MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A congressman seeking to become Alabama’s first black governor lost Tuesday to a white Democratic primary opponent who had garnered support from the state’s four major black political groups.
Primaries were also held in Mississippi and New Mexico, where Susana Martinez, a prosecutor from southern New Mexico, won the GOP nomination for governor and will face Democrat Diane Denish in a general-election race deciding who becomes New Mexico’s first female governor.
With 96 percent of the precincts reporting, Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks won the Democratic primary for Alabama governor with 62 percent of the vote to U.S. Rep. Artur Davis’ 38 percent.
The state’s traditional civil rights organizations backed Sparks after Davis voted against President Barack Obama’s federal health care overhaul. But Davis, a Harvard lawyer who led Obama’s Alabama campaign in 2008, had endorsements from Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a civil rights pioneer from Alabama, and Mobile’s first black mayor, Sam Jones.
Voter Ben Ray picked Sparks, who has taken positions popular with Democrats, calling for an expansion of gambling, including a lottery, and supporting the federal health care plan.
“I just like his position on the education lottery,” Ray said. “I think we need that here.”
The chairman of the black Alabama Democratic Conference, Joe Reed, said Davis was hurt by refusing to seek the endorsements of African-American groups and by voting against the federal health care plan.
Sparks said he went after every vote, and his call for an education lottery proved popular with primary voters. Davis conceded in Birmingham, where he said he would support Sparks in the general election.
The health care overhaul was also an issue in Alabama’s other big race, in the 5th Congressional District. Republican U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith, who switched from the Democratic Party last year, was defeated in the district’s GOP primary.
Tea Party-backed congressional candidate Mo Brooks won with slightly more than 50 percent of the vote in a three-candidate field. He said Griffith called late Tuesday to congratulate him on his win.
On the Democratic side, Steve Raby easily claimed his party’s nomination.
Meanwhile, four-term Alabama Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby easily beat his primary challenger, Tea Party activist N.C. “Clint” Moser.
