2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama

The 2010 congressional elections in Alabama were held on November 2, 2010, to determine who would represent the state of Alabama in the United States House of Representatives. Alabama has seven seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected would serve in the 112th Congress from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. The primary elections were held on June 1, with the runoff on July 13.

Districts 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7 were considered safe seats for the incumbent party (the Democratic Party for District 7 and the Republican Party for the other districts), according to the Cook Political Report and CQ Politics, and, as predicted, the incumbent party held those seats. Meanwhile, Districts 2 (a Democrat-held seat) and 5 (a Republican-held seat, though the incumbent was a Democrat who switched parties in 2009) were considered up for grabs. The Republican Party gained District 2 and held District 5.

Overview

Results of the 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama by district:^[1]

District 1

Republican incumbent Jo Bonner ran for reelection. In the primary, Bonner won against Orange Beach real estate developer Peter Gounares and Clint Moser.^[2][3]

The Democrats did not field a candidate for this seat. Bonner was challenged in the general election by David M. Walter, nominee of the Constitution Party (campaign site, PVS).

• AL - District 1 from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign Contributions from OpenSecrets
• 2010 Alabama - 1st District from CQ Politics
• Race profile at The New York Times

Predictions

District 2

Democratic incumbent Bobby Bright ran for reelection, and had no primary opponent.

The Republicans ran two candidates in their primary: Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha Roby and Tea Party activist Rick Barber. Roby was endorsed by Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, and won the primary.^[10][11]

Roby took the general election unseating Bright. Bright later ran for this seat as a Republican in 2018 and lost the primary to Roby, who won a 5th term in the general election.

• AL - District 2 from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• 2010 Alabama - 2nd District from CQ Politics
• Race profile at The New York Times

Polling

†Internal poll commissioned by Bobby Bright

Predictions

District 3

Republican incumbent Michael Rogers ran for reelection, and defeated Democratic nominee Steve Segrest (PVS) to hold the seat for the Republicans.

• AL - District 3 from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign Contributions from OpenSecrets
• 2010 Alabama - 3rd District from CQ Politics
• Race profile at The New York Times

Predictions

District 4

Republican incumbent Robert Aderholt ran unopposed for reelection in both the primary and general elections.

• AL - District 4 from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign Contributions from OpenSecrets
• 2010 Alabama - 4th District from CQ Politics
• Race profile at The New York Times

Predictions

District 5

This district was an open seat in the general election, as incumbent Parker Griffith (who changed parties from Democratic to Republican on December 22, 2009), was defeated in the Republican primary by lawyer and county commissioner Mo Brooks.

Democratic nominee small business owner and political consultant Steve Raby ran against Brooks in the general election, but Brooks won to hold the seat for the Republicans.

• AL - District 5 from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• 2010 Alabama - 5th District from CQ Politics
• Race profile at The New York Times

General election

Polling

Predictions

District 6

This district is represented by Republican Spencer Bachus, who ran unopposed for reelection in both the primary and general elections.

• AL - District 6 from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign Contributions from OpenSecrets
• 2010 Alabama - 6th District from CQ Politics
• Race profile at The New York Times

Predictions

District 7

This was an open seat as, in 2009, Democratic incumbent Artur Davis had announced his retirement to run for governor of Alabama.^[17] Following his defeat in the 2010 primary, Davis announced he was through with politics and would return to private life at the conclusion of his current term.^[18]

In the Republican primary, Don Chamberlain, a businessman, proceeded to a runoff against Chris Salter, a mortgage banker, after both placed ahead of Michele Waller, a retired microbiology technologist, and Carol Hendrickson, a retired nurse. Chamberlain defeated Salter in the runoff to become the nominee.

In the Democratic primary, attorney Terri Sewell won against Patricia Evans Mokolo, an Air Force veteran and Obama field organizer; State Representative Earl Hilliard Jr., the son of the district's former representative, Earl Hilliard; Jefferson County Commissioner Shelia Smoot; Martha Bozeman, an attorney; and Eddison Walters, a small business owner from Tuscaloosa.^[19] The district, which includes Birmingham, is more than 60% African American and is heavily Democratic; John Kerry won 64% here in 2004.

• AL - District 7 from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign Contributions from OpenSecrets
• 2010 Alabama - 7th District from CQ Politics
• Race profile at The New York Times

Democratic primary polling

Predictions

References

1. ^ Haas, Karen L. (June 3, 2011). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010". Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
2. ^ "Welcome to nginx". www.brewtonstandard.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
3. ^ [1] Archived August 1, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ "The Cook Political Report – Charts – 2010 House Competitive Races". The Cook Political Report. November 1, 2010. Archived from the original on November 4, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
5. ^ Rothenberg Political Report (November 1, 2010). "House Ratings". Rothenbergpoliticalreport.com. Archived November 1, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
6. ^ Crystal Ball, As of November 01, 2010
7. ^ RealClearPolitics, As of November 01, 2010
8. ^ "2010 House Ratings Chart". CQ Politics. Archived October 28, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
9. ^ "House Race Ratings". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Archived 7 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
10. ^ News
11. ^ Tea party favorite falls in Alabama GOP race^{[dead link]}, Bob Johnson, NBC News, July 14, 2010
12. ^ Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research
13. ^ Public Opinion Strategies
14. ^ Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research
15. ^ Anzalone-Liszt Research
16. ^ Public Opinion Strategies
17. ^ Charles J. Dean (2009-02-01). "Alabama U.S. Rep. Artur Davis set to launch run for governor". The Birmingham News. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
18. ^ "Ala. Rep. Davis through with politics after loss". Washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
19. ^ "Bozeman running for Congress - Breaking News from The Birmingham News - al.com". Blog.al.com. 2009-07-07. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
20. ^ Anzalone Liszt Research
21. ^ Anzalone Liszt Research
22. ^ Smoot internal poll

Notes

1. ^ Representative Parker Griffith of the 5th District switched from the Democratic to Republican party on December 22, 2009.

External links

• Elections from the Alabama Secretary of State
• Alabama Votes, government election center
• Alabama U.S. House from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign contributions for U.S. Congressional races in Alabama from OpenSecrets
• 2010 Alabama General Election graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• 2010 Alabama House Race from Roll Call
• Campaign 2010 news coverage from AL.com