Wahl takes victory in bitter Republican runoff for lieutenant governor

When former ALGOP Chair John Wahl addressed supporters late Tuesday evening after clinching the Republican nomination to be Alabama’s next lieutenant governor, he was joined by a stuffed raccoon.

The plush toy affixed to the podium paid homage to an unexpected flashpoint in the bitter race between Wahl and Secretary of State Wes Allen—an AI advertisement depicting a raccoon based on a real raccoon owned by Wahl’s fiancée Brittany Montgomery.

Wahl won the runoff with 57 percent of the vote, aided in part by an endorsement from President Donald Trump.

“The people of Alabama sent a message: that they are tired of career politics as normal, that they’re tired of unelected bureaucrats thinking that they know how to live our life better than we do,” Wahl said in his victory speech.

If elected in November, it would be Wahl’s first time serving in elected office. He has served as an appointee of Governor Kay Ivey on the Alabama Public Library Service, where he has focused on keeping LGBTQ books and broadly defined “sexually explicit” books out of teen and children’s sections.

Allen conceded Tuesday evening, saying he would focus on serving the remainder of his term as secretary of state.

“I am proud of the campaign I have run over the past 18 months. I have built relationships with amazing people from all corners of the state of Alabama,” Allen said. “Voters deserve candidates who travel the entire state and make themselves available in every community from the mountains of North Alabama to the peanut fields of the Wiregrass to the beaches of the Gulf Coast. I have listened to Alabamians, responded to their concerns and taken in their ideas for making the state the best it can be for our children and grandchildren. I will continue to work hard as Alabama’s 54th Secretary of State and it is my honor to continue to serve in that role until January 2027.”

Wahl will face Democratic nominee Phillip Ensler in the November general election.