Katie Britt defeated Mo Brooks in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate in Alabama on June 21, 2022. The pair advanced from a field of six candidates in a May 24 primary. Britt had 63% of the runoff vote to Brooks’ 37%. In the primary, Britt received 45% of the vote and Brooks received 29%. Incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R), first elected in 1986, did not run for re-election. Michael Durant, who finished third in the primary with 23% of the vote, said he would not endorse or vote for either candidate in the runoff.
Britt was Shelby’s chief of staff and the president and CEO of the Alabama Business Council. Britt’s campaign website said she was an “advocate for smaller government, modern job growth, constitutional liberties and greater opportunity.” Former President Donald Trump (R), U.S. Sens. Shelby, Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Maggie’s List, the Value In Electing Women PAC, and Winning for Women, Inc. PAC endorsed Britt.
Brooks was elected to represent Alabama’s 5th Congressional District in 2010 and served as Madison County Commissioner from 1996 to 2010. Brooks’ campaign ads highlighted his speech at Trump’s rally on Jan. 6, 2021, which preceded the U.S. Capitol breach. Brooks campaigned as an America First candidate, a term often associated with the platform of Trump and candidates who have said they support his agenda. Brooks’ endorsements included Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-Pa.). Trump initially endorsed Brooks in the primary election before rescinding his endorsement in March 2022.
Britt is also expected to win the general election. At the time of the runoff, three independent race forecasters considered the race either Solid Republican or Safe Republican. Before Doug Jones’ (D) tenure from 2018 to 2021, the last Democrat to represent the state in the U.S. Senate was Howell T. Heflin, who left office in 1997. Trump won the state with 62% of the vote in the 2020 presidential election.
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