Does Lands’ District 10 victory signal a shift in Alabama politics?

Kayla Smith
·2 min read
2

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Marilyn Lands’ District 10 victory has turned heads across the county with some saying her campaign’s message may signal a shift in voter preferences in traditionally red districts.

Alabama District 10 voters elected Democrat Lands to a seat that has been held by Republicans for decades.

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Since Tuesday, social media posts about Lands and her platform have gained thousands of likes. The story has even been shared by former presidential candidate Hilary Clinton.

Lands campaigned on reproductive rights, promising to support abortion rights and IVF in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court decision classifying embryos as children.

“I want to get down there and repeal the bad ban on no exceptions abortion,” Land said on election day.

Lands ran for the seat in 2022, winning only 47% of the votes in District 10, but Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels said this election was different.

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“Families are really sick and tired of their reproductive rights, women’s reproductive right, being under attack, so I think that had a great deal to do with the turnout,” Daniels said.

The 2022 winner, Republican David Cole, was arrested on a voter fraud charge, and with his resignation, Lands had another opportunity to run. On Tuesday, Lands won 62% of the vote in District 10, which Republicans have held since the turn of the century.

Alabama Republicans say the results of this race do not signal a shift in the state’s politics.

“This was a swing district,” said Alabama GOP Chairman John Wahl. “It was a purple district, and Democrats always had a strong chance here.”

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Moving forward, Wahl said Republicans need to further attach themselves to other social issues.

“You know Democrats are good at talking about abortion,” Wahl said. “It’s time Republicans started talking about protecting our children from woke policies in our schools. It’s time we start saying you know what, we can tell the difference between a man and women, and maybe we should leave these divisive concepts out of our education system.”

Daniels said reproductive rights are an issue that will remain front and center in future elections.

“I have asked all of our candidates to take this issue on because, you know for me, I took action on the IVF and it got a lot of attention,” Daniels said. “I heard from a lot of people, and so for me, that told me what I needed to know.”

Lands was sworn in on Wednesday and will head to Montgomery next week as the legislature returns from spring break.

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