By Brian Lyman | Editor
How does a political party that lost every statewide office in 2026 feel that the election went well? By looking at what happened in 2022. Check out Andrea Tinker’s analysis of the numbers this morning.
Voters stand in line at Messiah Lutheran Church in Montgomery, Alabama on Nov. 3, 2026. (Andrea Tinker/Alabama Reflector)
ELECTIONS 2026
By Andrea Tinker
State turnout for Tuesday’s midterm election was 43.9%, up from 38.9% in 2022. But Democratic turnout soared, with almost double the number of votes cast for the party’s gubernatorial nominee on Tuesday than in 2022. Republican votes declined by about 8%, but GOP margins were so large that Republican candidates held statewide offices with reduced margins from four years ago.
Construction of the new Alabama Statehouse as seen on July 29, 2026, in Montgomery, Alabama. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
ELECTIONS 2026
By Anna Barrett
Democratic candidates Tuesday took three legislative seats in Madison County and a House seat straddling Shelby and Jefferson counties in the party’s best legislative showing in decades. The new legislators include Alabama’s first openly transgender lawmakers. In northeast Alabama, the outcome of a race between Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre and Jess Battles, an independent conservative candidate, was still uncertain Wednesday afternoon.
Michael Shannon Taylor is seen in this undated photo. (Alabama Department of Corrections)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
By Ralph Chapoco
Michael Shannon Taylor is scheduled to be executed on Thursday for the 1991 murders of Ivan and Lucille Moore during a robbery in Gadsden. If the execution takes place, it would be the third in the state this year. Taylor has appealed the state’s planned use of lethal injection, arguing state law prohibits it because he opted into execution by nitrogen gas, now under a permanent federal injunction. Federal courts have dismissed the arument in the past.
ICYMI
Commentary: The GOP gerrymander didn’t work. And it hurt Tommy Tuberville. | Brian Lyman, Alabama Reflector
Doug Jones concedes in closest Alabama gubernatorial race since 2002 | Anna Barrett, Alabama Reflector
Republicans hold on to Alabama state offices, but by reduced margins | Ralph Chapoco, Alabama Reflector
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