Alabama Democratic Party

Republican Party Chairman Mike Hubbard downplayed the result.

"It's all about turnout in special elections," Hubbard said. "Marc already had a lot of name ID. I believe our campaign, our candidate's campaign allowed him to establish his positives too high, (too) early."

Hubbard said that Albritton, a Republican from Range, had disagreements with the party about his campaign message, but that those were "nothing major."

Albritton said that the differences concerned the "timing" of putting up television ads, but agreed that they were insignificant. He described the party's support as "excellent."

Keahey, a Democratic freshman state representative from Grove Hill, secured about 58 percent of the vote Tuesday, according to unofficial returns.

In 2006, seven-term state Sen. Pat Lindsey, D-Butler, won 54 percent in his race against Republican John McMillan. Lindsey's death on Jan. 11 triggered the special election in the eight-county district.

Republicans have seen the L-shaped, eight-county area as a potential pick-up for several years, and held all three House seats in the district before the 2006 elections.

Lindsey won a very close race against Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day in 2002, edging the Republican by 906 votes out of nearly 37,000 cast.

The margins were significantly larger in Tuesday's voting. Keahey piled up large majorities in Choctaw, Clarke and Washington counties, and proved competitive in the more-Republican-leaning areas to the east, taking 46 percent of the vote, for example, in Baldwin County.

Said Jim Spearman, executive director of the Alabama Democratic Party: "I think it shows weakness in the 2010 project ... They put tens of thousands of dollars in with Republican-leaning groups, (but) didn't get turnout they thought they would."

Groups aligned with the Democratic Party invested substantial amounts on Keahey's behalf, such as the Alabama Education Association and the Alabama Association for Justice, representing trial lawyers.

Keahey also received significant support from gambling magnate Milton McGregor and country singer Ronnie Gilley, who backed a major campaign this spring to legalize bingo machines in certain locations.

"Marc is a good fundraiser and a good candidate," Spearman said. "If you have a good candidate, you can work with the constituency base."

Keahey raised $566,600 through May 22, while Albritton got about $251,000 in contributions and outside aid, according to campaign finance reports. Funding from the Alabama GOP and the Business Council of Alabama made up two-thirds of Albritton's total.

Hubbard said the special election allowed groups aligned with the Democratic Party to focus all their efforts on the Senate district instead of forcing them to spread money around.

"If it was not a special election, that district would not have been targeted as it was," he said. "We were obviously outspent. Gambling interests and trial lawyers poured a lot of money into that race."

But Hubbard's observation cuts both ways, noted David Lanoue, a political science professor at the University of Alabama. "It's true for both parties," he said. "If Democrats out-raise Republicans overall, that will bode well for them."

Advertisements bought by the Republican Party hit hard on Keahey's 2007 vote for a 62 percent pay raise for legislators. Hubbard said that the GOP would continue using that strategy throughout the 2010 cycle.

The vote increased legislators' pay from $30,710 a year to $49,250, with an annual cost of living adjustment. COLAs have since brought that number up to $52,646.

Lanoue was skeptical about the effectiveness of the issue.

"The people who are energized and angry about that sort of thing probably already vote Republican," he said. "It might mobilize turnout, but it's not an issue that will change minds."