2018 Alabama House of Representatives election explained

Election Name:2018 Alabama House of Representatives election
Country:Alabama
Type:legislative
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2014 Alabama House of Representatives election
Previous Year:2014
Next Election:2022 Alabama House of Representatives election
Next Year:2022
Seats For Election:All 105 seats in the Alabama House of Representatives
Majority Seats:53
Election Date:November 6, 2018
Image1:File:Mac McCutcheon.jpg
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Leaders Seat1:25th
Leader Since1:August 15, 2016
Last Election1:72
Seats1:77
Seat Change1: 5
Popular Vote1:952,859
Percentage1:62.73%
Swing1:2.28%
Leader2:Anthony Daniels
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Leaders Seat2:53rd
Leader Since2:February 22, 2017
Last Election2:33
Seats2:28
Seat Change2: 5
Popular Vote2:554,571
Percentage2:36.51%
Swing2:2.09%
Map Size:300px
Speaker
Before Election:Mac McCutcheon
Before Party:Republican
After Election:Mac McCutcheon
After Party:Republican

The 2018 Alabama House of Representatives elections were held on November 6, 2018, as part of the biennial United States elections. All 105 of Alabama's state representatives were up for reelection. In Alabama, members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate serve four year terms, running in years corresponding with presidential midterm elections.

The Republican Party picked up five seats in the chamber, despite national success for the Democratic Party throughout the United States. Several factors contributed to this. For one, four of the gains made by Republicans were in rural districts with longtime incumbents who chose to retire in 2018 rather than run for reelection. A lack of strong incumbents allowed the Republicans, whose support among rural whites has greatly strengthened in Alabama since the 1990s, to pick up most of these seats with relative ease. Additionally, the Alabama Democratic Party was heavily disorganized and internally divided, leaving many candidates in competitive districts to run without a meaningful party apparatus behind them.[1] President Donald Trump's popularity in the state (which he won by 28 points in 2016) likely also contributed to increased enthusiasm among Republicans. While Democrats did increase their share of the popular vote from 2014, it was more a function of several Democratic-seats being left uncontested than an increase in statewide support.

The results were a major disappointment for Democrats, who less than a year earlier had won a fiercely fought the U.S. Senate race in Alabama.[2] As a result of these defeats the state party began a period of reform, with State Representative Christopher J. England replacing Nancy Worley as chair of the party. The results also highlighted the dramatic racial divide among Alabama's political parties—after this election, only one Democratic representative (Neil Rafferty) in the chamber was white, while no Republican representatives were black.

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

  1. (gain)
  2. (gain)

Election results

Before the election, Republicans already held 72–33 supermajority over the Democrats. After the election, Republicans increased it to a margin of 77–28.[3] [4]

Overview

7728
RepublicanDemocratic
PartiesCandidatesSeatsPopular Vote
align=center 2014align=center 2018align=center +/-align=center Strengthalign=center Votesalign=center %align=center Change
Republicanalign=right 82align=right 72align=right 77align=right 5align=right align=right 952,859align=right 62.22align=right 2.79
Democraticalign=right 72align=right 33align=right 28align=right 5align=right align=right 554,571align=right 36.21align=right 1.79
Independentalign=right 4align=right 0align=right 0align=right align=right align=right 9,252align=right 0.60align=right
Libertarianalign=right 2align=right 0align=right 0align=right align=right align=right 2,236align=right 0.15align=right
Write-insalign=right align=right 0align=right 0align=right align=right align=right 12,576align=right 0.82align=right
align=center colspan="2" Totalalign=center 156align=center 105align=center 105align=center align=center align=center 1,531,494align=center 100.00align=center
align=left colspan="2" Turnoutalign=right align=right align=right
align=left colspan="2" Registeredalign=right align=right align=right

District 105

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dzotsi . Emmanuel . The Real Enemy, Part 1 . Reply All.
  2. News: Burns . Alexander . Martin . Jonathan . Once a Long Shot, Democrat Doug Jones Wins Alabama Senate Race . April 23, 2020 . The New York Times . December 12, 2017.
  3. Web site: Alabama House of Representatives elections, 2018 . . September 7, 2018.
  4. Web site: 2018 Election Information . . September 7, 2018.