Democrat Marilyn Lands defeated Republican Teddy Powell in a special election Tuesday night for a state House seat in north Alabama that drew national attention.

Lands, a licensed professional counselor, flipped the seat from red to blue by besting Powell, a Madison city councilman, 62 percent to 38 percent with 100percent of the precincts in District 10 reporting, according to unofficial results posted on the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office website.

The race drew national interest against the backdrop of the controversial Alabama State Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are considered children under state law.

The seat became vacant when ex-Rep. David Cole resigned after pleading guilty to illegal voting.

  • @Viking_Hippie
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    563 months ago

    The seat became vacant when ex-Rep. David Cole resigned after pleading guilty to illegal voting

    It says a lot about the state of things that it’s only his resignation that’s at all surprising in that sentence…

    • @[email protected]
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      293 months ago

      It’s both better and worse than you’d expect: his house was redistricted out of district 10, so he intentionally rented a 5*5’ space in someone else’s house in the right district for $5 a month, then made a fake full lease to show as evidence he lived in district 10 . He voted in the election for 10, but then filed a tax exemption, using a different district as his home district.

  • Jaysyn
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    3 months ago

    By my reckoning, the GOP has lost 16 of their last 19 special elections. Several of them being in so called “red” states.

    • @kescusay
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      333 months ago

      Yep. It’s one of the reasons I’m skeptical of polling this year. It seems like the difficulty pollsters have reaching various demographics that are likely to vote for Democrats is getting worse, not better. They try to compensate by weighting their results, but it’s not an exact science, and Dems are consistently overperforming versus what the polls say.

      • Jaysyn
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        163 months ago

        Dems are consistently overperforming versus what the polls say.

        It’s been +9 points nationwide since Roe V. Wade was overturned.

        • @kescusay
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          3 months ago

          Yep. That doesn’t mean anything is in the bag, of course. We still have to fight like hell for every vote.

          But it does mean we shouldn’t be all doom and gloom.

          • @[email protected]
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            63 months ago

            Honestly if people feel like it’s in the bag, they’re less likely to vote. Seeing losses might encourage higher turnout to overcorrect and this might well be how we end up with Trump again.

      • @TankovayaDiviziya
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        43 months ago

        Many people change their minds at the last minute before casting their ballots. Polling is science, but not quite so at the same time.

        • @Boddhisatva
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          13 months ago

          Not to mention the ones that just lie. No one will ever know so they do it just to throw a wrench in the machine. Someone said the other day, “We are all just poltergeists in meat suits.”

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    43 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Democrat Marilyn Lands defeated Republican Teddy Powell in a special election Tuesday night for a state House seat in north Alabama that drew national attention.

    Lands, a licensed professional counselor, flipped the seat from red to blue by besting Powell, a Madison city councilman, 62 percent to 38 percent with 100percent of the precincts in District 10 reporting, according to unofficial results posted on the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office website.

    Lands, who lost to Cole in 2022, made the ruling a focus of her campaign for the district covering parts of Madison County.

    Of her victory Tuesday, Lands said, “Today, Alabama women and families sent a clear message that will be heard in Montgomery and across the nation.

    Our legislature must repeal Alabama’s no-exceptions abortion ban, fully restore access to IVF, and protect the right to contraception.”

    “Tonight’s victory is a political earthquake in Alabama – the heart of Republican territory and ground zero for the most egregious attacks on our fundamental freedoms,” she said.


    The original article contains 352 words, the summary contains 166 words. Saved 53%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!