Alabama’s 2022 primary season delivered plenty of the usual noise — mailers, robocalls and television ads repeating the same handful of buzzwords — but it also produced a handful of local storylines in Mobile and Baldwin counties that stood out from the pack, particularly a bitter fight for Mobile County district attorney and an unusual moment in a Baldwin County Commission race.
By most accounts, the statewide campaign season was relatively tame compared with past cycles, when candidates in local judicial races have traded much sharper personal attacks. This year’s contests stayed largely on message, built around a familiar set of Republican primary talking points that dominated advertising across the Gulf Coast, including border security, references to former President Donald Trump, claims of conservative credentials and criticism of the Biden administration’s policies.
Still, the race for Mobile County district attorney generated real friction. Candidates Keith Blackwood and Buzz Jordan ran to succeed longtime District Attorney Ashley Rich, and the contest grew tense in its final days after a wave of robocalls hit phones across Mobile County overnight between May 23 and May 24, just ahead of Election Day. The calls were reportedly attributed to Blackwood’s campaign, a claim his camp denied. Blackwood in turn blamed Jordan, while Jordan said he had nothing to do with the calls and accused his opponent of spreading misinformation about him.
Neither campaign publicly identified who was actually behind the calls, and it remains unclear whether the episode had much impact on the outcome. Much of the race instead turned on how voters felt about the current district attorney’s tenure, with Blackwood leaning heavily on Rich’s endorsement as evidence of continuity in the office and Jordan positioning himself as a change candidate amid concerns some voters raised about repeat offenders cycling through the local justice system.
Throughout the campaign, Blackwood and Jordan rarely referred to each other by name in public comments, instead using terms like “my opponent” or “my opposition” — a detail that became something of a talking point among local political observers following the race closely.
In the governor’s race, incumbent Kay Ivey, a Wilcox County native, continued to lean into a folksy, plainspoken Southern style that has become a hallmark of her public appearances, even as she limited her exposure to debates and detailed policy discussions with the press. Ivey has built a political brand around personality and familiarity with rural Alabama voters, an approach that has proven durable in a state where retail politics and cultural touchstones often carry as much weight as policy specifics.
Alabama’s U.S. Senate primary also drew significant local attention, with Congressman Mo Brooks navigating a bumpy campaign after losing a high-profile endorsement earlier in the race. Brooks was forced to rebuild support through more traditional campaigning after the setback, a shift that underscored how much the modern Alabama Republican primary landscape can hinge on a single endorsement.
Down the ballot, a Baldwin County Commission District 2 race featured a moment that raised eyebrows among voters focused on local governance. One radio advertisement for candidate Steve Carey touted his support for a border wall, prompting questions from residents about why a county commission contest — a role focused on local roads, zoning and county services — would center on federal immigration policy rather than issues specific to Baldwin County.
With the primary now behind them, Mobile and Baldwin county voters are bracing for a runoff period in several statewide races before the November general election, when attention will shift from campaign mailers back to the practical business of local government heading into the second half of the year.