Outgoing State Auditor Jim Zeigler and state Rep. Wes Allen advanced to the Republican primary runoff to succeed GOP incumbent John Merrill as Alabama’s top elections officer, secretary of state.
Zeigler was barred from running again as auditor by term limits, and Allen served nearly a decade as probate judge in Pike County. Neither could get above the 50% vote threshold in a race that also included Ed Packard, who worked in the secretary of state’s elections division for nearly 25 years, and Christian Horn, a GOP activist and business owner from Madison County.
None of the four candidates raised major complaints about election problems in Alabama, which is controlled by Republicans and voted heavily for President Donald Trump in 2020. But all talked about measures needed to tighten election security, an issue popularized among conservatives by Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen by President Joe Biden.
The eventual Republican nominee will face Democrat Pamela J. Laffitte of Mobile in November.
Merrill couldn’t seek the office again after serving two terms.
Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
