Limestone County school administrator and Athens City Councilman Henry White will have to hang up both hats as he dons the cap of state legislator.

White defeated Republican Ronnie Coffman with 57.1 percent of the vote over Coffman’s 42.67 percent for the District 5 House seat held by retiring Rep. Tommy Carter, D-Elkmont, for 36 years.

Probate Judge Mike Davis said 19,645 or 49 percent of the 39,437 registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election.

District 5 was the most closely watched of the races. It was a race in which some of the campaign materials coming out of the Coffman camp were termed “negative advertising” by White, who said he refused to answer negativity, but “stick with the issues.”

“We kept it clean and I think that helped out,” said White after Tuesday night’s victory. “I think the negative advertising backfired.”

Coffman, a land surveyor with an office in Elkmont, said it was a night that belonged to Democrats.

“It’s hard to say if negative advertising hurt me,” said Coffman “The people that handled my campaign in Montgomery are the same people that handled Gov. Riley’s campaign. Maybe you can’t do that locally. I don’t know. It could have hurt me. But I don’t think it made that much of a difference. It was a Democratic night and they had a big sweep.”

Coffman wished White, “well in Montgomery.”

“I just want to thank my family and friends who helped me. You couldn’t ask for a better group of people,” said Coffman. “I don’t think politics will be in my future but I plan to stay involved with the Republican Party.”

White said his first order of business is to try to speed up the widening work of U.S. 72, a stretch of road that has claimed several lives in recent years.

“We don’t need another life taken because the rest of us are not getting things taken care of,” said White. “Once that is taken care of, everything else should fall in place.”



Senate District 2

State Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison, is the apparent winner of the Senate District 2 race over Republican candidate Jim Burden of Limestone County.

In Limestone returns with 34 of 35 boxes reporting, Butler took 62.7 percent of the vote with 11,352 over Burden’s 6,715. In Madison County,with 34 of 55 boxes reporting, Butler had 13,214 to 7, 560 for Burden.



Senate District 3

Republican Arthur Orr is the apparent winner of the Senate District 3 race. Orr, a corporate attorney, took 495 votes for 55.2 percent over retiring Morgan County Probate Judge Bobby Day’s 401 votes. In Morgan County, Orr had 6,225 over Bobby Day 4,428 with 25 of 72 boxes reporting. Unofficial state results called Orr the winner with 62 percent of the vote.



House District 4

It what may turn out to be a cliffhanger for political newcomer — Democrat Sue Mitchell, of Limestone County, who was hot on incumbent Rep. Micky Hammon’s heels at presstime. In Limestone County, Mitchell, a Calhoun Community College instructor, took 54.2 percent with 2,169 votes to Hammon’s 1,821 votes. With 20 of 30 boxes reporting in Morgan County, Hammon, R-Decatur, had 3,791votes to 3,337 for Mitchell.



House District 25

Republican Mac McCutheon ran unopposed.