A Limestone County political leader was a little surprised by one of Tuesday’s primary election outcomes.

Noah Wahl, chairman of the Limestone County Republican Party, said he was a little surprised former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville garnered more votes than former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Republican primary race for U.S. Senate. Session held the Senate seat for more than 20 years before he was tapped by President Donald Trump to be attorney general.

Because neither Tuberville nor Sessions captured more than 50% of the votes cast statewide Tuesday, they will head to a runoff election Tuesday, March 31. In Limestone County voting, Sessions led Tuberville 6,273 votes, or 39.33%, to 5,088 votes, or 31.9%. The winner will face incumbent U.S. Sen. Doug Jones in the Nov. 3 general election. Jones, the only Democrat holding statewide office in Alabama, ran unopposed in the primary.

Voter turnout

Another surprise Tuesday was voter turnout in the county.

Limestone County Probate Judge Charles Woodroof, who is also the county’s chief election official, on Friday estimated turnout would be between 40% and 45%.

Of the 67,217 registered voters in Limestone County, only 23,154 cast ballots Tuesday, a turnout of only 34.45%.

“Turnout was not what it was in previous presidential primaries,” he said.

Woodroof said he based his initial turnout estimate on absentee ballots, which are turned in by the Thursday before the primary. Turnout could still rise a smidge once Democratic and Republican party officials count the 217 provisional ballots cast in the primary. The counting will occur March 10.

The provisionals are cast mainly by voters who moved but forgot to update their registration information and were trying to vote in a different precinct on Tuesday. They were sent to the correct precinct and allowed to file a provisional ballot. Officials have no idea how many of those ballots will be valid.

“That should bump the percentage a little higher,” Woodroof said of the turnout.

More observations

When asked to review Tuesday’s election night results and make observations, Wahl had several observations.

“On the Republican side, Tommy Tuberville’s win showed he has the ability to excite the Republican base and pull more voters out to the polls.” Wahl said. “I’m sure the runoff Senate election will be quite intense. My hope is that both Tuberville and Sessions will try to keep the race clean, run on their platforms and focus on sharing with the voters what they believe and how they will represent Alabama.”

For and against

When asked if he saw any direction in Tuesday’s numbers, Wahl said, “As far as the trends in Limestone County go, being an incumbent can sometimes work for you and sometimes work against you.”

For example, he said Bradley Young, Limestone County Board of Education District 5 candidate, handily won his election, and Danny Barksdale won the Limestone County Commission District 2 race with a 60-40 win over the incumbent.

“I think the voters in Limestone County and all of Alabama are looking for candidates who are not just conservative, but that have a drive and passion to improve government through conservative principles like fiscal responsibility and constitutionally limited government.”

Wahl said perhaps the most interesting win for a resident of Limestone County was in the election for Trump delegate Place 10.

“Ben Harrison, who is Limestone County District 4 County Commissioner, ran in this statewide race against two other people and won with a commanding 10% lead over his closest opponent,” Wahl said. “It is an interesting time for politics in Limestone County with all the corruption and legal issues that are going on. I hear people are calling us Crimestone County. I don’t think people in Limestone are happy with the status quo anymore. People are looking for political heroes who have a plan to reduce government waste and bring government back to the people, and people are showing that with their votes.”

Ken Hines, chairman of the Limestone County Democratic Party, could not be reached for comment on the primary election Tuesday afternoon.