2022 Alabama Secretary of State election

The 2022 Alabama Secretary of State election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next secretary of state of Alabama. Incumbent Republican Secretary of State John Merrill was term-limited and could not run for a third term.

2022 Alabama Secretary of State election

← 2018 November 8, 2022 2026 →
Turnout	38.5%
Nominee Wes Allen Pamela Laffitte Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 925,267 436,862 Percentage 65.9% 31.1%
County results Congressional district results Precinct results Allen:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Laffitte:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      50%      No data
Secretary of State before election John Merrill Republican Elected Secretary of State Wes Allen Republican

The Republican primary for this race was held on May 24, 2022. No candidate reached the threshold of 50 percent plus one vote, so an ensuing runoff to decide the nominee was held on June 21, 2022. Although outgoing State Auditor Jim Zeigler won the first round, state representative Wes Allen won the runoff and thus the Republican Party nomination. Allen defeated Democrat Pamela J. Laffitte and Libertarian Matt Shelby in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Wes Allen, member of the Alabama House of Representatives from the 89th district (2018–present)^[1]

Eliminated in runoff

• Jim Zeigler, Alabama State Auditor (2015–2023)^[2]

Eliminated in primary

• Christian "Chris" Horn, activist and candidate for the Alabama House of Representatives in 2014^[3][4][5][6]
• Ed Packard, election administrator in the Alabama Secretary of State office^[7]

Endorsements

Wes Allen

Individuals

• Christian Horn, activist and former candidate for this position, eliminated in primary^[8]

Organizations

• Alabama Association of Realtors^[9]
• Alabama Citizens for Life^[10]
• Alabama Farmers Federation^[11]
• Alabama Forestry Association^[12]
• Coastal 150^[13]
• Manufacture Alabama^[14]

PACs

• Alabama Realtors Political Action Committee^[15]
• Alabama RetailPAC^[16]
• ProgressPAC^[17]

Jim Zeigler

Individuals

• Mike Lindell, founder of MyPillow and political activist^[18]
• Dean Odle, former candidate in the 2022 Alabama gubernatorial election^[19]

Organizations

• Alabama Republican Assembly^[20]
• America First Secretary of State Coalition^[21]
• Christian Conservatives of Alabama^[22]
• Common Sense Campaign^[23]
• Stand For Health Freedom^[24]

Ed Packard (eliminated)

Individuals

• Wayne Flynt, professor emeritus of history at Auburn University^[25]
• Gerald Johnson, professor emeritus of political science at Auburn University^[25]

Debates and forums

The Butler County Republican Party organization held a Republican candidates' forum on February 28, 2022, at the Wendell Mitchell Conference Center on the campus of Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in Greenville. The forum was attended by candidates Allen and Packard. The forum also hosted candidates for U.S. Senate, Governor, and the Alabama Supreme Court.^[26]

The League of Women Voters hosted a forum for the candidates in the race on April 26, 2022, at the Farley Auditorium located inside the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery. Candidates Chris Horn and Ed Packard were present; Wes Allen declined due to scheduling conflict, and Jim Zeigler fell ill the morning of the forum.^[27]

According to the Alabama Political Reporter,

When asked about ensuring access for certain marginalized groups such as the disabled, homeless and out-of-area college students, Horn said he knows what it is like to be a marginalized group as a Black man and formerly being paralyzed from the neck down.

"So the first thing is the Secretary of State must not be bureaucratic, but they must lead from the heart," Horn said. "They must have a heart to hear the concerns of those people, my people and those communities that I've been a part of, and certainly be able to listen to the organizations that represent their interests and have an open door— but it's a heart-based leadership."

Packard also said he would want to work with marginalized groups, adding that he has already been working with the National Federation of the Blind.

"I've been working with the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program over at the University of Alabama to work on legislation to make voting for people with disabilities easier," Packard said. "And what I have put out ever since I got involved in this race back in December, is that we should allow those individuals who are disabled to vote the same way we allow overseas, military and US citizens to vote and that is electronically from the comfort of their home."

However, both candidates stated their opposition to early voting and no-excuse absentee voting.^[27]

All four candidates were present at a debate hosted by Eagle Forum of Alabama at the O'Neal Public Library in Mountain Brook.^[28]

All four candidates were present at the Doster Center in Prattville for a candidates' forum hosted by the Autauga County Republican Executive Committee.^[29]

Candidates Allen and Zeigler squared off in a debate at the Gardendale Civic Center just over a week ahead of the Republican primary runoff on June 13, 2022. The debate was cosponsored by WYDE-FM and 1819 News.^[30]

2022 Alabama Republican Secretary of State primary debates and forums

No.	Date	Location	Host	Moderator	Link	Participants
P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Non-invitee   I  Invitee E  Eliminated   W  Withdrawn
						Allen	Horn	Packard	Zeigler
1[26]	Feb 28, 2022	Greenville	Butler County Republican Party	N/A	N/A	P	A	P	A
2[27]	Apr 27, 2022	Montgomery	League of Women Voters	N/A	N/A	A	P	P	A
3[28]	May 9, 2022	Mountain Brook	Eagle Forum of Alabama	N/A	Facebook	P	P	P	P
4[29]	May 11, 2022	Prattville	Autauga County Republican Party	N/A	N/A	P	P	P	P
5[30]	June 13, 2022	Gardendale	WYDE-FM	Scott Beason Becky Garretson	Facebook	P	E	E	P

First round

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Wes Allen	Christian Horn	Ed Packard	Jim Zeigler	Undecided
Emerson College[31]	May 15–16, 2022	706 (LV)	± 3.6%	14%	4%	2%	20%	60%
Cygnal (R)[32]	May 6–7, 2022	600 (LV)	± 4.0%	14%	3%	4%	20%	59%
Wisemen Consulting (R)[33]	March 15–17, 2022	905 (LV)	± 3.4%	11%	3%	3%	36%	47%
McLaughlin & Associates (R)[34][A]	March 10–13, 2022	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	13%	2%	1%	26%	57%

Results

Republican primary first round results by county

  Allen

•   40–50%
    50–60%
    60–70%
    80–90%

  Zeigler

•   40–50%
    50–60%

Republican primary results^[35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Zeigler	237,482	42.7%
	Republican	Wes Allen	220,880	39.7%
	Republican	Christian Horn	54,572	9.8%
	Republican	Ed Packard	43,486	7.8%
Total votes			556,420	100.0%

Runoff

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Wes Allen	Jim Zeigler	Undecided
McLaughlin & Associates (R)[36][A]	June 13–16, 2022	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	30%	38%	32%
McLaughlin & Associates (R)[37][A]	June 6–9, 2022	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	28%	34%	37%

Results

Republican primary runoff results by county

  Allen

•   50–60%
    60–70%
    80–90%
    90–100%

  Zeigler

•   50–60%

Republican primary runoff results^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wes Allen	248,132	65.4%
	Republican	Jim Zeigler	131,413	34.6%
Total votes			379,545	100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Pamela J. Laffitte, corrections sergeant and candidate for Alabama State Board of Education in 2020^[5][39]

Endorsements

Pamela J. Laffitte

Organizations

• Alabama New South Alliance^[40]

Libertarian nomination

No primary was held for the Libertarian Party, and candidates were instead nominated by the party.^[41]

Nominee

• Jason "Matt" Shelby, attorney^[41]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[42]	Safe R	December 1, 2021
Elections Daily[43]	Safe R	November 7, 2022

Post-primary endorsements

Wes Allen (R)

State officials

• Jim Zeigler, State Auditor of Alabama (2015–2023) and former candidate for this position, eliminated in runoff^[44]

Pamela J. Laffitte (D)

Labor unions

• Alabama AFL–CIO^[45]

Results

2022 Alabama Secretary of State election results^[46]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Wes Allen	925,267	65.88%	+4.86%
	Democratic	Pamela Laffitte	436,862	31.11%	−7.81%
	Libertarian	Jason "Matt" Shelby	41611	2.96%	N/A
	Write-in		663	0.05%	-0.01%
Total votes			1,404,403	100.00%

By congressional district

Allen won six of seven congressional districts.^[47]

District	Allen	Laffitte	Representative
1st	67%	29%	Jerry Carl
2nd	69%	29%	Barry Moore
3rd	71%	26%	Mike Rogers
4th	84%	14%	Robert Aderholt
5th	66%	30%	Mo Brooks (117th Congress)
			Dale Strong (118th Congress)
6th	67%	29%	Gary Palmer
7th	36%	62%	Terri Sewell

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

Partisan clients

1. Poll sponsored by ForestPAC