The nation’s 45th president, Donald J. Trump, was elected as the 47th president on Nov. 5. He not only won, he won overwhelmingly.
Under the Electoral College system, the U.S. president is elected not by popular vote, but by a system in which each state casts the same number of votes as they have representatives and senators in Congress. Alabama has seven representatives and two senators. Therefore, Alabama has nine electoral votes.
National voters and the media knew in this 2024 presidential election, there were seven pivotal battleground states that would determine the outcome of the presidential race. They were:
Georgia and North Carolina in the South, both with 16 electoral votes ― pretty good prizesArizona and Nevada in the WestAnd the ultimate battleground Rust Belt states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania in the Midwest.
There were all kinds of formulas and scenarios as to how these states would fall and which ones Trump or his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, would win. Polls revealed all seven states were showing dead even leading up to the election. According to all polls, no winner could be projected. Not even the Las Vegas oddsmakers could predict a clear winner.
Trump claimed a tremendous triumph on election night. He won all seven of the battleground states, including the “Blue Wall” big three of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. It was like a giant red wave swept those three pivotal blue states, as well as every red state (which was the vast majority of the rest of the country).
Trump’s triumph was so profound that he had coattails which enabled the Republicans to garner a majority in the U.S. Senate. Republicans were expected to pick up seats in West Virginia and Montana, but Trump’s triumphant journey gave them two more seats in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Going into Nov. 5, Democrats had a majority in the Senate of 51 to 49. In January, when Trump is inaugurated and the Senate organizes, there will be a Republican majority of 53 to 47. This is a mandate for Trump, which will allow him to enact his legislative agenda — but more importantly, he will have a smooth path to make appointments to federal judge posts and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Speaking of courts, the federal courts gave the Democrats one of Alabama’s congressional seats.
Right now, we have six Republicans and one Democrat. Last year, federal judges handed the Democrats a seat and re-drew Alabama’s congressional lines from the bench. The courts made the new 2nd Congressional District in south Alabama, a seat that should vote 60% for a Democrat.
The race for this seat was the only good, contested race on the Alabama ballot this year. It featured Democrat Shomari Figures and an impressive new Republican first-time candidate, Caroleene Dobson. She made it a close race. Figures, the Democrat, won with 55% of the vote. You may not have heard the last of this race or the last of Dobson on the Alabama political scene.
Our five incumbent Republican congressmen, Robert Aderholt, Mike Rogers, Gary Palmer, Dale Strong, and Barry Moore were overwhelmingly reelected with no or token opposition, as was Democrat Terri Sewell. Figures will join Sewell when they organize. Alabama will have two Democrats and five Republicans on the Potomac.
Alabama did its part in electing Trump. He carried 65% of the vote in the Heart of Dixie. His best results yet. He got 63% four years ago. This was Trump’s third triumph in Alabama. The Republican candidate for president has carried Alabama in the last 12 presidential races, which span 48 years.
Trump’s triumph is good for Alabama. Alabama is a Republican state, with both senators and five of its seven representatives aligned with the GOP and Trump. Alabama should be in the “catbird seat.”
Both of Alabama’s senators, Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, are in very good graces with Trump. Tuberville is especially close to Trump. In fact, Tuberville is probably Trump’s closest friend and ally in the Senate. They golf regularly together at Mar-a-Lago.
It was expected that if Harris had won and Republicans remained in the minority in the Senate, Tuberville was eyeing running for Alabama governor in 2026, rather than seeking reelection to his Senate seat, which will be on the ballot in the same year. However, with Trump in the White House and Republicans in the majority, Tuberville would probably like to remain in the Senate.
Steve Flowers’ weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state Legislature. Flowers can be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
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Publish date : 2024-11-19 21:16:00
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