Independent candidate claims victory in tight Alabama Senate battle

An independent conservative candidate claimed victory Tuesday in a tight battle for a northeastern Alabama Senate district, but the Republican incumbent had not conceded as of early Tuesday evening.

Independent candidate Jesse Battles said in a Facebook post that he had won the race by 74 votes out of more than 40,000 cast, following the counting of provisional and write-in votes. He posted a photo of Etowah County Circuit Judge Sonny J. Steen administering him the oath of office.

“I’m humbled and honored to serve the people of District 10,” Battles said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Governor-elect Tuberville, Senate leadership, and local leaders across our district to ensure northeast Alabama is the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”

Incumbent Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, wrote in a Facebook post early Tuesday evening that he was behind Battles by 72 votes and would wait for an automatic recount in the race.

“Although it would be an uphill climb for us to pull out a win at this point, I remain firm in my belief that every vote needs to be accurately counted,” Jones wrote in his post. “The automatic recount process exists in state law to ensure the integrity of our elections. Our team is waiting on the recount to be completed before making a final statement about the election.”

Multiple messages were sent to Battles and Jones seeking comment. Senate District 10 includes Cherokee and Etowah counties and a portion of DeKalb County.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Alabama Secretary of State’s website showed Battles leading Jones by 52 votes, 20,341 to 20,289.

Battles originally sought to challenge Jones in the Republican primary for the district, but was removed from the ballot by the Alabama Republican Party in February. According to The Anniston Star, Battles faced allegations that he had done work for former Alabama House Minority Leader Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, who ran against Jones as an independent candidate in 2018.

Battles accused the “Montgomery Establishment” of removing him from the primary, and later gathered enough signatures to win ballot access as an independent.

Jones, seeking his third term in office, faced Alabama Public Library Service board member Amy Minton in the Republican primary in May. He won the party nomination with 8,325 votes (54%) to Minton’s 7,141 (46%).

Jones was one of several Republican candidates targeted by flyers from Alabama Values, a PAC created by former Sen. Del Hill that accused “our so-called conservative leaders” for voting for in-state tuition for immigrants without status. Jones was one of several candidates who later demanded retractions of the claims in the flyers.

Jones, who started the campaign with about $432,000, reported raising $1 million and spending $1.2 million on the race, according to campaign finance reports. Battles raised $142,000 and spent about $135,000.

Jones focused on economic development, infrastructure and improving education on his campaign website. He helped lead efforts in the Alabama Legislature to reduce the state portion of the sales tax on food.

Battles, a small business owner, also highlighted infrastructure and education as priorities. He also said he wants to expand the skilled trades, support veterans and law enforcement, protect people’s Second Amendment right to own a gun.

If the result holds, the Alabama Senate will consist of 24 Republicans, 10 Democrats and one independent. After the 2022 elections, the chamber had 27 Republicans and eight Democrats.