Representatives Mo Brooks, an Alabama Republican, will face off against the Southern state's GOP Senate front-runner Katie Britt in a primary runoff next month after neither candidate secured more than 50 percent of the ballots in the first round of voting.
Former President Donald Trump initially endorsed Brooks, a prominent promoter of false claims about the 2020 election, but later rescinded the endorsement in March. The former president criticized Brooks for telling supporters that they should move on from the last presidential election and look to the future. The GOP Senate candidate was also polling in third place at the time.
Despite Trump withdrawing his endorsement, Brooks came in second in Alabama's Republican primary on Tuesday. Britt, a former staffer of retiring GOP Senator Richard Shelby and the former CEO of the Business Council of Alabama, still pulled off a commanding lead, garnering nearly 45 percent of the vote compared with her top opponent's 29.2 percent, with some 91 percent of ballots reported.
Those primary results were somewhat better for Britt than polls prior to the election predicted. Throughout May, polling consistently showed the Republican candidate leading the field of GOP contenders but never with more 37 percent of the vote. The RealClearPolitics average of polls conducted between May 15 and May 21 had Britt at 34.7 percent compared with 28.7 percent for Brooks.
That means the formerly Trump-endorsed candidate trailed the GOP front-runner by an average of 6 points going into Tuesday's election. In the end, Britt came out ahead of Brooks by north of 15 percent.
The third-place GOP candidate, Mike Durant, said on Monday prior to the primary that he would "absolutely" support Brooks if he failed to make the runoff himself. Durant, a businessman and former U.S. Army pilot famous for his involvement in the "Black Hawk Down" incident in Somalia in 1993, garnered over 23 percent of Republican primary ballots. Combining the two Republican candidates totals would of course put Brooks significantly over the 50 percent threshold for victory, but its unclear whether the vast majority of Durant supporters will come out to vote for Brooks next month.
Recent polls consistently showed Brooks' and Durant's combined support topping 50 percent. A survey by the Trafalgar Group from May 18 to 21 had Brooks at 28 percent and Durant at 23 percent. Collectively, the two Republicans were supported by 51 percent of GOP voters. The poll surveyed 1,060 likely voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percent.
A previous survey carried out by The Hill/Emerson College from May 15 to 16 had Brooks and Durant tied at 29 percent. Combined, that would put the two GOP contenders' total at 58 percent. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percent and included 706 likely voters.
Again, it's unclear what Durant supporters will decide to do next month. Many may prefer Britt or choose not to vote at all in the runoff. However, even though Britt finished well ahead of Brooks, the recent polling data suggests it's certainly possible the runoff could be much closer. Brooks could even potentially pull off a win.
Notably, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, came out against Brooks. The top Senate Republican, through his Senate Leadership Fund super PAC, contributed some $2 million to Britt's campaign.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Jason Lemon is a Weekend Editor at Newsweek based in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to taking on the editor role, Jason's reporting focused on ... Read more
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