Ivey wins Alabama governor GOP primary

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) was projected to win her state’s gubernatorial GOP primary Tuesday, fending off a handful of far-right challengers. 

NBC and CBS News both called the race after 11 p.m. ET.

Ivey defeated Lynda Blanchard, the former ambassador to Slovenia under former President Trump, and Tim James, the son of former Gov. Fob James (R), among others. 

Ivey’s challengers attacked her from the right throughout the primary, slamming her over early business closures at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and once claiming that it was “time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks” for the ongoing pandemic. 

The governor has fought back against the criticism by lurching to the right, advocating for stringent abortion restrictions and protection for Confederate monuments, taking a hardline on immigration, including in an ad saying “we’re all going to have to learn Spanish,” and falsely saying in another ad that the 2020 election was “stolen” from Trump. 

Ivey first entered the governorship in 2017, when former Gov. Robert Bentley (R) resigned, elevating her from the lieutenant governorship. She was later elected to a full term in 2018 and is the heavy favorite to win reelection this year in deep-red Alabama.