1982 Alabama Senate election

The 1982 Alabama Senate election took place on Tuesday, November 2, 1982, to elect 35 representatives to serve four-year terms in the Alabama Senate. Primary elections were held on September 7 with runoff elections on September 28. The state's three Black senators, Michael Figures, Earl Hilliard, and J. Richmond Pearson, all won re-election. The Republicans won three seats at the general election, its best showing of the entire century up to that point.

This was the first time a Republican had been elected to the state senate since Leland Childs was elected in 1966, who himself had been the first Republican elected to the chamber since the Reconstruction Era. The Republicans also made history by electing Ann Bedsole of Mobile to District 34, the state's first-ever female state senator. Across both houses, Republicans were elected to 11 of the 140 legislative seats, the most since Reconstruction.

Democrat John Teague was unanimously elected President pro tempore on January 11, 1983. The map used in the 1982 general election was struck down the next year for violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965, requiring a new map to be drawn. A special election for every seat in the legislature was held in November 1983.

Summary

Party Candidates SeatsNum.Vote%BeforeWon +/– Democratic 35 683,395 85.37% 35 32 3 Republican 10 115,303 14.40% 0 3 3 NDPA 1 1,734 0.22% 0 0 Write-in 42 0.01% — 0 Total 46 800,474 100% 35 Registered / turnout 2,135,724 37.48

Incumbents Won re-election

District 1: Bobby E. Denton (Democratic) won re-election. District 7: Bill Smith (Democratic) won re-election. District 9: Hinton Mitchem (Democratic) won re-election. District 10: Larry Keener (Democratic) won re-election. District 13: J. Richmond Pearson (Democratic) won re-election. District 14: Mac Parsons (Democratic) won re-election. District 15: Earl Hilliard (Democratic) won re-election. Hilliard succeeded Democratic senator U. W. Clemon after a September 1980 special election. District 16: Ryan deGraffenried (Democratic) won re-election. District 18: Lister Proctor (Democratic) won re-election. District 19: John Teague (Democratic) won re-election. District 20: Donald Holmes (Democratic) won re-election. District 21: T. D. Little (Democratic) won re-election. District 24: Chip Bailey (Democratic) won re-election. District 26: Don Harrison (Democratic) won re-election. District 29: Earl Goodwin (Democratic) won re-election. District 30: Edward Robertson (Democratic) won re-election. District 31: Reo Kirkland Jr. (Democratic) won re-election. District 33: Michael Figures (Democratic) won re-election.

Eliminated in primary

District 8: James Lemaster (Democratic) lost renomination to Lowell Barron. District 17: Doug Cook (Democratic) lost renomination to Lucile White. District 22: G. J. Higginbotham (Democratic) lost renomination to Danny Corbett. District 23: Mike Weeks (Democratic) lost renomination to Foy Covington Jr. District 25: Wallace Miller (Democratic) lost renomination to Crum Foshee. District 27: Barry Teague (Democratic) lost renomination to Larry Dixon. Teague succeeded Democratic senator Bishop Barron after an April 1982 special election. District 28: Cordy Taylor (Democratic) lost renomination to Wendell Mitchell. District 32: Bob Gulledge (Democratic) lost renomination to Jerry Boyington, who was subsequently defeated by Republican Perry Hand.

Did not seek re-election

District 2: Charlie Britnell (Democratic) did not seek re-election. District 3: Charles Martin (Democratic) was elected to the 8th state house district. District 4: Finis St. John III (Democratic) did not seek re-election. District 5: Robert Hall (Democratic) did not seek re-election. District 6: Albert McDonald (Democratic) was elected agriculture commissioner. District 11: Dewey White (Democratic) did not seek re-election. District 12: Pat Vacca (Democratic) did not seek re-election. District 34: Sonny Callahan (Democratic) unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor. District 35: Bob Glass (Democratic) did not seek re-election.

General election results

District Democratic Republican Others Total Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Votes 11th Roger Lee 13,093 34.57% William J. Cabaniss 24,786 65.43% — — — 37,879 −11,693 −30.87% 12th John Amari 20,892 76.46% Red Walker 6,433 23.54% — — — 27,325 +14,459 +52.91% 17th Dale Corley 11,953 33.67% Spencer Bachus 23,543 66.33% — — — 35,496 −11,590 −32.65% 20th Donald G. Holmes (inc.) 18,949 76.98% Charles H. Green 5,667 23.02% — — — 24,616 +13,282 +53.96% 22nd Danny Corbett 14,803 67.31% Sam Pierce 7,181 32.65% Write-in 8 0.04% 21,992 +7,622 +34.66% 23rd Foy Covington 23,928 84.71% Chris Bence 2,584 9.15% Bill Johnston (NDPA) 1,734 6.14% 28,246 +21,344 +75.56% 29th Earl Goodwin (inc.) 25,733 82.93% John J. Grimes Jr. 5,293 17.06% Write-in 1 0.01% 31,027 +20,440 +65.88% 32nd Jerry Boyington 16,519 55.68% Perry Hand 13,149 44.32% — — — 29,668 +3,370 +11.36% 34th John E. Saad 15,368 48.08% Ann Bedsole 16,596 51.92% Jean Sullivan (write-in) 2 0.01% 31,966 −1,228 −3.84% 35th Bill Menton 13,008 56.36% Gary Tanner 10,071 43.64% — — — 23,079 +2,937 +12.73% Elected unopposed

District 1: Bobby E. Denton (Democratic, inc.) received 25,168 votes. District 2: Roger Bedford (Democratic) received 26,316 votes. District 3: Gary Aldridge (Democratic) received 19,569 votes. 2 write-in votes were recorded. District 4: Steve Cooley (Democratic) received 21,249 votes. District 5: Charles Bishop (Democratic) received 16,494 votes. District 6: Jim Smith (Democratic) received 18,426 votes. District 7: Bill Smith (Democratic, inc.) received 18,686 votes. District 8: Lowell Barron (Democratic) received 19,866 votes. 1 write-in vote was recorded. District 9: Hinton Mitchem (Democratic, inc.) received 19,485 votes. 1 write-in vote was recorded. District 10: Larry Keener (Democratic, inc.) received 25,129 votes. District 13: J. Richmond Pearson (Democratic, inc.) received 21,315 votes. District 14: Mac Parsons (Democratic) received 20,561 votes. District 15: Earl Hilliard (Democratic, inc.) received 15,988 votes. District 16: Ryan deGraffenried (Democratic, inc.) received 20,149 votes. District 18: Lister Hill Proctor (Democratic, inc.) received 19,399 votes. District 19: John Teague (Democratic, inc.) received 22,086 votes. 1 write-in vote was recorded. District 21: T. D. Little (Democratic, inc.) received 18,270 votes. District 24: Chip Bailey (Democratic, inc.) received 16,273 votes. District 25: Crum Foshee (Democratic) received 20,331 votes. 2 write-in votes were recorded. District 26: Don Harrison (Democratic, inc.) received 20,680 votes. 2 write-in votes were recorded. District 27: Larry Dixon (Democratic) received 23,305 votes. 4 write-in votes were recorded. District 28: Wendell Mitchell (Democratic) received 22,537 votes. District 30: Edward Robertson (Democratic, inc.) received 24,515 votes. 18 write-in votes were recorded. District 31: Reo Kirkland Jr. (Democratic, inc.) received 18,105 votes. District 33: Michael Figures (Democratic, inc.) received 15,247 votes.

Democratic primary elections Runoff results by district Candidates in boldface advanced to the general election. An asterisk (*) denotes a runoff winner who was the runner-up in the first round.

District Winner Loser Total Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Votes 2nd Roger Bedford 22,365 55.33% Robbie Martin 18,056 44.67% 40,421 +4,309 +10.66% 3rd Gary Aldridge 14,208 50.16% Ray Campbell 14,117 49.84% 28,325 +91 +0.32% 8th Lowell Barron 13,618 50.65% James Lemaster (inc.) 13,268 49.35% 26,886 +350 +1.30% 22nd Danny Corbett* 10,753 53.54% G. J. Higginbotham (inc.) 9,330 46.46% 20,083 +1,423 +7.09% 23rd Foy Covington Jr. 16,762 56.86% Boyd Whigham 12,719 43.14% 29,481 +4,043 +13.71% 29th Earl Goodwin (inc.)* 17,264 51.10% Hank Sanders 16,522 48.90% 33,786 +742 +2.20% 35th Bill Menton 9,688 53.11% George Stewart 8,553 46.89% 18,241 +1,135 +6.22% First round results by district Candidates in boldface advanced to either the general election or a runoff, first-place winners with an asterisk (*) did not face a runoff.

District First place Runners-up Others Total Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Votes 2nd Roger Bedford 15,793 39.41% Robbie Martin 12,672 31.62% 2 others 11,607 28.97% 4,0072 +3,121 +7.79% 3rd Gary Aldridge 11,482 49.30% Ray Campbell 9,991 42.89% Gary Peters 1,819 7.81% 23,292 +1,491 +6.40% 4th Steve Cooley* 11,837 65.63% Murray A. Battles 6,198 34.37% — — — 18,035 +5,639 +31.27% 5th Charles Bishop* 10,182 53.51% Johnny Howell 5,306 27.88% Bill Kitchens 3,541 18.61% 19,029 +4,876 +25.62% 7th Bill Smith (inc.)* 11,155 59.42% Jim Gaines 7,618 40.58% — — — 18,773 +3,537 +18.84% 8th Lowell Barron 8,393 34.28% James Lemaster (inc.) 8,099 33.08% Buck Watson 7,992 32.64% 24,484 +294 +1.20% 10th Larry Keener (inc.)* 15,952 50.82% Barbara Bryant 7,940 25.29% 2 others 7,500 23.89% 31,392 +8,012 +25.52% 12th John Amari* 12,582 57.56% Bob Gafford 9,278 42.44% — — — 21,860 +3,304 +15.11% 17th Lucile White* 11,015 51.78% Bob Cook (inc.) 10,257 48.22% — — — 21,272 +758 +3.56% 20th Donald Holmes (inc.)* 14,697 63.83% Tom Shelton 5,149 22.36% 2 others 3,178 13.80% 23,024 +9,548 +41.47% 22nd G. J. Higginbotham (inc.) 7,878 38.84% Danny Corbett 7,127 35.13% 2 others 5,280 26.03% 20,285 +751 +3.70% 23rd Foy Covington 7,150 22.99% Boyd Whigham 6,946 22.33% 3 others 17,011 54.69% 31,107 +204 +0.66% 24th Chip Bailey (inc.)* 16,998 66.97% Matt Bullard 8,382 33.03% — — — 25,380 +8,616 +33.95% 25th Crum Foshee* 15,244 50.32% Wallace Miller (inc.) 15,050 49.68% — — — 30,294 +194 +0.64% 26th Don Harrison (inc.)* 10,665 53.73% John M. Smith 5,995 30.20% Walter Daniel 3,188 16.06% 19,848 +4,670 +23.53% 27th Larry Dixon* 13,994 52.27% Barry Teague (inc.) 12,778 47.73% — — — 26,772 +1,216 +4.54% 28th Wendell Mitchell* 14,985 53.58% Cordy Taylor (inc.) 6,199 22.16% 2 others 6,786 24.26% 27,970 +8,786 +31.41% 29th Hank Sanders 13,139 38.95% Earl Goodwin (inc.) 10,633 31.52% Leigh Pegues 9,958 29.52% 33,730 +2,506 +7.43% 30th Ed Robertson (inc.)* 17,164 52.35% Bert Bank 15,625 47.65% — — — 32,789 +1,539 +4.69% 31st Reo Kirkland Jr. (inc.)* 16,149 52.73% J. W. Sales 8,656 28.27% J. W. Owens 5,819 19.00% 30,624 +7,493 +24.47% 32nd Jerry Boyington* 12,604 60.15% Bob Gulledge (inc.) 8,351 39.85% — — — 20,955 +4,253 +20.30% 33rd Michael Figures (inc.)* 12,999 61.92% John A. Sanderson 7,994 38.08% — — — 20,993 +5,005 +23.84% 34th John Saad* 17,338 77.75% Gary P. Alidor 4,962 22.25% — — — 22,300 +12,376 +55.50% 35th Bill Menton 7,588 40.93% George Stewart 5,184 27.97% 2 others 5,765 31.10 18,537 +2,404 +12.97%

Nominated unopposed The following candidates won the Democratic nomination by default as they were the only to run in their respective district:

District 1: Bobby E. Denton District 6: Jim Smith (inc.) District 9: Hinton Mitchem (inc.) District 11: Roger Lee District 13: J. Richmond Pearson (inc.) District 14: Mac Parsons District 15: Earl Hilliard (inc.) District 16: Ryan deGraffenried (inc.) District 18: Lister Hill Proctor (inc.) District 19: John Teague (inc.) District 21: T. D. Little (inc.)

Republican primary election Only District 17, consisting of portions of Jefferson and Shelby counties, saw more than one candidate run in the Republican primary. District 17 (Jefferson–Shelby)

Nominated unopposed The following candidates won the Republican nomination by default as they were the only to run in their respective district:

District 11: William J. Cabaniss District 12: Red Walker District 20: Charles H. Green District 22: Sam Pierce District 23: Chris Bence District 27: Jim Pugh (withdrew before general election.) District 29: John J. Grimes Jr. District 31: Larry Howard (withdrew before general election.) District 32: Perry Hand District 33: John W. Goss (withdrew before general election.) District 34: Ann Bedsole District 35: Gary Tanner

Withdrew before the primaries