Alabama Supreme Court elections, 2018

Elections in Alabama, 2018

• General election: Nov. 6
• Voter registration deadline: Oct. 22
• Early voting: N/A
• Absentee voting deadline: Postmark Nov. 5

• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: No
• Voter ID: Photo ID required
• Poll times: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

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2018 election dates
Deadline to file candidacy
February 9, 2018 June 5, 2018
Primary election
June 5, 2018
General election
November 6, 2018

2018 State Judicial Elections
2019 » « 2017
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The terms of five Alabama Supreme Court justices, including the chief justice, expired on January 13, 2019. Partisan elections were held for each of the five spots on the court on November 6, 2018.

Associate Justice Tom Parker (R) defeated Bob Vance (D) in the chief justice race.

As of the 2018 election, a Democrat hadn't sat on the Alabama Supreme Court since 2011. Sue Bell Cobb (D) resigned as chief justice that year after serving since 2007. She was the only Democrat on the court at the time of her resignation.

In the Republican primary for chief justice on June 5, Parker defeated incumbent Lyn Stuart (R). Stuart had been named acting judge after Roy Moore's suspension in 2016. Moore was suspended after directing lower court judges to decline to issue same-sex marriage licenses despite the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. Parker was described as "a long-time ally of Roy Moore" by the Associated Press. He highlighted his social conservatism and his conflicts with groups including the Southern Poverty Law Center. Parker was first elected to the court as a justice in 2004.

Bob Vance, the Democratic candidate, ran against Moore in 2012 and lost by 3.6 percentage points. In 2018, Vance had a fundraising advantage over Parker through October 19, having raised $1 million to Parker's $714,000.

Candidates for places 1, 2, and 3 on the court were unopposed in the general election. The place 4 election was contested, and Jay Mitchell (R) defeated Donna Wesson Smalley (D).

Candidates

General election

General election

General election for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Parker (R)	57.4	975,564
		Robert S. Vance (D)	42.5	723,149
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	1,073

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,699,786 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Primary election

■ Chief Justice Lyn Stuart (i)
■ Robert S. Vance a
■ Tom Parker a

General election

General election

General election for Alabama Supreme Court

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sarah Stewart (R)	96.8	1,098,344
		Other/Write-in votes	3.2	36,256

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,134,600 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Runoff

■ Brad Mendheim (i)
■ Sarah Stewart a

Primary election

■ Brad Mendheim (i)
■ Debra H. Jones
■ Sarah Stewart

General election

General election

General election for Alabama Supreme Court

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tommy Bryan (R)	96.9	1,088,817
		Other/Write-in votes	3.1	35,234

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,124,051 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Primary election

■ Tommy Bryan (i) a

General election

General election

General election for Alabama Supreme Court

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		William Sellers (R)	96.9	1,086,368
		Other/Write-in votes	3.1	34,216

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,120,584 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Primary election

■ William Sellers (i) a

General election

General election

General election for Alabama Supreme Court

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jay Mitchell (R)	60.5	1,014,761
		Donna Wesson Smalley (D)	39.4	661,034
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	1,302

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,677,097 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Primary election

Note: Justice James Allen Main did not file for re-election.
■ Donna Wesson Smalley a
■ John Bahakel
■ Jay Mitchell a

Chief justice election

Noteworthy endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please click here.

• Chief justice candidate Bob Vance (D) was endorsed by three Republicans who once sat on the court: former Chief Justice Drayton Nabers, former Acting Chief Justice Gorman Houston, and former Associate Justice Tom Woodall.

Campaign advertisements

This section shows advertisements released in this race. Ads released by campaigns and, if applicable, satellite groups are embedded or linked below. If you are aware of advertisements that should be included, please email us.

Bob Vance

Vance released an ad on October 9, 2018. Click here to view it.

Tom Parker

"Parker for CJ Radio: Mob Rule" - Parker campaign ad, released October 20, 2018

About the Alabama Supreme Court

See also: Alabama Supreme Court

The Alabama Supreme Court is composed of nine justices who are elected in state-wide partisan elections. A full term on the court is six years. Judicial elections take place during Alabama's general elections, which are held every two years in even-numbered years.

Political composition

This was the political composition of the supreme court heading into the 2018 election. Justices on the Alabama Supreme Court are elected to their seats, and replacements are appointed by the governor in the case of midterm vacancies. Justice William Sellers was appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey (R) to fill a vacancy. The remaining eight justices were elected to their current terms.

■ Lyn Stuart		Elected in 2000
■ Michael Bolin		Elected in 2004
■ Tom Parker		Elected in 2004
■ Greg Shaw		Elected in 2008
■ Kelli Wise		Elected in 2010
■ Tommy Bryan		Elected in 2012
■ James Allen Main		Appointed by Bob Riley (R) in 2011, elected in 2012
■ William Sellers		Appointed by Kay Ivey (R) in 2017
■ Brad Mendheim		Appointed by Kay Ivey (R) in 2018

Selection

See also: Partisan election of judges

All justices on the Alabama Supreme Court are elected for six-year terms in partisan elections. The composition of the court consists of eight associate justices and one chief justice. Vacancies, which can occur when a justice dies, resigns, retires, or is removed from office, are filled through appointments by the governor of Alabama. The justice must run for the seat in the general election at least one year after being appointed.

Qualifications

To be considered a candidate for the supreme court, the person must:

• Be licensed to practice law in Alabama.
• Have lived in Alabama for at least one year.
• Be 70 years of age or younger at the time of candidacy.

Selection of the chief justice

The chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court is elected by popular vote.

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states. No counties in Alabama are Pivot Counties.

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Alabama with 62.1 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 34.4 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Alabama voted Democratic 53.33 percent of the time and Republican 40 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Alabama voted Republican all five times.

See also

Alabama	Judicial Selection	More Courts
Courts in Alabama Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals Alabama Court of Civil Appeals Alabama Supreme Court	Elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 Gubernatorial appointments Judicial selection in Alabama	Federal courts State courts Local courts

External links

Suggest a link

• Alabama Supreme Court

Footnotes

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Alabama courts

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Federal courts:

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Alabama, Middle District of Alabama, Southern District of Alabama • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Alabama, Middle District of Alabama, Southern District of Alabama

State courts:

Alabama Supreme Court • Alabama Court of Civil Appeals • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals • Alabama Circuit Courts • Alabama District Courts • Alabama Juvenile Courts • Alabama Municipal Courts • Alabama Probate Courts • Alabama Small Claims Courts

State resources:

Courts in Alabama • Alabama judicial elections • Judicial selection in Alabama