We have a pair of early January special elections taking place for seats in both chambers of the Alabama Legislature. Polls close at 7 p.m. (CST). We will have the election results below once they do.
The seat in State Senate District 9 is vacant after Republican Senator Clay Scofield resigned to take a job as the Executive Vice President of the Business Council of Alabama. The Senate District 9 covers Blount, Madison, and Marshall Counties. State Reps. Brock Colvin and Wes Kitchens, as well as Stacy George who ran for governor in 2022, are running in the Republican primary. If no candidate achieves a majority of the vote, the top two vote-getters will move on to a February 6 runoff election. No Democrats filed to run in this special election, so the winner of the Republican contest will take office.
In the State House District 16, which covers northern Tuscaloosa up into Fayette and Jefferson Counties, the seat is vacant after Republican Kyle South took a job as CEO of the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce. Tuscaloosa Municipal Court Judge Bryan Brinyark finished second in the Republican primary but then emerged as the nominee in the runoff. He faces Fayette County Commissioner John Underwood who was the only Democrat to file in this heavily Republican district.