2014 United States Senate election in Alabama

Last updated

2014 United States Senate election in Alabama
Flag of Alabama.svg
  2008 November 4, 2014 2017 (special)  
  Jeff Sessions official portrait.jpg
Nominee Jeff Sessions
Party Republican
Popular vote795,606
Percentage97.25%

2014 United States Senate election in Alabama results map by county.svg
County results
Sessions:     80–90%     90–100%

U.S. senator before election

Jeff Sessions
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Jeff Sessions
Republican

The 2014 United States Senate election in Alabama took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate for Alabama.

Contents

Incumbent Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, who served in the position since 1997, ran for re-election to a fourth term in office. As the Democrats did not field a candidate, he was the only candidate to file before the deadline and was therefore unopposed in the Republican primary election and only faced write-in opposition in the general election. [1]

Sessions was re-elected with 97.25% of the vote with the remaining votes being write-ins. This alongside the concurrent gubernatorial election is the last time Jefferson County voted Republican in a statewide election.

As of 2024, this is the last time an incumbent senator was reelected unopposed.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Independents

An independent candidate would have been able to challenge Sessions if at least 44,828 signatures had been submitted by June 3, 2014. [3] None did so.

General election

Candidates

On ballot

  • Jeff Sessions (Republican), incumbent U.S. Senator

Write-in

  • Victor Sanchez Williams (Democratic), attorney [4] [5]

Fundraising

CandidateRaisedSpentCash on hand
Jeff Sessions (R)$1,369,672$1,151,690$3,343,748
Victor Sanchez Williams (D)$4,497$4,247$250

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [6] Solid RNovember 3, 2014
Sabato's Crystal Ball [7] Safe RNovember 3, 2014
Rothenberg Political Report [8] Safe RNovember 3, 2014
Real Clear Politics [9] Safe RNovember 3, 2014

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin
of error
Jeff
Sessions (R)
OtherUndecided
YouGov [10] October 16–23, 2014661± 6.0%63%11%27%
YouGov [11] September 20 – October 1, 2014692± 4.0%61%13%26%
YouGov [12] August 18 – September 2, 2014741± 5.0%54%12%34%
YouGov [13] July 5–24, 20141,036± 5.2%65%10%26%

Results

United States Senate election in Alabama, 2014 [14]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Jeff Sessions (incumbent) 795,606 97.25% +33.89%
Write-in 22,4842.75%+2.63%
Total votes818,090 100.00% N/A
Republican hold

Aftermath

Sessions did not complete this term, which ran through January 3, 2021; he resigned on February 9, 2017, to become Attorney General under the Trump administration. This triggered the interim appointment of Luther Strange to fill the vacancy until Democrat Doug Jones won a special election later that year. On November 7, 2019, Sessions announced that he would stand for this US Senate seat again in 2020 when it was due for its regularly-scheduled election, [15] though he was defeated in the runoff primary by football coach Tommy Tuberville, who would go onto win the general election.

See also

References

  1. Cason, Mike (February 7, 2014). "Democrats pick up a handful of candidates; governor only contested statewide race in primary". AL.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  2. Phillip Rawls (January 16, 2013). "Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions will seek re-election in 2014". The Republic. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  3. "Independent Candidate Ballot Access" (PDF). Alabama Secretary of State. August 20, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  4. Arkansas native proposes challenge to unopposed Republican senator in Alabama
  5. WILLIAMS, VICTOR SANCHEZ
  6. "2014 Senate Race Ratings for November 3, 2014". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  7. "The Crystal Ball's Final 2014 Picks". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 3, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  8. "2014 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  9. "2014 Elections Map - Battle for the Senate 2014". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  10. YouGov
  11. YouGov
  12. YouGov
  13. YouGov
  14. "Certified General Election Results" (PDF). Alabama Secretary of State. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  15. "Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions praises Trump in announcing run for his old US Senate seat". November 8, 2019.