MONTGOMERY, Ala. (ABP) — Roy Moore's hand-picked candidate to replace himself as Alabama's chief justice won a tightly contested primary battle June 1 over one of Moore's former colleagues.
With the vast majority of the state's precincts reporting, former Moore aide Tom Parker defeated current Justice Janice Rogers Brown by a 51-49 percent margin in the state's Republican primary for the chief justice position. Parker will face Democrat Robert Smith in the general election.
Brown was among Moore's colleagues on the Alabama Supreme Court who voted unanimously to suspend him from office last year — causing an international media sensation and making Moore a folk hero among many. The vote came after he defied a federal judge's order to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments that he had placed in the rotunda of the state judicial headquarters building.
Two federal courts ruled that the monument violated the First Amendment's ban on government endorsement of religion. But Moore claimed that both the Alabama and federal constitutions required him to “acknowledge God” via such a display.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Moore's appeal, and an Alabama court charged with monitoring judicial abuses voted to remove him from office. Moore appealed that ruling, but a specially appointed state Supreme Court unanimously upheld the removal earlier this year.
The controversial Moore also backed three candidates besides Parker in other state Republican primaries.
In a race for the GOP nomination in the 6th U.S. congressional district, Moore attorney Phillip Jauregui lost badly to incumbent Rep. Spencer Bachus. And Moore-backed candidate Pam Baschab, a criminal appeals judge, lost by a wide margin to Shelby County District Judge Patti Smith in the primary for the second seat on the state Supreme Court.
Moore supported Covington County Circuit Judge Jerry Stokes in a four-candidate primary contest for the third seat on the state's high court. As of late on election night, Stokes appeared headed for a run-off with Jefferson County Probate Judge Mike Bolin.
The winner of the Stokes-Bolin contest will face Democrat John Rochester.
In related news, Moore vowed May 27 to appeal his removal from office to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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