A wide, rural stretch of south Alabama spanning parts of Baldwin, Mobile, Escambia and several other counties had an open state Senate seat to fill in the November 2014 election, with Republican Greg Albritton facing Democrat Susan Smith for District 22.
Albritton, an attorney from the small Conecuh County community of Range, was looking to return to the Legislature eight years after losing a primary race. He had previously served a single term representing House District 64 and brought a long resume in local legal work, including stints as town attorney for Castleberry, municipal judge in Evergreen and town prosecutor in Excel.
Smith, a retired Red Cross blood division manager and former Escambia County school system nursing supervisor from Atmore, stepped into the race under unusual circumstances. She agreed to carry the Democratic banner only after the party’s original nominee, incumbent Sen. Marc Keahey, abruptly withdrew from the contest after the candidate filing deadline had already passed, leaving Democrats scrambling to field a replacement.
District 22 stretched well beyond Escambia County, taking in a chunk of Baldwin County, a small sliver of northern Mobile County, and all or part of six additional counties across southwest Alabama, making it one of the more sprawling legislative districts touching the region. Whoever won would represent a mix of small towns and rural communities with a state senate salary tied to Alabama’s median household income, a figure adjusted annually.
Smith brought decades of community service to her campaign, including a stint on the Atmore City Council alongside her long career in health care and blood services. Albritton, meanwhile, leaned on his legal and legislative background, along with local roots in the towns he had represented as a prosecutor and judge.
The race gave voters across the Baldwin, Mobile and Escambia County portions of District 22 a clear choice between Albritton’s legal and legislative resume and Smith’s decades of community and health care service, with both candidates squaring off for the seat on the November ballot.