Democrats have scored a victory in a special election for the Alabama state House following the state supreme court’s ruling on IVF.
Democrat Marilyn Lands won an upset victory in Alabama on Tuesday when she defeated Republican and Madison City Council member Teddy Powell in a special election for the Alabama state House that represents a 33-point swing for Democrats.
Lands won the election with 63 percent of the vote to Powell’s 37 percent with all precincts reporting in the race for House District 10. The Democrat made abortion rights and access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) major themes of her campaign.
This is the first election in Alabama since the state Supreme Court’s ruling in February that threatened access to IVF and a major win for Democrats in a deep red state.
Lands previously ran against state Representative David Cole for the same seat and lost. Coles, a Republican, won 52 percent of the vote to Lands’ 45 percent. The Democrat’s victory on Tuesday represents a 33-point swing in her favor.
Cole resigned from the state House in August 2023 after pleading guilty to a voter fraud charge.
