The 2022 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the
governor of Alabama.
Incumbent Governor
Kay Ivey took office on April 10, 2017, upon the resignation of
Robert J. Bentley (
R) and won a full term in
2018. In 2022, she won her bid for a second full term in a landslide.[1]
Primary elections in Alabama were held on May 24. Runoff elections for instances where no candidate received 50% plus one vote were scheduled for June 21. A runoff was avoided in the Republican primary, with Ivey winning outright. The Democratic primary advanced to a runoff between
Malika Sanders-Fortier and Yolanda Flowers, with Flowers winning the Democratic nomination.
Voter turnout for Alabama’s 2022 governor election dropped significantly from its
2018 governor race, with only 38.5% of
registered voters turning out. This was also far below Alabama’s 63.1% turnout in the 2020 presidential race.
This was the first gubernatorial election in Alabama history in which both major party nominees were women. Flowers was also the first Black female gubernatorial nominee in Alabama.[2] Governor Ivey was sworn in for her second full term on January 16, 2023.
This is the only gubernatorial election in the 2020s to date to be won by a member of the
Silent Generation. This election saw the worst performance of a
Democratic Party nominee in the state's history. This is also the first gubernatorial election in which
Marengo County voted Republican.
Alabama Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition[71]
Debates and forums
The first Republican debate forum was held on January 19, 2022, in
Ozark. It was hosted by the
Coffee County Republican Women organization at the Enterprise Country Club. The debate featured candidates
Lynda Blanchard,
Tim James, and Dean Odle. Incumbent governor
Kay Ivey was not present, and candidate Lew Burdette phoned in due to being in isolation with
COVID-19. Odle detailed his opinion of the governor's mishandling of the
COVID-19 pandemic, while James talked about a culture war on Alabamians and Blanchard signaled her broad agreement with the other candidates. Each candidate was against opening a statewide lottery but were open to let the voters decide the issue.[72]
A second candidate forum was held at the monthly Republican Women of
Huntsville luncheon on February 1, 2022 at The Ledges Country Club in Huntsville. Blanchard, Burdette, James, and Odle were in attendance.[73]
The third major forum for Republican gubernatorial candidates was held on February 10, 2022, in
Fairhope. It was hosted by the Eastern Shore Republican Women organization at the Fairhope Yacht Club, and was moderated by radio show host Jeff Poor.[74] All candidates except for incumbent governor Kay Ivey, who was holding her own campaign event, and Stacy Lee George, who had a scheduling conflict, were in attendance.[75] The candidates were universal in their opposition towards a recent fuel tax increase, in particular criticizing possible future increases. According to AL.com, Young was nearly removed from the forum after he entered into an argument with a representative of the hosts, concerning a challenge he had submitted regarding Ivey's appearance on the ballot. Young later accused the Eastern Shore Republican Women of not wanting him to "talk bad" about Ivey. The candidates also expressed opposition towards gambling in the state, though Blanchard and Thomas stated that the decision should be left in the hands of voters. Regarding education, James pushed for pay bonuses for principals tied to school performance, while Jones advocated for yoga instruction in schools.[75]
Also on February 10, 2022, the
Houston County Republican Party group held a GOP candidates forum at the Wiregrass Rehab Center in
Dothan. The forum featured Blanchard, James and Odle giving stump speeches, along with candidates for
U.S. Senate,
AL-02, and the
Alabama Supreme Court, among other state and local offices.[76]
The
Athens-
Limestone Republican Women Organization held a gubernatorial debate forum at the Valley Event Center on
U.S. Highway 72 in Athens on March 7, 2022. Only Blanchard, James and Odle participated; Ivey and the rest of the candidates were absent.[78][79] James emphasized education reform and criticized gas taxes in the state, while Blanchard targeted illegal immigration and benefits given to non-citizens. Odle centered on COVID-19 related issues, and praised
Florida governor
Ron DeSantis as a model for governing by rejecting President
Joe Biden's decisions.[80]
1819 News,
Eagle Forum of Alabama, Thatcher Coalition, and LOCAL Alabama held a joint gubernatorial debate forum featuring Republican candidates Blanchard, Burdette, James, Odle, and Thomas as well as the entire Democratic primary field at the
Hoover Library Theatre on March 10, 2022.[81][82] All candidates were invited, though only those eleven participated.[83]
The forum was structured into four segments: one for opening remarks, the second for answering policy questions, followed by a lightning round by writing "yes" or "no" on a small whiteboard, and the last being closing statements. Lindy Blanchard opined about her service to
Donald Trump as
United States Ambassador to Slovenia as the driver behind her run for governor, while Lew Burdette described Alabama as "the bottom of the list" in almost every quality of life category and the need to limit campaign financing as possible policy solutions. Dean Odle berated
Kay Ivey's handling of
COVID-19, but also stated the intentions of
Klaus Schwab and the
World Economic Forum would have an effect on the state level and as a result there was a dire need for electing new leadership. Tim James spoke fondly of
Eagle Forum's ardent opposition of the
Equal Rights Amendment in 1975 as a reflection of the current state of affairs. Dave Thomas outlined the "professional politicians" and "self-proclaimed elite" once again running for governor as the catalyst for his entrance into the race.
When moderator Allison Sinclair posed the question "If you could choose one song that was the theme song for your life, what would it be?", the candidates had a variety of answers. Lindy Blanchard's answer was "
It Is Well With My Soul", and Lew Burdette's was "
Amazing Grace". Tim James answered the opening theme from
Patton, and Dave Thomas cited the title song from "
I'm Not the Devil" by
Cody Jinks. Dean Odle's answer was "Crushing Snakes" by
Crowder.
The
Cullman County Republican Women hosted a gubernatorial candidate forum at
VFW post 2214 in
Cullman on April 12, 2022. The Cullman Times noted that while all the candidates agreed on most policy, the candidates each detailed solutions to different issues. Tim James decried the
Alabama Legislature for not passing tax cuts after having a surplus of $1.5 billion, and Lindy Blanchard showed up in a
Maga hat to show that she was more loyal to
Donald Trump than anyone else there. Dave Thomas cited his experience as mayor of
Springville and previous campaign battles as giving him a leg up on the competition, and Lew Burdette called for an overhaul of campaign finance laws. In addition to citing Governor
Kay Ivey's
COVID-19 lockdown of Alabama that violated the
United States Constitution, Dean Odle's plan for drafting school choice legislation was described as "perhaps the most autonomous state education policy proposal for Alabama communities".[84]
Grassroots conservative group Focus on America will hosted a Republican gubernatorial debate on April 26, 2022, at the Roto Rooter Event Center on Paramount Drive in
Huntsville. Six of the candidates showed up;
Ivey, George and Young again remained absent.[85][86]
According to 1819 News,
The closest thing to a heated disagreement during the debate came when Dean Odle accused Burdette of "basically giving my speech points" from one of Odle's first television campaign commercials that described how
Florida had seen the national ranking of Sunshine State K-12 schools rapidly rise from 29th to third after they eliminated the
Common Core program there. Odle said he overheard Burdette "doing what a politician does" by using the points made by Odle in his commercial while talking to a member of the media inside of the Event Center prior to the debate." Burdette fired back by telling the audience, "I don't follow Dean Odle, so if he has a commercial that I haven't seen, I'm sorry that I haven't seen your commercial. I don't know if anybody else here has seen his commercial, nor do I follow your campaign particularly closely. We've been in a lot of these gubernatorial forums, these are all things that we've shared at each one of them, and I don't even remember, Dean, you sharing that statistic."
With one exception, all the candidates vying for victory in the May 24th Republican Primary checked most of the boxes on issues that concern Alabama conservative voters. The only exception was
Montevallo's Donald Trent Jones who wore
John Lennon-style, amber-tinted eyeglasses, a
beauty contest style white sash with the
Alabama state flag and the word GOVERNOR printed across it, and a black jacket covered with colorful 1960s symbols, such as butterflies, stars, hearts, peace symbols, guitars, and other symbols of the hippie era. Jones introduced himself by proclaiming, "I am your
Yoga Governor." Other than suggesting that Alabama could help stop election day fraud by dipping the fingers of voters in indelible ink so that they couldn't vote more than once, Jones managed to work his yoga philosophy into almost every one of his question responses and statements. When asked if that was his motivation for running for governor, Jones admitted that his candidacy was only a ploy to promote his not-for-profit yoga enterprise.[87]
Four of the Republican candidates for governor showed up for a Q&A session following the candidate forum being held at the Doster Center in
Prattville by the
Autauga County Republican Executive Committee.[88]
The Mid Alabama Republican Club hosted a gubernatorial debate at its May monthly meeting, which took place at the
Vestavia Hills Public Library on May 14 at 9:00 AM. Four of the candidates for governor appeared at this forum.[89][90][91]
2022 Alabama Republican gubernatorial primary debates and forums
No.
Date
Location
Host
Moderator
Link
Participants
P Participant A Absent N Non-invitee I Invitee W Withdrawn
Christopher A. Countryman, equality activist, licensed minister, motivational speaker, former juvenile corrections officer and candidate for governor in 2018[102]
All six of the Democratic candidates for governor were present at the LOCAL Alabama gubernatorial candidate forum on March 10, 2022, at the Hoover Library Theatre in
Hoover, facing off against 5 of the Republican candidates.[81][82]
The forum was structured into four segments: one for opening remarks, the second for answering policy questions, followed by a lightning round by writing "yes" or "no" on a small whiteboard, and the last being closing statements. Speaking before a bipartisan audience, Arthur Kennedy cited his service in the
United States Army as a calling to run for governor. Chad Martin called for the government to be more proactive in alleviating burdens of Alabama citizens, including those in the education sector. Patricia Salter Jamieson outlined the need for unity between Alabamians of all backgrounds. Malika Sanders-Fortier cited the need for more citizens to be involved in the political process. Yolanda Flowers offered her vision for the state as a "different aspect" than the current leadership. Doug Smith kicked things off by brandishing several large print graphs of the seven economic engines that he believed, if reimplemented, would propel the Alabama economy while going well over his allotted answer time.
When moderator Allison Sinclair posed the question "If you could choose one song that was the theme song for your life, what would it be?", the candidates had a variety of answers. Smith's immediate response was "
Precious Lord, Take My Hand", while Flowers said hers would be "
The Sound of Music". Kennedy's theme song was "I Can Win", while Jamieson cited "
Amazing Grace" and Martin said "
Simple Man" by
Lynyrd Skynyrd. Malika Sanders-Fortier decided that her song was "Be Still" by
Hillsong Worship.
A Democratic candidate forum, featuring office-seekers from gubernatorial,
U.S. Senate and
AL-04 races in Alabama, was held in
Fort Payne on April 7, 2022.[106] This event was more of a meet-and-greet rather than a traditional candidate forum.[107]
The
Houston County Democratic Party hosted a Democratic candidate forum for gubernatorial, AL-02 and other races in
Dothan at the Clarion Inn at meetings on April 21 and 22 of 2022. Yolanda Flowers addressed the group on Thursday evening while the other five candidates spoke the following day.[108]
2022 Alabama Democratic gubernatorial primary debates and forums
No.
Date
Location
Host
Moderator
Link
Participants
P Participant A Absent N Non-invitee I Invitee W Withdrawn