: Albert McDonald (Democratic) was elected agriculture commissioner.[5]
- District 11: Dewey White (Democratic) did not seek re-election.
- District 12: Pat Vacca (Democratic) did not seek re-election.
- District 34: Sonny Callahan (Democratic) unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor.[6]
- District 35: Bob Glass (Democratic) did not seek re-election.
General election results
| District | Democratic | Republican | Others | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | Maj. | Mrg. | |
| 11th | Roger Lee | 13,093 | 34.57% | William J. Cabaniss | 24,786 | 65.43% | — | — | — | 37,879 | −11,693 | −30.87% |
| 12th | John Amari | 20,892 | 76.46% | Red Walker | 6,433 | 23.54% | — | — | — | 27,325 | +14,459 | +52.91% |
| 17th | Dale Corley | 11,953 | 33.67% | Spencer Bachus | 23,543 | 66.33% | — | — | — | 35,496 | −11,590 | −32.65% |
| 20th | Donald G. Holmes (inc.) | 18,949 | 76.98% | Charles H. Green | 5,667 | 23.02% | — | — | — | 24,616 | +13,282 | +53.96% |
| 22nd | Danny Corbett | 14,803 | 67.31% | Sam Pierce | 7,181 | 32.65% | Write-in | 8 | 0.04% | 21,992 | +7,622 | +34.66% |
| 23rd | Foy Covington | 23,928 | 84.71% | Chris Bence | 2,584 | 9.15% | Bill Johnston (NDPA) | 1,734 | 6.14% | 28,246 | +21,344 | +75.56% |
| 29th | Earl Goodwin (inc.) | 25,733 | 82.93% | John J. Grimes Jr. | 5,293 | 17.06% | Write-in | 1 | 0.01% | 31,027 | +20,440 | +65.88% |
| 32nd | Jerry Boyington | 16,519 | 55.68% | Perry Hand | 13,149 | 44.32% | — | — | — | 29,668 | +3,370 | +11.36% |
| 34th | John E. Saad | 15,368 | 48.08% | Ann Bedsole | 16,596 | 51.92% | Jean Sullivan (write-in) | 2 | 0.01% | 31,966 | −1,228 | −3.84% |
| 35th | Bill Menton | 13,008 | 56.36% | Gary Tanner | 10,071 | 43.64% | — | — | — | 23,079 | +2,937 | +12.73% |
Elected unopposed
- District 1: Bobby E. Denton (Democratic, inc.) received 25,168 votes.
- District 2: Roger Bedford (Democratic) received 26,316 votes.
- District 3: Gary Aldridge (Democratic) received 19,569 votes. 2 write-in votes were recorded.
- District 4: Steve Cooley (Democratic) received 21,249 votes.
- District 5: Charles Bishop (Democratic) received 16,494 votes.
- District 6: Jim Smith (Democratic) received 18,426 votes.
- District 7: Bill Smith (Democratic, inc.) received 18,686 votes.
- District 8: Lowell Barron (Democratic) received 19,866 votes. 1 write-in vote was recorded.
- District 9: Hinton Mitchem (Democratic, inc.) received 19,485 votes. 1 write-in vote was recorded.
- District 10: Larry Keener (Democratic, inc.) received 25,129 votes.
- District 13: J. Richmond Pearson (Democratic, inc.) received 21,315 votes.
- District 14: Mac Parsons (Democratic) received 20,561 votes.
- District 15: Earl Hilliard (Democratic, inc.) received 15,988 votes.
- District 16: Ryan deGraffenried (Democratic, inc.) received 20,149 votes.
- District 18: Lister Hill Proctor (Democratic, inc.) received 19,399 votes.
- District 19: John Teague (Democratic, inc.) received 22,086 votes. 1 write-in vote was recorded.
- District 21: T. D. Little (Democratic, inc.) received 18,270 votes.
- District 24: Chip Bailey (Democratic, inc.) received 16,273 votes.
- District 25: Crum Foshee (Democratic) received 20,331 votes. 2 write-in votes were recorded.
- District 26: Don Harrison (Democratic, inc.) received 20,680 votes. 2 write-in votes were recorded.
- District 27: Larry Dixon (Democratic) received 23,305 votes. 4 write-in votes were recorded.
- District 28: Wendell Mitchell (Democratic) received 22,537 votes.
- District 30: Edward Robertson (Democratic, inc.) received 24,515 votes. 18 write-in votes were recorded.
- District 31: Reo Kirkland Jr. (Democratic, inc.) received 18,105 votes.
- District 33: Michael Figures (Democratic, inc.) received 15,247 votes.
Democratic primary elections
Runoff results by district
Candidates in boldface advanced to the general election. An asterisk (*) denotes a runoff winner who was the runner-up in the first round.
| District | Winner | Loser | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | Maj. | Mrg. | |
| 2nd | Roger Bedford | 22,365 | 55.33% | Robbie Martin | 18,056 | 44.67% | 40,421 | +4,309 | +10.66% |
| 3rd | Gary Aldridge | 14,208 | 50.16% | Ray Campbell | 14,117 | 49.84% | 28,325 | +91 | +0.32% |
| 8th | Lowell Barron | 13,618 | 50.65% | James Lemaster (inc.) | 13,268 | 49.35% | 26,886 | +350 | +1.30% |
| 22nd | Danny Corbett* | 10,753 | 53.54% | G. J. Higginbotham (inc.) | 9,330 | 46.46% | 20,083 | +1,423 | +7.09% |
| 23rd | Foy Covington Jr. | 16,762 | 56.86% | Boyd Whigham | 12,719 | 43.14% | 29,481 | +4,043 | +13.71% |
| 29th | Earl Goodwin (inc.)* | 17,264 | 51.10% | Hank Sanders | 16,522 | 48.90% | 33,786 | +742 | +2.20% |
| 35th | Bill Menton | 9,688 | 53.11% | George Stewart | 8,553 | 46.89% | 18,241 | +1,135 | +6.22% |
First round results by district
Candidates in boldface advanced to either the general election or a runoff, first-place winners with an asterisk (*) did not face a runoff.
| District | First place | Runners-up | Others | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | Maj. | Mrg. | |
| 2nd | Roger Bedford | 15,793 | 39.41% | Robbie Martin | 12,672 | 31.62% | 2 others [a] | 11,607 | 28.97% | 4,0072 | +3,121 | +7.79% |
| 3rd | Gary Aldridge | 11,482 | 49.30% | Ray Campbell | 9,991 | 42.89% | Gary Peters | 1,819 | 7.81% | 23,292 | +1,491 | +6.40% |
| 4th | Steve Cooley* | 11,837 | 65.63% | Murray A. Battles | 6,198 | 34.37% | — | — | — | 18,035 | +5,639 | +31.27% |
| 5th | Charles Bishop* | 10,182 | 53.51% | Johnny Howell | 5,306 | 27.88% | Bill Kitchens | 3,541 | 18.61% | 19,029 | +4,876 | +25.62% |
| 7th | Bill Smith (inc.)* | 11,155 | 59.42% | Jim Gaines | 7,618 | 40.58% | — | — | — | 18,773 | +3,537 | +18.84% |
| 8th | Lowell Barron | 8,393 | 34.28% | James Lemaster (inc.) | 8,099 | 33.08% | Buck Watson | 7,992 | 32.64% | 24,484 | +294 | +1.20% |
| 10th | Larry Keener (inc.)* | 15,952 | 50.82% | Barbara Bryant | 7,940 | 25.29% | 2 others[b] | 7,500 | 23.89% | 31,392 | +8,012 | +25.52% |
| 12th | John Amari* | 12,582 | 57.56% | Bob Gafford | 9,278 | 42.44% | — | — | — | 21,860 | +3,304 | +15.11% |
| 17th | Lucile White* | 11,015 | 51.78% | Bob Cook (inc.) | 10,257 | 48.22% | — | — | — | 21,272 | +758 | +3.56% |
| 20th | Donald Holmes (inc.)* | 14,697 | 63.83% | Tom Shelton | 5,149 | 22.36% | 2 others[c] | 3,178 | 13.80% | 23,024 | +9,548 | +41.47% |
| 22nd | G. J. Higginbotham (inc.) | 7,878 | 38.84% | Danny Corbett | 7,127 | 35.13% | 2 others[d] | 5,280 | 26.03% | 20,285 | +751 | +3.70% |
| 23rd | Foy Covington | 7,150 | 22.99% | Boyd Whigham | 6,946 | 22.33% | 3 others[e] | 17,011 | 54.69% | 31,107 | +204 | +0.66% |
| 24th | Chip Bailey (inc.)* | 16,998 | 66.97% | Matt Bullard | 8,382 | 33.03% | — | — | — | 25,380 | +8,616 | +33.95% |
| 25th | Crum Foshee* | 15,244 | 50.32% | Wallace Miller (inc.) | 15,050 | 49.68% | — | — | — | 30,294 | +194 | +0.64% |
| 26th | Don Harrison (inc.)* | 10,665 | 53.73% | John M. Smith | 5,995 | 30.20% | Walter Daniel | 3,188 | 16.06% | 19,848 | +4,670 | +23.53% |
| 27th | Larry Dixon* | 13,994 | 52.27% | Barry Teague (inc.) | 12,778 | 47.73% | — | — | — | 26,772 | +1,216 | +4.54% |
| 28th | Wendell Mitchell* | 14,985 | 53.58% | Cordy Taylor (inc.) | 6,199 | 22.16% | 2 others [f] | 6,786 | 24.26% | 27,970 | +8,786 | +31.41% |
| 29th | Hank Sanders | 13,139 | 38.95% | Earl Goodwin (inc.) | 10,633 | 31.52% | Leigh Pegues | 9,958 | 29.52% | 33,730 | +2,506 | +7.43% |
| 30th | Ed Robertson (inc.)* | 17,164 | 52.35% | Bert Bank | 15,625 | 47.65% | — | — | — | 32,789 | +1,539 | +4.69% |
| 31st | Reo Kirkland Jr. (inc.)* | 16,149 | 52.73% | J. W. Sales | 8,656 | 28.27% | J. W. Owens | 5,819 | 19.00% | 30,624 | +7,493 | +24.47% |
| 32nd | Jerry Boyington* | 12,604 | 60.15% | Bob Gulledge (inc.) | 8,351 | 39.85% | — | — | — | 20,955 | +4,253 | +20.30% |
| 33rd | Michael Figures (inc.)* | 12,999 | 61.92% | John A. Sanderson | 7,994 | 38.08% | — | — | — | 20,993 | +5,005 | +23.84% |
| 34th | John Saad* | 17,338 | 77.75% | Gary P. Alidor | 4,962 | 22.25% | — | — | — | 22,300 | +12,376 | +55.50% |
| 35th | Bill Menton | 7,588 | 40.93% | George Stewart | 5,184 | 27.97% | 2 others[g] | 5,765 | 31.10 | 18,537 | +2,404 | +12.97% |
- David Sibley: 10,002 votes, 24.96%; Louise Watley: 1,605 votes, 4.01%
- Riley Whitaker: 5,181 votes, 16.50%; Theo Steed: 2,319 votes, 7.39%
- Jim Reid: 1,786 votes, 7.76%; Sara Grant: 1,392 votes, 6.05%
- Bowen Brassell: 4,787 votes, 23.60%; H. H. Webb: 493 votes, 2.43%
- Calvin D. Biggers: 6,918 votes, 22.24%; Mike Weeks (inc.): 6,209 votes, 19.96%; Bubber Hall: 3,884 votes, 12.49%
- Jack Crawford: 3,542 votes, 12.66%; Chuck Heartsill: 3,244 votes, 11.60%
- John Hester: 4,108 votes, 22.16%; John Ellisor: 1,657 votes, 8.94%
Nominated unopposed
The following candidates won the Democratic nomination by default as they were the only to run in their respective district:[7]
- District 1: Bobby E. Denton
- District 6: Jim Smith (inc.)
- District 9: Hinton Mitchem (inc.)
- District 11: Roger Lee
- District 13: J. Richmond Pearson (inc.)
- District 14: Mac Parsons
- District 15: Earl Hilliard (inc.)
- District 16: Ryan deGraffenried (inc.)
- District 18: Lister Hill Proctor (inc.)
- District 19: John Teague (inc.)
- District 21: T. D. Little (inc.)
Republican primary election
Only District 17, consisting of portions of Jefferson and Shelby counties, saw more than one candidate run in the Republican primary.
District 17 (Jefferson–Shelby)
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Spencer Bachus | 1,180 | 68.21% | |
| Republican | Gilbert F. Douglas III | 550 | 31.79% | |
| Total votes | 1,730 | 100.00% | ||
Nominated unopposed
The following candidates won the Republican nomination by default as they were the only to run in their respective district:[8]
- District 11: William J. Cabaniss
- District 12: Red Walker
- District 20: Charles H. Green
- District 22: Sam Pierce
- District 23: Chris Bence
- District 27: Jim Pugh (withdrew before general election.)[9]
- District 29: John J. Grimes Jr.
- District 31: Larry Howard (withdrew before general election.)[9]
- District 32: Perry Hand
- District 33: John W. Goss (withdrew before general election.)[9]
- District 34: Ann Bedsole
- District 35: Gary Tanner
Withdrew before the primaries
The following candidates withdrew before their respective primaries:
Other candidates
Only one third-party candidate appeared on a state senate ballot. W. D. "Bill" Johnston ran as the nominee of the National Democratic Party of Alabama in Senate District 23, consisting of Bullock, Macon, Pike, and portions of Barbour, Dale, and Henry counties.[12]
One independent candidate, Jean Sullivan of Mobile, failed to qualify for the District 34 race.[13] Sullivan was a Republican National Committeewoman and had come close to winning a August 1976 special election in Senate District 29 as a Republican, losing by a margin of less than one percentage point. She decided to mount a write-in campaign and attended a candidate forum on October 27.[14] Sullivan won two votes according to the official results.
1979–1982 special elections
District 15
A special election for District 15, in Birmingham, was triggered after incumbent Democratic senator U. W. Clemon resigned on June 30, 1980, after being appointed to a federal judgeship. With no Republican or independent candidates, the election was decided in the Democratic primary between state representatives Earl Hilliard and Tony Harrison, and dentist T. L. Alexander. Hilliard won a majority of votes in the first round of the Democratic primary, so no runoff was necessary. Both Clemon and his successor were Black.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Earl Hilliard | 4,710 | 55.71% | |
| Democratic | Tony Harrison | 2,126 | 25.15% | |
| Democratic | T. L. Alexander | 1,619 | 19.15% | |
| Total votes | 8,455 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Earl Hilliard | Unopp. | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
District 27
A special election for District 27, in Montgomery, was triggered after incumbent Democratic senator Bishop Berry resigned after being appointed to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.[16] Although state representative Larry Dixon was the preferred candidate of the county Democratic executive committee, former U.S. Attorney Barry Teague was nominated over Dixon by the state Democratic Executive Committee after a mail-in vote in early 1982. The Republican Party failed to nominate a candidate, and Teague's only opposition in the general election was the Alabama Conservative Party's Gordon Tucker, who was the Republican Party nominee for President of the Public Service Commission in 1980.[17]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Barry Teague | 78 | 77.23% | |
| Democratic | Larry Dixon | 23 | 22.77% | |
| Total votes | 101 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Barry Teague | 2,403 | 76.48% | |
| Alabama Conservative | Gordon Tucker | 739 | 23.52% | |
| Total votes | 3,142 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||