4 losing incumbents examine what went wrong

Jun. 2—In a primary election where most area incumbents fared well, Lawrence County voters ousted four. Theories on what doomed the incumbents range from a controversial school closure to low turnout to more motivated challengers.

Fourteen-year Circuit Judge Mark Craig, two-term District 1 school board member Christine Garner, first-term District 1 Commissioner Jesse Byrd and first-term District 7 state Rep. Proncey Robertson all fell to candidates who sought those positions for the first time.

They were the lone incumbents in The Daily's three-county coverage area — Morgan, Limestone and Lawrence — not to prevail in the primaries or make it to the runoffs.

Garner fell to Hillsboro Town Councilman Delandrion Woods, 29, in the Democratic primary, and in the same district, Byrd lost to retired lawman Amard Martin.

Byrd and Garner both admitted they may have been outworked on the campaign trail, but are less certain the closure of R.A. Hubbard High School in North Courtland played a significant role in their loss.

On April 25, U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor approved the Lawrence County Board of Education's decision to close the grade 7-12 school with its enrollment of 145 students in North Courtland.

"Apparently I did not get out and campaign like I should have," Garner, 64, said. "Oftentimes the person in office gets the blame when something like (a school closure) occurs. But overall, I don't think that was the deciding factor. Maybe 20%. Delandrion got out and campaigned and I did not as much as I needed to."

Byrd said the school's closure in his district was a nonfactor in his loss.

"(Amard) worked harder at it than I did. He wanted it more. He managed to get people out to the polls," Byrd said. — RA Hubbard effect

But Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said last week the closure of R.A. Hubbard certainly hurt the two incumbents.

"Those candidates in District 1 got beat because the school is closed," he said. "R.A. Hubbard is an institution in that community. Now, it is just a memory."

Merrill said the same thing happened in Lamar County in 1986 when Millport and Kennedy high schools were closed to form South Lamar High School. "That was personal to the voters, and they wanted their voice to be heard," he said.

Former Lawrence County Schools board member Bobby Diggs agreed with Merrill. Diggs said he felt the voters' wrath in 2010 after Hazlewood High School in Town Creek was closed a year earlier. He said it cost him his seat on the board. Garner beat him in the election.

"Hazlewood closing, that had an impact on me losing? Absolutely, without a doubt," Diggs said. "Whether you gave it your all and did everything you could, if you are on the board, you're going to be held responsible. What happened to (Garner), happened to me in 2010."

Town Creek resident S.T. Yarbrough, 75, said the lack of communication hurt the District 1 incumbents.

"Communication from our representatives for this community could have been better. We didn't see them out at our events like we thought we should have. Communication with the people is the No. 1 thing, the No. 1 factor to get elected. You have to be in touch with the people you are representing."

He doesn't feel the Hubbard school closing played a part in the election.

"Nothing Christine could have done would have kept the school open," he said. "She tried her best. It was time for the school to close. It was costing too much, and enrollment was low. We all knew they were going to close that school."

He said Woods has a large family network in the district and that helped him.

Floyd Jones Jr., 58, also of Town Creek, said he was tired of the County Commission and Board of Education contradicting themselves on issues affecting District 1.

"It seems like they kept isolating the minority in one corner of the county," he said. "So after all the dust settled, it was obvious the voters here wanted a change. I don't think there was a big enough fight to keep R.A. Hubbard open. Bobby Diggs lost (the school board seat) to Christine after Hazlewood closed (in 2009). Closing Hazlewood was heartbreaking. I don't think the board seriously considered busing the white kids from Hatton to North Courtland. I think the closing of Hubbard did play a small role in Christine and Jesse losing."

Lawrence County saw a 29.7% voter turnout, lower than Probate Judge Greg Dutton projected, but more than 6 points higher than the state average. Dutton had projected 33% to 35% turnout.

"Weather was not great that day. That could have impacted turnout some," he said. "We were (3 to 4 percentage points) lower than the last few primary averages for Lawrence County."

The statewide voter turnout was 23.35%, exclusive of provisional ballots. Merrill had projected turnout to be between 28% and 32%.

Merrill said he believes registered voters stayed away from the polls because they were tired of the negative advertising.

"Yes, the polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday, but in reality, the voting ended three or four weeks before then. People were tired of all the negativity," Merrill said. He added he would be surprised if the primary runoffs on June 21 generate as high as a 15% turnout.

While some of the disappointed incumbents in Lawrence County said they felt the low turnout hurt their performance, Merrill disagreed.

"Low turnout is excellent for incumbents," he said. "When everything is going great, (the voters) don't see a need for change. They are happy with the way things are going and tend not to show up at the polls. They're happy with who is in office."

He said low voter turnout helped incumbent Gov. Kay Ivey collect 54.6% of the vote to avoid a runoff in the Republican primary. — House District 7

Mount Hope's Robertson, who was trying to secure his second term in the House, said he was hearing from his supporters they would be voting. He lost to Ernie Yarbrough, 40, of the East Lawrence community, by more than 600 votes in the Republican primary. District 7 includes Lawrence County, where more voters also cast ballots for Yarbrough, and portions of Morgan and Colbert counties.

Robertson said he felt the low turnout and "negative attack ads with misinformation" from Yarbrough's camp hurt his bid. "The turnout of the consistent voters was not there," he said.

The anti-gas-tax ads his opponent ran were misleading, he said. "The gas tax ads were easy to make hay with, with the high gas prices now. The needs of the infrastructure are not free. (Yarbrough) said the gas tax was a bad thing. Road and bridge improvements are made with revenue from fuel taxes. If you repeal the gas tax, how do you pay for those things?"

Lawrence County Assistant District Attorney and Moulton City Attorney Callie Waldrep defeated Craig by more than 300 votes for the Republican judgeship nomination in the 36th Judicial Circuit that encompasses Lawrence County.

Craig, like Robertson, said he heard a lot of "confidence from my supporters" and he felt the inclement weather could have caused them to stay home.

"Callie knocked on more doors, spent more time out there," said Craig, who was appointed to the bench in 2009 by Gov. Bob Riley and had won two six-year terms since. "I was planning on getting out beginning the first week of March, and at the same time we had the (Evan) Berryman (capital murder) trial that lasted three weeks, one of the longest in the county's history. I didn't have the time and because of the security risk, I couldn't go out by myself. She didn't have that liability."

He said some people in the county were "highly motivated" to see him lose because he ruled against them or their loved one in court.

Craig said the Lawrence County Republican Party executive committee disallowed some candidates who wanted to qualify to appear on the GOP ballot, which "may have hurt turnout."

The committee turned away at least three candidates who wanted to run on the Republican ticket.

Stephen Upton, 45, of Courtland, said the power of the ballot box has changed in recent years.

"These days it is all about action," he said. "If you are not happy, you vote for a change."

— mike.wetzel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442. Twitter @DD_Wetzel.