Incumbent wins primary easily

Incumbent Jimmy Holley won almost 60 percent of the 19,419 votes cast in the District 31 Senate primary Tuesday, defeating challenger Garreth Moore.
Holley led in each of the four counties in his district. He took 60 percent of the votes cast here in Pike County.
“These were big numbers,” Holley said when contacted Tuesday night. “We couldn’t ask for any better.”
The story was similar across the district, with Holley winning 58 percent of all the votes cast.
Holley said he felt good going into the election, and that polling numbers held true.
“We had polls from six months ago, and they really did not change,” he said. “As recently as two weeks ago, this is what the polls predicted, so we kept doing what we were doing.”
Moore, who received $350,000 in funding from AEA, hit Holley hard on the years he’s spent in Montgomery. Holley was first elected to the Alabama House in 1974, where he served five terms, and has served four terms in the Alabama Senate.
But voters chose experience on Tuesday.
“I appreciate the support, and look forward to going back to Montgomery,” he said.
Holley said he will spend tomorrow picking up signs and cleaning up from the campaign.
Holley also won soundly in Covington County, where he picked up 63 percent of the votes, or 4,397 to Moore’s 3,421.
The race was closer in Coffee County, where both candidates live. Holley got 55 percent of the vote with 4,192 votes to Moore’s 3,421.
The district also includes a portion of Dale County, where Holley got 52 percent of the votes cast, or 1,270 to Moore’s 1,177.
The total of the four counties was 11,264 for Holley, 8,155 for Moore.
The winner still faces Democrat opposition in November from Larry Greenwood.

– By Michele Gerlach and Mona Moore