Alabama House Primary Results: District 54 Still Up For Grabs

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Two Alabama House of Representatives primaries representing the Birmingham metro area are still undecided, with District 54 headed to a runoff July 17. In District 45, Ted Crockett leads incumbent Dickie Drake, but Crockett had not been declared the winner as of 11 p.m.

Since there is no Republican candidate for the seat, the Democratic primary will determine who represents District 54, and three candidates from diverse backgrounds were vying for the office: civil rights lawyer and Alabama Young Democrats Chairman Jerome Dees, an African-American man; Birmingham AIDS Outreach Director Neil Rafferty, an openly gay former Marine; and Birmingham environmentalist Jacqueline Gray Miller, an African-American woman. Miller and Rafferty will face off July 17 in a runoff.

• Jerome Dees (22%)
• Jacqueline Gray Miller (28%)
• Neil Rafferty (49%)

District 45 featured a Republican primary election between incumbent Dickie Drake and Ted Crockett, with Crockett edging out Drake in a tight race. Crockett made a national name for himself during the 2017 special Senate election when he represented Roy Moore on CNN and and maintained that elected officials are legally obligated to be sworn into office with a Bible.

• Ted Crockett (52%)
• Dickie Drake (48%)

In House District 48, incumbent Republican Jim Carns faced newcomer William Wentowski in the primary. Carns has previously served from 1990 to 2006 in the House when he decided to run for Jefferson County commissioner and was elected in 2006 serving one term and then ran again for his former House seat in 2012. Wentowski, a Mountain Brook native, is a marketing executive and running for office for the first time. He touted a campaign based on education funding, building a tech economy in Alabama and tax reform. Carns looks to be the winner here.

• Jim Carns (77%)
• William Wentowski (23%)

District 55, which also includes some of Birmingham proper, was won by Farfield's Rod Scott, the incumbent, facing educator Quang Do and Antwon Womack. While Do was running for office for the first time, Womack ran unsuccessfully for a Birmingham school board seat in 2009 and 2013. He also ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Tarrant in 2008. He ran for Jefferson County Board of Education in 2010, but withdrew before the election after it was discovered he lied about his education, claiming he was a graduate of West End High School and Alabama A&M University. Both of those claims turned out to be false. With 91 percent of precincts reporting:

• Quang Do (29%)
• Rod Scott (61%)
• Antwon Womack (18%)

In District 56, incumbent Rolanda Hollis has been declared the winner.

• Rolanda Hollis (70%)
• Rodney Huntley (30%)

Photo via Shutterstock / Damir Sencar

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