New polling for key Alabama candidates shows Republicans underperforming, but still likely to win statewide races in the upcoming Nov. 3 election.
About 51% of respondents said they plan to vote for U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Republican nominee, according to new results from The Alabama Poll conducted by Michael Lowry and released Oct. 19.
Just 39% of respondents said they plan to vote for former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones.
“If you go back and look at where the president was a couple years ago, these numbers reflect a little bit of a downturn for Republicans,” Lowry said.
“But the bottom line is that the voters in Alabama don’t think that Democrats can do anything to improve their lives.”
In 2020, Tuberville beat Jones for the Senate seat with 61% of the vote.
This year, Jones and Tuberville have criticized each other’s positions on social issues, healthcare, education, data centers and taxes.
Lowry said Tuberville has captured voters who previously voted for President Donald Trump, while Jones leads among independent and younger voters.
Respondents had pretty low opinions of Tuberville -- but they rated Jones worse.
And they said they trusted the Republican party more in order to improve their lives.
“If you saw Tuberville’s unfavorability rating as high as it is, you would be concerned about it,” Lowry said. “But in this instance, Doug Jones’ is even worse.”
Most voters in the state already have an opinion of the candidates at the top of the ticket, Lowry said.
“The results are pretty well baked in.”
Respondents said they are most concerned about the cost of living, and specifically the cost of groceries, gas and utility bills.
Last week, Alabama Republicans announced a plan to cut the state portion of the grocery tax, which is currently 2%.
Lowry also asked about data centers.
The majority of respondents had an unfavorable view of them, and 59% of respondents said data centers should be built only if certain power, cost and environmental conditions could be met.
Lowry noted that while some experts have said a blue wave is possible in north Alabama, he doesn’t see it.
“The Republican brand is still very strong in Alabama, and if there are concerns about individual candidates or races, it’s really just individual performance,” he said.
“There’s not a blue wave in Alabama. There’s not even a blue trickle.”
Other results
Lowry also asked respondents about candidates running for other statewide offices:
Lieutenant governor
- Republican John Wahl: 53%
- Democrat Phillip Ensler: 35%
Attorney general
- Republican Katherine Robertson: 54%
- Democrat Jeff McLaughlin: 35%
U.S. Senate
- Republican Barry Moore: 56%
- Democrat Everett Wess: 35%
Results come from a phone and text message poll with 600 respondents. It was conducted Oct. 15 and 16.
Respondents identified themselves as likely voters and as 61% Republican and 25% Democrat.
