What you need to know about this election year | INSIDE THE STATEHOUSE

This is a presidential election year. Our GOP presidential primary is our election in the Heart of Dixie. We are a one-party state, especially in presidential races. Alabama is one of a group of states that will hold its primary early, March 5 to be exact. Therefore, we will be going to the polls in less than two months to vote for a presidential nominee.

The presidential contest will more than likely be a rematch between Joe Biden, the sitting Democratic president, and Donald Trump, the Republican former president. Americans are not too enthused to see this rematch. I have never seen such a weird presidential matchup or unusual scenario in my lifetime.

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The old political truism, “more people vote against someone than for someone,” will definitely come into play in this presidential race. More people would rather vote for anyone than Trump or Biden. I have never seen two candidates for president with this high negative polling numbers. Indeed, if Republicans were to nominate anyone besides Trump, they would beat Biden. By the same token, if the Democrats were to nominate anyone besides Biden, they would beat Trump. If indeed Biden and Trump are the nominees, you will see a low voter turnout come November.

As I remind you every four years, we do not elect our president by direct vote. You vote for electors who go to an Electoral College and cast their votes. Under the “winner-take-all” Electoral College System, if a candidate wins a state by one vote, they get all of that state's electoral votes.

We have become such a polarized partisan electorate there are fewer than 10 of our 50 states that matter in a presidential contest. The race for president will be determined in Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and Georgia. The few truly independent voters left in these pivotal swing states will decide the presidency. Both parties will concentrate their efforts and resources in these states.

The straight party lockstep voting mentality of American voters has become so entrenched that in at least 40 states the race for president has been predetermined. As I have often said, “If Mickey Mouse were the Republican nominee, he would carry Alabama. By the same token, if Donald Duck were the Democratic nominee, he would carry California.” It will be fun to watch.

We do not have many good races to watch in Alabama. We have four seats on our state Supreme Court up for election this year. However, popular Republican Justices Will Sellers, Jay Mitchell and Tommy Bryan are all running unopposed and will be back for six more years. Justice Sarah Stewart is opting to run for chief justice, leaving her seat open. It will be filled by Republican Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Chris McCool, who like Sellers, Mitchell and Bryan garnered no opponent, Democrat or Republican.

The chief justice race is the only contested Supreme Court Seat. Sarah Stewart has two opponents, Bryan Taylor and Jerry Michael Blevins.

The Democrats have fielded a candidate in the chief Justice race. Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin will be on the ballot. However, winning a statewide race in the Heart of Dixie as a Democrat is difficult, to say the least, and not only improbable, but maybe impossible. There are 29 elected statewide positions in Alabama; all 29 are held by a Republican.

There are two Republican assistant attorney generals, Thomas Govan and Rich Anderson, running for Chris McCool’s seat on the Court of Criminal Appeals. Both are well-qualified for this appellate post.

Under the federal court’s decision to realign Alabama's congressional district lines to try to create a new minority Democratic district in the state, all of our powerful incumbent congressmen have altered districts. However, our veteran seniority member’s districts have probably been enhanced to their benefit.

Republican congressmen Robert Aderholt, Mike Rogers, and freshman Republican Dale Strong have no or token opposition. Democratic congresswoman Terri Sewell is also getting a free ride.

This is not the case in the newly drawn 1st District. Two incumbent Republican congressmen, Jerry Carl (Mobile/Baldwin) and Wiregrass Republican Barry Moore were placed into the same district. They will be pitted against each other in a March 5 primary contest that will be decided that day, since it is a super-Republican district.

By far the biggest race in Alabama this year will be for the newly drawn open 2nd Congressional District in Montgomery to Mobile. We will discuss that race next week.

Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve can be reached at www.steveflowers.us.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: What you need to know about this election year | INSIDE THE STATEHOUSE