Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala., prevailed Tuesday in a primary runoff that also pitted two of the 2018 election cycle’s biggest bogeymen against each other: President Trump and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Roby easily defeated former Rep. Bobby Bright, the man she replaced after she was first elected to Congress in the Tea Party wave of 2010, in a dramatic turnaround from the first round of voting in June. Back then, she could not break 40 percent of the vote, much less the majority required to avoid a runoff. On Tuesday night, she won by a 2-1 margin.
Bright had only recently crossed over from the Democratic Party. It is not unusual for a certain generation of Democrats to become Republicans in the Deep South. But Bright’s record is not especially conservative by Southern standards. He voted for Barack Obama for president and Pelosi for speaker, serving one term when Democrats had the majority and passed Obamacare.
Bright was nevertheless able to force Roby into a runoff because she was widely perceived as insufficiently loyal to Trump. In 2016, she called on an “unacceptable” Trump to “step aside” as the Republican nominee after the “Access Hollywood” tape — in which the future president engaged in vulgar “locker room talk” and described groping women — became public.
Roby then ran behind Trump in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District that November and won just 39 percent of the vote in the initial primary this year.
Tuesday’s primary played out as Trump was once again facing a torrent of intraparty criticism, this time over remarks he made about interference in the presidential election while standing next to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier Tuesday, Trump attempted to clarify that he did have confidence in American intelligence agencies and believed that Russia meddled in the election.
This time around, Roby was running with Trump’s support. Former Vice President Mike Pence had also recorded robocalls on her behalf. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and other party leaders also backed her candidacy, helping her to amass a 5-1 fundraising advantage and run ads hammering Bright as a Pelosi clone.
“Congresswoman Martha Roby of Alabama has been a consistent and reliable vote for our Make America Great Again Agenda,” Trump tweeted. “She is in a Republican Primary run-off against a recent Nancy Pelosi voting Democrat. I fully endorse Martha for Alabama 2nd Congressional District!”
But Alabama Republicans haven’t always heeded Trump and other GOP leaders. They voted for controversial former Judge Roy Moore, who faced allegation of sexual misconduct with young girls, over appointed incumbent Sen. Luther Strange despite Trump’s endorsement and strong establishment backing.
Nevertheless, Moore’s improbable general election defeat has prompted Trump to occasionally endorse against weak primary candidates who try to ape his populist appeal. He specifically invoked Alabama when he urged West Virginia Republicans to reject convicted criminal and businessman Don Blankenship and he rebuffed Bright’s attempts to characterize himself as a passenger on the Trump Train.
Trump helped defeat Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., a frequent critic in a primary last month.
“Congratulations to Martha Roby on her victory in tonight’s runoff election,” said Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, chairman of the NRCC, in a statement. “She ran a tough and smart campaign, and tonight’s results are proof positive. Alabamans in the 2nd District couldn’t have a better advocate for them in Congress. The NRCC looks forward to seeing her reelected in November.”
